Now, the Bombs are Here!
By Sam Onimisi
Bombs as man has come to know is, an explosive meant for maximum damage and was often employed in extreme or severe cases of war between two or more different nations. That was before now, not anymore. Now, the first weapon to be deployed as soon as an argument degenerates into a fisticuff is the bomb. Why this is so may be due to man’s growing impatience or an escalating thirst for bloodletting; I do not know. But my first experience of bomb was in 1967 during the Nigerian/Biafra War. I arrived my village from Lagos a few days earlier and enroute to Kaduna when something held me up at home. A child was born to my father and I was sent to his grandmother a few kilometers away to inform her that her daughter has safely put to bed. I rode my father’s bicycle for the errand, a message that I dutifully delivered and was returning home, jejely.
Unknown to me, I was to be punished for being the medium of that good news and a mother-goat, was given that assignment. A stream separated the two villages and a small narrow bridge had to be crossed. It was on the bridge that the goat chooses to execute her assignment. If you ask me, I will sincerely tell you that I did not see the shadow of a fly, not less of a big mother-goat. Before anyone could say meee, I had tumbled on my bicycle and was reeling right in the centre of the bridge! Passers-by said it was a goat, as for me I did not see nothing. However, there was I gasping for breath. The sound of my fall and the bleating of the goat produced a noise, which sounded like an echo of a bomb. That was the testimony of the passers-by. As for me, I was as blameless as Mr. Innocent, except that I was the victim of that accident who had to be the guest of the local Dispensary (now Health Centre) for weeks. As if this was not enough, something else happened. What was it again?
I was recuperating from that accident caused by that God-forsaken goat when the Biafrans struck. A primary school teacher living in our house, who is a maternal cousin rushed in to announce that the Biafrans were finally at Okene, a town ten kilometers from my village. A few hours earlier, the Biafran jet had discharged a bomb that had killed a prominent Anglican leader, Mr. Ajayi – a friend of my father who was then a Lay reader of the Anglican Church. At that time, and in those days, a teacher was a recognized and respected authority and his words were regarded as the gospel truth – next only to the Catechist. To say that there was a pandemonium would be an understatement. The fright that informed the mass flight from the village to the Ihima mountain – the Okehi Mountain also known as the abode of Ihima Deity, Ori-Ihima was something else. To the Christians, it was an Exodus and to the Muslims – a Hijra! The Animists were glad they were all fleeing to their protector, with both Christians and Muslims in tow.
My Dad announced that now that the end had come, everyone must choose what he/she wanted – to flee to the mountain or remain in the house and await his or her fate. Virtually everyone voted to flee to the mountain, except my father and I. Even if I had wanted to run, I could not because I was mauled by that goat accident. Again, my spirit was against the flight and so, I choose to remain in the house. My father who could not remember when last he cooked food by himself has to cook for both of us. For days, all members of our larger family took their abode with the Deity atop the mountain and my father and I remained alone in the house! We were waiting for the final battle - called Armageddon or the rapture when Jesus will come and take us ‘home’ A-r-m-a-g-g-e-d-o-n?
When the Biafrans failed to come, most of our people who took refuge at the mountain returned home. However, many had been bitten by snakes and a few mauled by lions. Some because of the fright-in-the-flight sustained various injuries and retuned home sick and weak. However, you need to know something else. During the Jihadist war when the Fulani invaded Ebiraland, the Orihima aided our battle by sending warrior hornets, which dealt devastating blows on the invaders and chased them away for the freedom of our people. Therefore,, most of our people invest faith in Orihima to do it again, against the Biafrans. While alone in the house with my father he asked me why, inspite of my infirmity, I refused to run to the mountain for safety. Without thought, I told him I did not believe the Biafrans would come to Ihima and besides, the bomb scare was not a problem to me, as I knew I had immunity against bombs. Was he amazed? To no end! He asked how, I told him that while we were growing up, we were taught that Orihima controls the thunder and during rainfall, if there was the sound of thunder, we were to say “I am the child of Orihima” and the thunder will depart in reverence and obedience. Therefore, I reasoned that no bomb is more powerful than the thunder and so, I fear no bomb!
My father was amazed at my answer and I noticed that from then henceforth, he valued my opinion more than my elders. However, he told me that in addition to the reason I gave, he read in Genesis how God bombed Sodom and Gomorrah and so, he knew that there could be bombs and so, if God decides to bomb Ihima – using the Biafrans – running to Okehi Mountains would not save his life! After all, his friend died by those bombs – the Biafran bombs. However, today, we have religious terrorists who could be your next-door neighbour and to whom you would have been a benefactor, but who hates you intensely not because of any offence, but for religious differences. He could be your childhood friend, your classmate, a neighbor far closer than a brother could. However, the day the religious demons seized him, he would forget your life long relationship and the fact that you were his benefactor all along. Until he made a barbeque of your flesh, he would not rest!
If the massacre were to be done via A.K. 47, you could say there is a limit to the number that could be killed or injured. However, a bomb – that is a weapon of mass destruction for which Saddam Hussein of Iraq was dethroned, hunted down and executed. Between October 2010 and January 2011, Jos, Maiduguri and Abuja have fallen victim of the bomb blasts. Moreover, scores of lives and billions in property were lost – just because of religious differences, tribal differentiation and political power tussle. Habal! Now, fear is the king and we all are forced to pay obeisance to it – regardless of our chosen faith or religion. The Church, which was regarded as a refuge, is no longer safe and the soldiers deployed to guard them are being killed. It is false confidence to believe that the Mosques are safe. Many no longer attends church services and attendance of Friday Mosque service has dwindled – all because of the fear of the bomb.
Now that the bombs are here, courtesy of the Movement for the Emancipation Niger Delta, MENDS and the Jama’atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda await Wal Jihan (or is it Jama’atu Nasril Islam), no one is truly safe. Even if I decide to go and hide at the Okehi Mountain – the abode of Orihima- I will still not be safe, except God Almighty guarantees my security. The bomb knows no religion, fears no deity, respect no authority, sees no persons; it distinguish people by neither age, status nor holiness. It has killed pastors, engineers, teachers, traders and farmers alike. Unlike the thunder, which strikes only when rain threatens or falls, the bomb is mobile. Moreover, unlike the thunder, which differentiates the guilty from the innocent, and those targeted from others, the bomb is a weapon of mass destruction without respect whatsoever. The next victim could be the thrower! There is no doubt that we are in a serious crisis, unless commonsense prevails.
