Adesina Tosin Nathaniel

 

“And I Told My People, I say Any Fulani Herdsmen you see Around You Kill Him, Yesterday she was talking I just kept Quiet, Because you know women there are Things you don’t tell Them and I’ve told them in the Church Here, Around This Premises that any Fulani Herdsman that Just enter By Mistake, Kill Him, Kill Him..Cut His Head” That was the Transcript of the sermon of Apostle Johnson Suleiman of Omega Fire Ministries while Ministering on the of 15th January 2017.That video have trend enough to garner over 50,000 Views on YouTube! As an

That video has trended enough to garner over 50,000 Views on YouTube! As an Individual, the video is so distasteful and unexpected of someone that calls himself a man of God, who should be an Apostle of Peace and Grace. And he has received lots of backlash for that statement.

Moving from that sermon to what necessitated this article is the growing calls for self-defence in Nigeria and government insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians. The Muhammadu Buhari led government of Nigeria have not helped matters with its approach towards crisis management in Nigeria. On the 22nd of July 2016 barely, few months after he was elected President Buhari made a statement in the United States while answering questions from a journalist on how he is going to deal with the issues of militancy in the Niger Delta, he said and I quote “Going by election results, constituencies that gave me 97% can’t be treated equally with those that gave me 5%.”

This comment was the beginning of the division that Nigeria was to witness in months to come. This was the first “hate speech” that Nigerians forgot to condemn and the result is what we are seeing till date. As if the statement resurrected the spirit of discord in Nigeria, disturbances started happening left and right from the Niger Delta Avengers to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Fulani Herdsmen. Between August 2015 till date the Fulani Herdsmen have killed more than 300Nigerians in various attacks across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, the Niger Delta Avengers have caused a loss of over 300Billion Naira through acts of bunkering and vandalism in their bid to protest the abandonment and neglect of the  Niger delta Area.

The government has not approached any of these issues with the required attention. It’s been more force approach than dialogue. To start with, the President refused to make any statement on the atrocities of the Fulani Herdsmen until late 2016. The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, tried in futility to exonerate the Fulani Herdsmen by saying Fulani Herdsmen also comes from Mauritius to Nigeria. A defence that met the brick wall. That same statement was re-echoed by Northern Governors recently when they said Herdsmen causing violence are from Senegal. From Enugu to Benue to Ekiti, it’s all cries of sorrows, tears and blood.

President Buhari as the Grand Patron of Miyetti Allah has not lived up to expectations in curtailing the activities of his Fulani Brothers and people have been calling for self-defence because the government have failed to Protect them, so why will you blame Apostle Johnson Suleman? I’m not preaching hate but when you have no government that can defend and protect you, then you have to defend yourself with all you have.

I’m not preaching hate but when you have no government that can defend and protect you, then you have to defend yourself with all you have.

As if that was not enough the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Army that should be responsible for the protection of lives and properties of Nigerians have killed lots of IPOB members, the movement calling for the establishment of the Biafra Country out of Nigeria. Since the inception of the IPOB movement, they’ve not killed a single soul in their bid to get their country. They’ve not kidnapped anyone; they’ve only demanded for what they need through protests and rallies which are always peaceful but made bloody due to the actions of the Nigerian Army and Police. The recent one happened on the 20th of January while demonstrating in support of the United States President Mr Donald Trump. What was meant to be a celebration ended up claiming lives. The Federal Government has not condemned the unprofessional activities of the Military and the Police.

The call for self-determination in any country is the right of the citizens and it’s left to the government to manage the situation and convince them on why the country should remain one. Their inabilities to do that have led to the preventable loss of Life. In the United Kingdom, there were calls for the exit of Britain from the European Union, and although the movement known as BREXIT was not accepted by then British Prime Minister, Mr David Cameron, so much so that he campaigned against BREXIT but in the long run, people voted for BREXIT and no single life was lost. so why are IPOB members

So why are IPOB members losing lives daily? And the Government have refused to do the needful by punishing those involved in the extra-judicial murder of IPOB members. The IPOB declared recently on the 22nd of January that they will soon take up arms for self-defence against the Police and the Army. We all know the casualty that will be involved if this is done.

The crisis in  Southern Kaduna is another one that has not been well managed by the Government’s which have also led to loss of life and destruction of properties and people have been calling for self defence too in Kaduna, especially the Christians. So what do we gain from having a government in Place?

However, we need to know that self defense and security challenges are intertwined. The case of Fulani herdsmen is a security challenge while the Niger Delta Avengers is a case of self defence -in their bid to protest the destruction of their environment and abandonment by government when dialogue failed to yield results.

The Federal Government needs to rise up to the situation and see every Nigerian as one irrespective of their colour, tribe and religious belief. The President cannot have the votes of all Nigerians. This is a democracy and not military regime. The protection of lives and properties of every Nigerian is the responsibility of the government and there should be a robust avenue for crisis management from the North to the South to the East so as to guarantee a secure future for Nigeria. Trouble makers should be dealt with and not treated with kid gloves.

The growing calls for self-defence show that Nigerians have no hope and trust in their elected leaders which shouldn’t be and if this is not curtailed, these growing calls spell doom for the future of Nigeria! Self-defence only happens in an environment where there are security challenges that are not addressed by the government. Remember there cannot be calls for self-defence in a peaceful environment.

The President must protect and defend every Nigeria from evil because he belongs to everybody, he belongs to Nobody!

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Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

Adesina Tosin Nathaniel is a forward looking Nigerian youth. He tweets @Donteewrites

For more of his writings visit www.donteewrites.blogspot.com