We have seen what ethno-religious strife has done to Somalia and are seeing what is happening to Sudan. Why do we pretend not to known that the outcome of a war is not always in favour of the aggressor, or determinate by huge war arsenal alone? Number does not win wars, for it is not a numbers’ game. Every party to a war looses something at the end. It could be the loss of lives and limbs on a mass scale. It could also be a massive destruction of houses and infrastructures. Either way, the winner or loser would have lost several years of development and growth as the economy stagnated during the years of war. Go and ask the Persians of their experience at the end of the 1980 – 1988 Iran/Iraqi war. For God sake, this bomb throwing business must stop, now!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Farming and the Seer
(Prankish Pastime)
Farming and the Seer
By Mas Damisa
Let us assume that we were all farmers in Nigeria even though, division of labour and separation of powers have divorced many of us from the farm. I confess that I was once a farmer – being a farmer’s son. In our own area and at our time, the farming business begins at the early hours of 4.00 am when we must wake up to trek to the farm. The distance was usually between ten and thirty kilometers and the goal was to arrive not later than six in the morning to start work in earnest. Moreover, farming was very easy and pleasurable in those days. How?
For those unholy hours of between 4 am and 6am it was always pitch dark and to trek for that long distance, you must brace-up for some pleasant surprises. Because you are supposed to be sleeping as a young chap, if you leave sleep, it will refuse to give up easily and so, you have no choice but to sleepwalk. Now the typical village road and bush path were full of gullies, stubbles, stumps, rocks, and stones. We had to navigate through them all, sleep walking so, we jumped to fly over gullies, hit the stumps before knowing it was there, hit the stones to announce our transit, stumble on rocks for a kiss of a good morning – just for going to the farm. As a result, no one ever arrived the farm intact, for you would have donated some blood, foot nails, a black eye and in a few cases, a dislocated hip to the enterprise, I mean to those omnipresent stumps and stones on the way. By the time you arrive proper, a look at the mirror will confirm your encounters on the way to the farm – a physical wreck wrought in the furnace of hard labour.
If you are left alone to wade through those natural obstacles on the way, matters would have been easier to manage. However, at times, we met cobra, crawling majestically towards our direction and had no choice than ran into the bush to allow the king the right of way. Those who could not escape were mauled – a source of infant mortality. At other times, we were chased back to the village by marauders who were at work – stealing people’s sweat of farm produce. In which case, we returned home to show our bruised knees as the proof of the marauders’ raids – until the next morning. Still at other times, we were confronted by two penetrating eyes, which have no respect for darkness – as they see through it like daylight. We would be forced to retreat or stop and watch until we figured whether it was dangerous to advance or to vamoose from harms way – and that decision must be made in split seconds, otherwise…
Some other times, we met an old woman who was half-naked, doing some incantations and enchantment. In fear, we greeted her and she increased our trepidation by not answering our greetings. Was she a witch or an idiot? To look back at her would worsen our fright, but for our safety, we had no choice than to do so. By the time we did, the old witch had disappeared into tin airs. First, we increased our pace, then attempted to run and then we ran rapidly until, while struggling for space on the narrow bush path, we collided and fell simultaneously – all these because we must arrive the farm before daybreak!
How we survived that tortuous routine for those years is another story, which only the gods could tell. But it was not all trials, tribulations and troubles.
There were times we encounter hunters who would greet us and assured us that there was no danger as he had traversed the terrain. Again, we did meet particular specie of birds that were quarrelsome by nature. Whenever they fight, they bring themselves to the bush path, often times became too weak to fly, and so, we just picked them up into the bag – for a sumptuous meal. At other times, certain rabbits whose days were numbered would be sleepy right on the path way and we would just clubbed them for picks. Those that were not sleepy would take flight and we would chase them in hot pursuit – forgetting that we were not on a hunting mission expedition.
Could you imagine that even in pitch darkness, we quarrel? Oh, many times on our way to the farm, arguments do arise which in a few cases degenerates into a wrestling duel. Since no one has the time to separate the two, they would have to hasten their steps to catch-up with the team- as soon as they finished sorting out themselves. The journey to the farm continues. On a few occasions, the farm seedlings usually carried by the women among us would scatter on the sand because of stumbling. We would all stop and bend to pick them one-by-one until nothing is left for the birds to pick. Without doing so, what were we going to plant? Going to the farm was a task that must be done even if we had to crawl, jump, run, fly, or flee! We were on our way one day, not looking nor seeing the whether when a heavy rain started and were forced to take refuge at our grand aunt/s house some three kilometers from home. The old woman on recognizing the voice of my elder sister graciously opened the door for us and we remained there until the rains stopped. We left immediately for the journey after expressing our gratitude to her. A week later on our journey back home, we stopped to thank her again and presented to her some foodstuff we brought from the farm. She welcomed us as usual and gave us water to drink and to wash our dusty feet. When we made to go, she called my sister aside and they were taking. I noticed that the countenance of my sister has changed as she was looking agitated in contrast to the old woman who maintained a normal or subdued posture. After a distance, I asked my sister what were they discussing – was it about me?
My sister disclosed that the old woman lost some money and was inquiring if we saw or took the money. So I asked her if she took the money and she said she didn’t see any money, talk less of taking it. Unknown to us, the old woman had gone to a seer seeking to know who took her money. Our grand aunt also informed the seer that some people in transit lodged in her house for a few hours, around the time her money got missing. The oracle said it was a woman who stole the money. But she was living with some of her granddaughters and two of her sons’ wives. So, who among the women stole the money? Now, the seer became more specific. He claimed that the thief was a visitor and not one of the women living in the house. Who could the visitor-thief be? My sister? My sister!!. The old woman begged my sister to confess if she took the money, return it to her or whatever is left of it – and that no one would hear more about it. I demanded to know who was a seer and how or when did he see my sister stealing money. How, what, when, why?
Well, the case was taken to another seer who also said a woman stole the money but that the thief lives with the owner of the money. If this was a reprieve, my sister had not been exonerated, and so a third seer was consulted. This time, the seer said the old woman should go home and look for the thief. So, who is the thief? Could my sister be a thief? I resolved that this question must be properly answered. My sister informed our father when we got home who dismissed the matter as a non-issue, asserting that his daughter was not a thief. However, the oracle claimed she was a thief!
Do not misunderstand me; anyone could be a thief. But a thief knows himself or herself and if you have not stolen and you are pronounced a thief by an eyeless seer. Then you have the right to clear your name and or demand an apology from the fake seer. I was determined to save my sister’s name and defend her by whatever means. However, I was so young and helpless that I needed help to do so. Therefore, how did I embark on this task?
(To be continued)
Farming and the Seer
By Mas Damisa
Let us assume that we were all farmers in Nigeria even though, division of labour and separation of powers have divorced many of us from the farm. I confess that I was once a farmer – being a farmer’s son. In our own area and at our time, the farming business begins at the early hours of 4.00 am when we must wake up to trek to the farm. The distance was usually between ten and thirty kilometers and the goal was to arrive not later than six in the morning to start work in earnest. Moreover, farming was very easy and pleasurable in those days. How?
For those unholy hours of between 4 am and 6am it was always pitch dark and to trek for that long distance, you must brace-up for some pleasant surprises. Because you are supposed to be sleeping as a young chap, if you leave sleep, it will refuse to give up easily and so, you have no choice but to sleepwalk. Now the typical village road and bush path were full of gullies, stubbles, stumps, rocks, and stones. We had to navigate through them all, sleep walking so, we jumped to fly over gullies, hit the stumps before knowing it was there, hit the stones to announce our transit, stumble on rocks for a kiss of a good morning – just for going to the farm. As a result, no one ever arrived the farm intact, for you would have donated some blood, foot nails, a black eye and in a few cases, a dislocated hip to the enterprise, I mean to those omnipresent stumps and stones on the way. By the time you arrive proper, a look at the mirror will confirm your encounters on the way to the farm – a physical wreck wrought in the furnace of hard labour.
If you are left alone to wade through those natural obstacles on the way, matters would have been easier to manage. However, at times, we met cobra, crawling majestically towards our direction and had no choice than ran into the bush to allow the king the right of way. Those who could not escape were mauled – a source of infant mortality. At other times, we were chased back to the village by marauders who were at work – stealing people’s sweat of farm produce. In which case, we returned home to show our bruised knees as the proof of the marauders’ raids – until the next morning. Still at other times, we were confronted by two penetrating eyes, which have no respect for darkness – as they see through it like daylight. We would be forced to retreat or stop and watch until we figured whether it was dangerous to advance or to vamoose from harms way – and that decision must be made in split seconds, otherwise…
Some other times, we met an old woman who was half-naked, doing some incantations and enchantment. In fear, we greeted her and she increased our trepidation by not answering our greetings. Was she a witch or an idiot? To look back at her would worsen our fright, but for our safety, we had no choice than to do so. By the time we did, the old witch had disappeared into tin airs. First, we increased our pace, then attempted to run and then we ran rapidly until, while struggling for space on the narrow bush path, we collided and fell simultaneously – all these because we must arrive the farm before daybreak!
How we survived that tortuous routine for those years is another story, which only the gods could tell. But it was not all trials, tribulations and troubles.
There were times we encounter hunters who would greet us and assured us that there was no danger as he had traversed the terrain. Again, we did meet particular specie of birds that were quarrelsome by nature. Whenever they fight, they bring themselves to the bush path, often times became too weak to fly, and so, we just picked them up into the bag – for a sumptuous meal. At other times, certain rabbits whose days were numbered would be sleepy right on the path way and we would just clubbed them for picks. Those that were not sleepy would take flight and we would chase them in hot pursuit – forgetting that we were not on a hunting mission expedition.
Could you imagine that even in pitch darkness, we quarrel? Oh, many times on our way to the farm, arguments do arise which in a few cases degenerates into a wrestling duel. Since no one has the time to separate the two, they would have to hasten their steps to catch-up with the team- as soon as they finished sorting out themselves. The journey to the farm continues. On a few occasions, the farm seedlings usually carried by the women among us would scatter on the sand because of stumbling. We would all stop and bend to pick them one-by-one until nothing is left for the birds to pick. Without doing so, what were we going to plant? Going to the farm was a task that must be done even if we had to crawl, jump, run, fly, or flee! We were on our way one day, not looking nor seeing the whether when a heavy rain started and were forced to take refuge at our grand aunt/s house some three kilometers from home. The old woman on recognizing the voice of my elder sister graciously opened the door for us and we remained there until the rains stopped. We left immediately for the journey after expressing our gratitude to her. A week later on our journey back home, we stopped to thank her again and presented to her some foodstuff we brought from the farm. She welcomed us as usual and gave us water to drink and to wash our dusty feet. When we made to go, she called my sister aside and they were taking. I noticed that the countenance of my sister has changed as she was looking agitated in contrast to the old woman who maintained a normal or subdued posture. After a distance, I asked my sister what were they discussing – was it about me?
My sister disclosed that the old woman lost some money and was inquiring if we saw or took the money. So I asked her if she took the money and she said she didn’t see any money, talk less of taking it. Unknown to us, the old woman had gone to a seer seeking to know who took her money. Our grand aunt also informed the seer that some people in transit lodged in her house for a few hours, around the time her money got missing. The oracle said it was a woman who stole the money. But she was living with some of her granddaughters and two of her sons’ wives. So, who among the women stole the money? Now, the seer became more specific. He claimed that the thief was a visitor and not one of the women living in the house. Who could the visitor-thief be? My sister? My sister!!. The old woman begged my sister to confess if she took the money, return it to her or whatever is left of it – and that no one would hear more about it. I demanded to know who was a seer and how or when did he see my sister stealing money. How, what, when, why?
Well, the case was taken to another seer who also said a woman stole the money but that the thief lives with the owner of the money. If this was a reprieve, my sister had not been exonerated, and so a third seer was consulted. This time, the seer said the old woman should go home and look for the thief. So, who is the thief? Could my sister be a thief? I resolved that this question must be properly answered. My sister informed our father when we got home who dismissed the matter as a non-issue, asserting that his daughter was not a thief. However, the oracle claimed she was a thief!
Do not misunderstand me; anyone could be a thief. But a thief knows himself or herself and if you have not stolen and you are pronounced a thief by an eyeless seer. Then you have the right to clear your name and or demand an apology from the fake seer. I was determined to save my sister’s name and defend her by whatever means. However, I was so young and helpless that I needed help to do so. Therefore, how did I embark on this task?
(To be continued)
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Beware of the Farmers’ Palms
Beware of the Farmers’ Palms
By Sam Onimisi
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, so says the Holy Scriptures. It also says that pride or arrogance proceeds a fall, the gravity of the fall being dictated by the hubris of the individual or group. I feel sure you will grant me the indulgence of telling a story of my childish romance with pride. It was in 1960 and I had picked some words in English language as primary three pupils and was going about flaunting them before my pears and brothers who were not privileged to go to school. As it is usual with such pranks, insultive and negative words readily flow in the mouth. In those days, physical education was taken seriously even at the primary school level, and so I was training in athletics, boxing and soccer – all of which were part of physical education.
I had a half-brother, about two-years my senior who could not go to school due to economic reasons, and was at the farm with our father. During holidays, I do go to the farm during which I participate in farm works – up to the limit of my ability. It was also an opportunity to show-case my literacy by speaking English to my brothers, who unknown to me then, were not happy that they could not go to school and therefore, were always offended each time I spoke in English. Even when I became aware of their discomfort, I continue to reply their queries in English and when they reprimand me, I responded with insults believing that they would not understand. However, the manner I spoke gave me away and that infuriated them the more.
One day, I ran my mouth roughshod in response to my brother’s impolite reprimand and warned he will beat me if I repeat such behavior again. I got angry and told him he could do nothing. I had relied on my strength – an imaginary strength that was to come from God-knows-where. I assumed I was at least an amateur boxer and I imagined how I would fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee in the event of a showdown. The more he warned me the more I waxed bold and daring, until he lost his patience. While I was busy warming up for a ‘thriller in Manila’ – (as if I was Cassius Clay - later Mohammed Ali) something landed on my checks, which could as well would have been a thunderbolt. I must confess that I never saw it coming, or knew the time I passed out, sprawling on the mud floor with a fearful shriek. Obviously, I needed to be revived and it was our father’s lot to do so. When I regained consciousness, he asked me what happened and I muttered some inanities, which no one could comprehend. A man with a canny sense of humour, my father asked if I was now ready to demolish my brother with my hammer-punch. Unknown to me, when I was bragging and boasting, our father was watching from a distance and while reeling on the floor, he rushed to my side in trepidation. He wanted me to be taught a lesson but without being unduly hurt.
A few days later, while still wondering and wanting to know what actually hit me, I asked my brother if he had used a club on me, he said he merely slapped me with his palm. My God! How could a palm do such damage? I made to feel his palm and what I discovered amazed me to no end, his palms were hard as steel – made so by the daily use of hoe and cutlass – and God help they hit whomever! The farmers’ palms - I fear! Of course, from then henceforth my grammar dried up and I became circumspect in my dealings with those ruthless palms. However, the shame that went with that knockout slap remained with me for a long time to the extent that I began to map out strategies for revenge. Not long after, an idea hit me and so I gathered some pebbles in my knicker pockets with the intention of using them as ground-to-air missiles against my assailants. With this, my grammar revived and my confidence was restored.
One day, we had an argument and I suspected that my brother was angry enough to want to hit me again; and I denied him that opportunity by taking to my heels. A tree provided me a refuge, which I soon converted into a citadel. I climbed the tree and perched on it like a monkey. The tree is not far from the farmhouse with several footpaths to the farms, the brooks and other places soon. My brother was approaching and I hurled some pebbles at him and he was hit on the head. He retreated and ran back to the farmhouse to report an un-identified flying object (UFO) hit him. Soon, a hunting expedition was organized to track down the U.F.O. Unknown to them, I was atop the tree while they passed and climbed down to the farmhouse as soon as they went some distance.
Dear readers, I was found out one day when in an attempt to climb the tree, I slipped and fell with injuries on my thighs, arms and back. My loud cry attracted the people in the farmhouse who came to carry me away for care. On stripping me naked for treatment, my bulging pocket announced the pebbles ad I had no choice but to confess my mission to the Iroko tree. Even now as I am writing this piece, the thought of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar came to my mind. I saw him in my mind when he ran for the governorship of Adamawa in 1999; and when he was virtually the kingmaker in 2003. I saw his leadership of the Peoples Front after the demise of late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, up to the 1999 PDP Jos Convention.
How Atiku defeated IBB, Gen Gusau and Gov. Saraki through the Adamu Ciroma – led Northern Political Leaders Forum is something else. After he emerged with four vote’s victory as the Northern consensus candidate, he supposed the defeated three would rally round him for a show-down with President Jonathan. It was Atiku who discovered a mysterious book on “how to rig election” purportedly written by Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Organization. Few days to the convention, the Turakin Adamawa boasted that it was very cheap to defeat an incumbent president, and he would prove it soon. Even at the convention, Atiku used more than 15 minutes in which he took the president to the cleaners. Well, as they say, the rest is now history. Now back to my own story.
Since that day in 1960 when I fell from the treetop, I have learnt to be less presumptuous, curb arrogance and tame my hubris to maintain some moral equilibrium and avoid the fall of a braggadocio.
If my father had not been on hand to attend to me, perhaps I could have lost some jawbones to the farmers’ palm. If there were no people around to rescue me for care after falling from the treetop, I could have been maimed. God knew that I needed those therapies to bring down the latent pride in me. I suppose in inter-personal and inter-group relations and in political and social interactions, arrogance should be given no room. We all need gravitas – if only to save us from the farmer’s palm.
By Sam Onimisi
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, so says the Holy Scriptures. It also says that pride or arrogance proceeds a fall, the gravity of the fall being dictated by the hubris of the individual or group. I feel sure you will grant me the indulgence of telling a story of my childish romance with pride. It was in 1960 and I had picked some words in English language as primary three pupils and was going about flaunting them before my pears and brothers who were not privileged to go to school. As it is usual with such pranks, insultive and negative words readily flow in the mouth. In those days, physical education was taken seriously even at the primary school level, and so I was training in athletics, boxing and soccer – all of which were part of physical education.
I had a half-brother, about two-years my senior who could not go to school due to economic reasons, and was at the farm with our father. During holidays, I do go to the farm during which I participate in farm works – up to the limit of my ability. It was also an opportunity to show-case my literacy by speaking English to my brothers, who unknown to me then, were not happy that they could not go to school and therefore, were always offended each time I spoke in English. Even when I became aware of their discomfort, I continue to reply their queries in English and when they reprimand me, I responded with insults believing that they would not understand. However, the manner I spoke gave me away and that infuriated them the more.
One day, I ran my mouth roughshod in response to my brother’s impolite reprimand and warned he will beat me if I repeat such behavior again. I got angry and told him he could do nothing. I had relied on my strength – an imaginary strength that was to come from God-knows-where. I assumed I was at least an amateur boxer and I imagined how I would fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee in the event of a showdown. The more he warned me the more I waxed bold and daring, until he lost his patience. While I was busy warming up for a ‘thriller in Manila’ – (as if I was Cassius Clay - later Mohammed Ali) something landed on my checks, which could as well would have been a thunderbolt. I must confess that I never saw it coming, or knew the time I passed out, sprawling on the mud floor with a fearful shriek. Obviously, I needed to be revived and it was our father’s lot to do so. When I regained consciousness, he asked me what happened and I muttered some inanities, which no one could comprehend. A man with a canny sense of humour, my father asked if I was now ready to demolish my brother with my hammer-punch. Unknown to me, when I was bragging and boasting, our father was watching from a distance and while reeling on the floor, he rushed to my side in trepidation. He wanted me to be taught a lesson but without being unduly hurt.
A few days later, while still wondering and wanting to know what actually hit me, I asked my brother if he had used a club on me, he said he merely slapped me with his palm. My God! How could a palm do such damage? I made to feel his palm and what I discovered amazed me to no end, his palms were hard as steel – made so by the daily use of hoe and cutlass – and God help they hit whomever! The farmers’ palms - I fear! Of course, from then henceforth my grammar dried up and I became circumspect in my dealings with those ruthless palms. However, the shame that went with that knockout slap remained with me for a long time to the extent that I began to map out strategies for revenge. Not long after, an idea hit me and so I gathered some pebbles in my knicker pockets with the intention of using them as ground-to-air missiles against my assailants. With this, my grammar revived and my confidence was restored.
One day, we had an argument and I suspected that my brother was angry enough to want to hit me again; and I denied him that opportunity by taking to my heels. A tree provided me a refuge, which I soon converted into a citadel. I climbed the tree and perched on it like a monkey. The tree is not far from the farmhouse with several footpaths to the farms, the brooks and other places soon. My brother was approaching and I hurled some pebbles at him and he was hit on the head. He retreated and ran back to the farmhouse to report an un-identified flying object (UFO) hit him. Soon, a hunting expedition was organized to track down the U.F.O. Unknown to them, I was atop the tree while they passed and climbed down to the farmhouse as soon as they went some distance.
Dear readers, I was found out one day when in an attempt to climb the tree, I slipped and fell with injuries on my thighs, arms and back. My loud cry attracted the people in the farmhouse who came to carry me away for care. On stripping me naked for treatment, my bulging pocket announced the pebbles ad I had no choice but to confess my mission to the Iroko tree. Even now as I am writing this piece, the thought of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar came to my mind. I saw him in my mind when he ran for the governorship of Adamawa in 1999; and when he was virtually the kingmaker in 2003. I saw his leadership of the Peoples Front after the demise of late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, up to the 1999 PDP Jos Convention.
How Atiku defeated IBB, Gen Gusau and Gov. Saraki through the Adamu Ciroma – led Northern Political Leaders Forum is something else. After he emerged with four vote’s victory as the Northern consensus candidate, he supposed the defeated three would rally round him for a show-down with President Jonathan. It was Atiku who discovered a mysterious book on “how to rig election” purportedly written by Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Organization. Few days to the convention, the Turakin Adamawa boasted that it was very cheap to defeat an incumbent president, and he would prove it soon. Even at the convention, Atiku used more than 15 minutes in which he took the president to the cleaners. Well, as they say, the rest is now history. Now back to my own story.
Since that day in 1960 when I fell from the treetop, I have learnt to be less presumptuous, curb arrogance and tame my hubris to maintain some moral equilibrium and avoid the fall of a braggadocio.
If my father had not been on hand to attend to me, perhaps I could have lost some jawbones to the farmers’ palm. If there were no people around to rescue me for care after falling from the treetop, I could have been maimed. God knew that I needed those therapies to bring down the latent pride in me. I suppose in inter-personal and inter-group relations and in political and social interactions, arrogance should be given no room. We all need gravitas – if only to save us from the farmer’s palm.
Of Scammers & Kidnappers
Of Scammers & Kidnappers
By Sam Onimisi
The new industry in Nigeria is kidnapping, coming at the heels of scamming, popularly known as 419. Nothing is new really under the sun. They only come and go only to return in an endless circle. Back in 1973, kidnapping reared its ugly head in Kaduna when mob action was the judgment, without proof. There was an attempted kidnap of a child and the suspected culprit was given an instant judgment - by lynching. Unfortunately, the assumed kidnapper had some tribal marks - the typical Ogbomosho Yoruba marks and the ubiquitous mob, made up of street urchins and the almajirai, in their queer wisdom assumed that everyone with such facial marks are kidnappers. My God! It became dangerous for people with such marks to walk the streets in broad day light. Cases of mob action were on the rise and victims hardly obtain justice, until the security agencies stepped in to the arrest the mayhem. That was then.
Now, kidnappers are no longer identified by tribal marks, as they too have grown sophisticated with the aid of modern technology; cell phones, laptops and internet connectivity has made all manners of crime difficult to prevent, detect and curtailed. Rather than pinpointing the kidnapper, one will be flabbergasted if kidnapping kingpins are paraded for identification. You could swear by your local deity that the accused could never have been a kidnapper! However, here he is! The army of retired public officers whose pension could not sustain and whose throat had been widened by filthy lucre while in office might account for the mysterious godfathers behind kidnapping. I do not mean any harm by this insinuation as all of them could not be guilty. However, who could be the brain box of the rough boys of sophisticated kidnapping? Don’t tell me it is the proverbial witch doctors. They may be accessories to the crime, yes. You cannot convince me that the gunmen are the sole brains behind kidnapping. Who supplied them with the guns? Who shields them from arrest and how do they out-smart the police? Which of the security arms is principally responsible for the prevention of such crimes?
The drug barons defeated the police, which necessitated the creation of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to combat, but how much have they succeeded? Scammers now have the EFCC to contend with, but have these dissuaded criminals from 419? If there are no technocrats who knows the inner workings of the security agencies and have some influence over the law enforcers, how come that all crimes are escalating and criminals waxing stronger every day?
The struggle of the people of Niger Delta for fiscal federalism or resource control forced them to recourse to kidnapping key oil workers, especially expatriate staff to draw attention to their demand and, for some ransom to keep the struggle of afloat. This was before criminal elements infiltrated into their ranks and made a mess of the noble goal of attaining true federalism. Now, in the South East, the youths appear to have invested a huge capital of their ingenuity into the business of abduction of notable and rich individuals or members of their family for some handsome ransom. Their success in this resurgent enterprise of economic terrorism is attested to by the failure of the police to curb their murderous exploits. There is a general belief that the Police is an accomplice in this despicable business venture. How true this is can only be left to the imagination as the history and record of accomplishment of the Nigeria Police leaves much to be desired. The Army had to be deployed to the South East to subdue the Hordes of kidnappers, although the police had always claims to be “on top of the situation.” If they are, why do the criminals easily subdue them? On the other hand, is it a case of internal subversion?
The emerging picture suggests that kidnapping is a criminal occupation with various motives, even if extortion and ransom demand is the outcome. While the cause and reason for the practice in the South South has been explained, the reason for it in the South East is mainly mercantile. In the North, kidnapping is not a favourite crime, as they have no motive for making profit out of human captivity. They would rather waste the soul to appease some gods than hold them hostage. In Central Nigeria, a few copycats tried their hands at kidnapping for profits and found that the gains are far below the risks to their lives. We must therefore find out why kidnapping is an attractive business, and why a section of the country holds tenaciously to it, and why the police appear helpless in combating the menace.
How can we be of help to ourselves and the police in this war against kidnapping? First, we must shorn ourselves from adorning our bodies with excessive and expensive gold, silver and bronze bangles, chains and neck-lace. When you are be-decked to the extent of looking live a masquerade, you are begging to be kidnapped, and creating opportunity for kidnappers. Let us be moderate in our dress code. Second, those who spray themselves with expensive perfumes are beckoning on kidnappers for a kiss. If you are not rich, you would not be able to afford such perfumes, and if you can afford to buy them, you are likely to be invited to ‘donate’ to the have-nots through kidnappers. Car freaks whose children parades the street with the latest Japanese and American Limousine are open invitation to kidnappers. Do you need all of this cars and must you go on parade to flaunt your dubious wealth to the envy of potential kidnappers?
Many wealthy Nigerians who could afford the hiring of escorts are already doing so, except that there is a limit to what escorts can do in terms of safety and exposure. Chief Bola Ige had several police armed escorts but was killed by unknown gunmen and ten years after, we are still guessing who could have killed hm. Even the police that promised to turn all stones have left none unturned, and the killers are still at large-laughing at all of us. So, where is the security in armed escorts? If weapon training is a part of the training of official security operatives, how come that un-official gunmen are so dexterous in handling various rifles? On the other hand, is there an open training school for whoever wants to know how to shoot the gun? What happened to the restriction placed on the purchase and ownership of guns and weapons? Who enforces such restrictions?
At the risk of boring you with questions and advertising my naivety, I may only conclude that we have all compromised our physical security, not only by our attitude to personal safety but also by our low moral values and poor choices made in the past. If we voluntarily export our female teenagers abroad for prostitution, then those behind it and who have accumulated wealth through it must pay tax to the kidnappers. By collective compromise, we have handed over our individual liberty and community peace to accursed kidnappers. Oh hoo!
By Sam Onimisi
The new industry in Nigeria is kidnapping, coming at the heels of scamming, popularly known as 419. Nothing is new really under the sun. They only come and go only to return in an endless circle. Back in 1973, kidnapping reared its ugly head in Kaduna when mob action was the judgment, without proof. There was an attempted kidnap of a child and the suspected culprit was given an instant judgment - by lynching. Unfortunately, the assumed kidnapper had some tribal marks - the typical Ogbomosho Yoruba marks and the ubiquitous mob, made up of street urchins and the almajirai, in their queer wisdom assumed that everyone with such facial marks are kidnappers. My God! It became dangerous for people with such marks to walk the streets in broad day light. Cases of mob action were on the rise and victims hardly obtain justice, until the security agencies stepped in to the arrest the mayhem. That was then.
Now, kidnappers are no longer identified by tribal marks, as they too have grown sophisticated with the aid of modern technology; cell phones, laptops and internet connectivity has made all manners of crime difficult to prevent, detect and curtailed. Rather than pinpointing the kidnapper, one will be flabbergasted if kidnapping kingpins are paraded for identification. You could swear by your local deity that the accused could never have been a kidnapper! However, here he is! The army of retired public officers whose pension could not sustain and whose throat had been widened by filthy lucre while in office might account for the mysterious godfathers behind kidnapping. I do not mean any harm by this insinuation as all of them could not be guilty. However, who could be the brain box of the rough boys of sophisticated kidnapping? Don’t tell me it is the proverbial witch doctors. They may be accessories to the crime, yes. You cannot convince me that the gunmen are the sole brains behind kidnapping. Who supplied them with the guns? Who shields them from arrest and how do they out-smart the police? Which of the security arms is principally responsible for the prevention of such crimes?
The drug barons defeated the police, which necessitated the creation of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to combat, but how much have they succeeded? Scammers now have the EFCC to contend with, but have these dissuaded criminals from 419? If there are no technocrats who knows the inner workings of the security agencies and have some influence over the law enforcers, how come that all crimes are escalating and criminals waxing stronger every day?
The struggle of the people of Niger Delta for fiscal federalism or resource control forced them to recourse to kidnapping key oil workers, especially expatriate staff to draw attention to their demand and, for some ransom to keep the struggle of afloat. This was before criminal elements infiltrated into their ranks and made a mess of the noble goal of attaining true federalism. Now, in the South East, the youths appear to have invested a huge capital of their ingenuity into the business of abduction of notable and rich individuals or members of their family for some handsome ransom. Their success in this resurgent enterprise of economic terrorism is attested to by the failure of the police to curb their murderous exploits. There is a general belief that the Police is an accomplice in this despicable business venture. How true this is can only be left to the imagination as the history and record of accomplishment of the Nigeria Police leaves much to be desired. The Army had to be deployed to the South East to subdue the Hordes of kidnappers, although the police had always claims to be “on top of the situation.” If they are, why do the criminals easily subdue them? On the other hand, is it a case of internal subversion?
The emerging picture suggests that kidnapping is a criminal occupation with various motives, even if extortion and ransom demand is the outcome. While the cause and reason for the practice in the South South has been explained, the reason for it in the South East is mainly mercantile. In the North, kidnapping is not a favourite crime, as they have no motive for making profit out of human captivity. They would rather waste the soul to appease some gods than hold them hostage. In Central Nigeria, a few copycats tried their hands at kidnapping for profits and found that the gains are far below the risks to their lives. We must therefore find out why kidnapping is an attractive business, and why a section of the country holds tenaciously to it, and why the police appear helpless in combating the menace.
How can we be of help to ourselves and the police in this war against kidnapping? First, we must shorn ourselves from adorning our bodies with excessive and expensive gold, silver and bronze bangles, chains and neck-lace. When you are be-decked to the extent of looking live a masquerade, you are begging to be kidnapped, and creating opportunity for kidnappers. Let us be moderate in our dress code. Second, those who spray themselves with expensive perfumes are beckoning on kidnappers for a kiss. If you are not rich, you would not be able to afford such perfumes, and if you can afford to buy them, you are likely to be invited to ‘donate’ to the have-nots through kidnappers. Car freaks whose children parades the street with the latest Japanese and American Limousine are open invitation to kidnappers. Do you need all of this cars and must you go on parade to flaunt your dubious wealth to the envy of potential kidnappers?
Many wealthy Nigerians who could afford the hiring of escorts are already doing so, except that there is a limit to what escorts can do in terms of safety and exposure. Chief Bola Ige had several police armed escorts but was killed by unknown gunmen and ten years after, we are still guessing who could have killed hm. Even the police that promised to turn all stones have left none unturned, and the killers are still at large-laughing at all of us. So, where is the security in armed escorts? If weapon training is a part of the training of official security operatives, how come that un-official gunmen are so dexterous in handling various rifles? On the other hand, is there an open training school for whoever wants to know how to shoot the gun? What happened to the restriction placed on the purchase and ownership of guns and weapons? Who enforces such restrictions?
At the risk of boring you with questions and advertising my naivety, I may only conclude that we have all compromised our physical security, not only by our attitude to personal safety but also by our low moral values and poor choices made in the past. If we voluntarily export our female teenagers abroad for prostitution, then those behind it and who have accumulated wealth through it must pay tax to the kidnappers. By collective compromise, we have handed over our individual liberty and community peace to accursed kidnappers. Oh hoo!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Enahoro: A Colossus & his Lilliputians
Enahoro: A Colossus & his Lilliputians
By Sam Onimisi
It has been a privilege for me to read various commentaries by different people on the person and life of Late Chief Anthony Enahoro. I have had the opportunity to pay tribute to the great man at his 87th birthday anniversary in July last year. On that occasion, I had said what was germane and enough for a birthday. Even now at his demise, I don’t see what else I could add to better what I had written, except that I need to recall some of what I said in view of certain opinion expressed by some people after his demise. It is also compelling to offer some explanation on certain issues to which I was privy and others which I had the good fortune of hearing from the icon of Nigerian nationalism.
“For those waiting for his demise to acknowledge and eulogize him, he is already a phenomenon whose followers are brimming with his progressive ideas that are sure to outlive him” This is part of what I said in tribute at his 87th birthday. Among those who paid tribute to him, Sam Omatseye of the Nation newspaper and another writer had raised three issues, which he regarded as standard yardstick by which they found it difficult to hold the late nationalist in high esteem. The issues are Chief Enahoro’s membership of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), his negotiation with the People’s Democratic Party in 2003 and the way he handled the finances of the Pro-National Conference Organization, PRONACO. Let it be known that I subscribe to the truism that no mortal man is perfect and neither Chief Enahoro, Sam Omatseye nor I is an exception. However, I also believe that some men are better than others in their efforts towards perfection.
In 2001, I summoned the courage to ask the late Chief Enahoro in an interview why he had to join the NPN in 1979. He said it was his friend, Chief Joseph Tarka who came to him and revealed that a cross-section of the chieftains of the NPN had offered him the presidential candidacy of the Party and sought for his support. Pa Enahoro said that given his knowledge of and friendship with J.S Tarka during their days in the opposition and in the Federal House of Representatives, coupled with their experience and travails in the hands of the conservative leaders of the NPC which became NPN, he could neither doubt nor deny J.S Tarka of his support. In addition, he reasoned that if ever a minority ethnic group will ever accede to the leadership of Nigeria in a democracy, the offer to Tarka was an excellent opportunity, which, he as an advocate of equal rights for minorities could not decline. To me, no reason could be more plausible, even if it led to a miscalculation or a mistake.
On the vexed question of Chief Enahoro’s parley with the PDP in 2003, I was privy to that negotiation as a member and Director of Research and Plans of the Movement for National Reformation, MNR. It all began when President Olusegun Obasanjo invited Chief Enahoro to work with him, and the Chief felt that he was a leader of a group and was obliged to inform his members before taking a decision. He summoned the N.E.C of MNR and tabled the issue before us. Majority of us advised against it on the ground that Obasanjo could not be trusted. Our fear was that our leader could be lured, used and dumped by OBJ as he was wont to do. We also feared that the PDP as a party of the establishment will not be comfortable with a progressive of the caliber of Chief Enahoro in their midst. As a consummate democrat, our leader opted to subject the offer to a wider spectrum of MNR and thereby summoned its National Working Committee. His view was that in a democracy, the minority and the majority must be given equal opportunity in decision-making process, and that which ever way the issue goes, no one will be the loser. At the NWC, it was resolved that the MNR should raise a team to negotiate with the PDP on condition that the core values and programme of MNR are non-negotiable and must be accepted as a pre-condition to work with the PDP. What are these values of the MNR?
The MNR believed that an Independent National Conference was imperative to negotiate more equitable terms of co-habitation as a nation-state in order to stem the tide of becoming a failed state. It was also the position of MNR that the Presidential System is too costly and prone to corrupt tendencies and therefore unsuitable for a multi-national country such as Nigeria. In its place, we advocated the parliamentary system, a more open and collegiate system that accommodates or is conducive to the country’s plurality. The MNR also believed that the states as they exist are too weak structurally to be true federating units, especially in the minority regions. In their place, the MNR proposed an eight regional structure and so, advocated the restructuring of the country-all of which will evolve into true federalism in political and economic terms. The PDP led by its then National Chairman Engr. Barnabas Gemade, included Chief Tony Anenih, Gov. Lucky Igbinedion and the Edo-State Chairman was non-committal. They said they will take back our conditions to the President and that was the last time we heard from them! End of story!! Do not ask me if we were politically naïve to think that the PDP would accept those conditions. However, what if they had agreed? Perhaps, we could have avoided or aborted the ethno-religious crisis of central Nigeria, the Niger Delta crisis, the Boko Haram terrorism of the North East and the Jam’aa Nasril Islam’s bombing of Jos and Abuja. Perhaps! Who knows, may be.
From that moment, it became clear that the conservatives would never agree to any system that will dissolve power along the lines of organic federating units. Which was why MNR joined other civil society and ethnic nationality groups to form the Pro-National Conference Organization, PRONACO? Now, PRONACO consisted of over 150 organized, autonomous groups where binding force was the quest for an agreeable system and structure of government that is best suited to out diversity. Those groups had their own ideas many of which were as divergent as the country’s diversity. It was the lot of PRONACO under the leadership of Chief Enahoro to harmonize the different viewpoints and get every group to agree on a common agenda. Was this an easy task? By no means!.
The government of Obasanjo wanted to scuttle the Peoples National Conference convoked by PRONACO in 2005, by faking a so-called National Political Reform Conference. He invited PRONACO leaders such as Chief Enahoro and Prof. Wole Soyinka and they declined. The rumble in PRONACO was therefore partially instigated from without, and Enahoro became a target for smear campaign, being the arrowhead of PRONACO.
As a voluntary organization driven by private-sector initiative, funding was also by voluntary donation by member-bodies and individuals, which were never adequate. Most donors did so under conditions of strict anonymity for fear of government’s backlash. The available funds had to be applied to the most important areas of need, especially the plenary sessions where vital decisions are taken. It was a situation, which does not lend itself to strict accounting procedure or the type of openness demanded by a few.
Without being or intending to be immodest, PRONACO was led by very strong characters who were difficult to buy over, to be persuaded, not easy to placate and steadfast on principles. A congregation of such human elements must experience its own combustion and so, it was not a surprise that Chief Enahoro and Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti had to clash over the question of accounting details. The feud was contained by the moderating role of Prof Soyinka assisted by Baba Omojola and others who played supportive roles in PRONACO. That we were able to conclude our self-given assignment by producing a Draft Constitution as mandated by the Peoples National Conference, was akin to a miracle. The full story of PRONACO will be told on a later date, when the individuals who made the feat possible will be unveiled and complimented. For a leader who had the courage and the vision to move a motion for Nigeria’s Independence in 1953, went to jail several times for the same reason went into exile twice in 1962 and 1997, formed MNR and PRONACO just to ensure the unity of Nigeria and steer her away from the path of disintegration, he was simply a colossus – a great statesman. It is only human that he had his faults, like everyone else. I am now convinced that Lilliputians are needed around a Colossus if only to show the difference between the two Chief Anthony E. Enahoro left great legacies, which are sure to outlive him. Adieu, the Adolor Uromi of Nigeria!
(Sam A. Onimisi was the Secretary General of Pro-National Conference Organization, PRONACO).
By Sam Onimisi
It has been a privilege for me to read various commentaries by different people on the person and life of Late Chief Anthony Enahoro. I have had the opportunity to pay tribute to the great man at his 87th birthday anniversary in July last year. On that occasion, I had said what was germane and enough for a birthday. Even now at his demise, I don’t see what else I could add to better what I had written, except that I need to recall some of what I said in view of certain opinion expressed by some people after his demise. It is also compelling to offer some explanation on certain issues to which I was privy and others which I had the good fortune of hearing from the icon of Nigerian nationalism.
“For those waiting for his demise to acknowledge and eulogize him, he is already a phenomenon whose followers are brimming with his progressive ideas that are sure to outlive him” This is part of what I said in tribute at his 87th birthday. Among those who paid tribute to him, Sam Omatseye of the Nation newspaper and another writer had raised three issues, which he regarded as standard yardstick by which they found it difficult to hold the late nationalist in high esteem. The issues are Chief Enahoro’s membership of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), his negotiation with the People’s Democratic Party in 2003 and the way he handled the finances of the Pro-National Conference Organization, PRONACO. Let it be known that I subscribe to the truism that no mortal man is perfect and neither Chief Enahoro, Sam Omatseye nor I is an exception. However, I also believe that some men are better than others in their efforts towards perfection.
In 2001, I summoned the courage to ask the late Chief Enahoro in an interview why he had to join the NPN in 1979. He said it was his friend, Chief Joseph Tarka who came to him and revealed that a cross-section of the chieftains of the NPN had offered him the presidential candidacy of the Party and sought for his support. Pa Enahoro said that given his knowledge of and friendship with J.S Tarka during their days in the opposition and in the Federal House of Representatives, coupled with their experience and travails in the hands of the conservative leaders of the NPC which became NPN, he could neither doubt nor deny J.S Tarka of his support. In addition, he reasoned that if ever a minority ethnic group will ever accede to the leadership of Nigeria in a democracy, the offer to Tarka was an excellent opportunity, which, he as an advocate of equal rights for minorities could not decline. To me, no reason could be more plausible, even if it led to a miscalculation or a mistake.
On the vexed question of Chief Enahoro’s parley with the PDP in 2003, I was privy to that negotiation as a member and Director of Research and Plans of the Movement for National Reformation, MNR. It all began when President Olusegun Obasanjo invited Chief Enahoro to work with him, and the Chief felt that he was a leader of a group and was obliged to inform his members before taking a decision. He summoned the N.E.C of MNR and tabled the issue before us. Majority of us advised against it on the ground that Obasanjo could not be trusted. Our fear was that our leader could be lured, used and dumped by OBJ as he was wont to do. We also feared that the PDP as a party of the establishment will not be comfortable with a progressive of the caliber of Chief Enahoro in their midst. As a consummate democrat, our leader opted to subject the offer to a wider spectrum of MNR and thereby summoned its National Working Committee. His view was that in a democracy, the minority and the majority must be given equal opportunity in decision-making process, and that which ever way the issue goes, no one will be the loser. At the NWC, it was resolved that the MNR should raise a team to negotiate with the PDP on condition that the core values and programme of MNR are non-negotiable and must be accepted as a pre-condition to work with the PDP. What are these values of the MNR?
The MNR believed that an Independent National Conference was imperative to negotiate more equitable terms of co-habitation as a nation-state in order to stem the tide of becoming a failed state. It was also the position of MNR that the Presidential System is too costly and prone to corrupt tendencies and therefore unsuitable for a multi-national country such as Nigeria. In its place, we advocated the parliamentary system, a more open and collegiate system that accommodates or is conducive to the country’s plurality. The MNR also believed that the states as they exist are too weak structurally to be true federating units, especially in the minority regions. In their place, the MNR proposed an eight regional structure and so, advocated the restructuring of the country-all of which will evolve into true federalism in political and economic terms. The PDP led by its then National Chairman Engr. Barnabas Gemade, included Chief Tony Anenih, Gov. Lucky Igbinedion and the Edo-State Chairman was non-committal. They said they will take back our conditions to the President and that was the last time we heard from them! End of story!! Do not ask me if we were politically naïve to think that the PDP would accept those conditions. However, what if they had agreed? Perhaps, we could have avoided or aborted the ethno-religious crisis of central Nigeria, the Niger Delta crisis, the Boko Haram terrorism of the North East and the Jam’aa Nasril Islam’s bombing of Jos and Abuja. Perhaps! Who knows, may be.
From that moment, it became clear that the conservatives would never agree to any system that will dissolve power along the lines of organic federating units. Which was why MNR joined other civil society and ethnic nationality groups to form the Pro-National Conference Organization, PRONACO? Now, PRONACO consisted of over 150 organized, autonomous groups where binding force was the quest for an agreeable system and structure of government that is best suited to out diversity. Those groups had their own ideas many of which were as divergent as the country’s diversity. It was the lot of PRONACO under the leadership of Chief Enahoro to harmonize the different viewpoints and get every group to agree on a common agenda. Was this an easy task? By no means!.
The government of Obasanjo wanted to scuttle the Peoples National Conference convoked by PRONACO in 2005, by faking a so-called National Political Reform Conference. He invited PRONACO leaders such as Chief Enahoro and Prof. Wole Soyinka and they declined. The rumble in PRONACO was therefore partially instigated from without, and Enahoro became a target for smear campaign, being the arrowhead of PRONACO.
As a voluntary organization driven by private-sector initiative, funding was also by voluntary donation by member-bodies and individuals, which were never adequate. Most donors did so under conditions of strict anonymity for fear of government’s backlash. The available funds had to be applied to the most important areas of need, especially the plenary sessions where vital decisions are taken. It was a situation, which does not lend itself to strict accounting procedure or the type of openness demanded by a few.
Without being or intending to be immodest, PRONACO was led by very strong characters who were difficult to buy over, to be persuaded, not easy to placate and steadfast on principles. A congregation of such human elements must experience its own combustion and so, it was not a surprise that Chief Enahoro and Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti had to clash over the question of accounting details. The feud was contained by the moderating role of Prof Soyinka assisted by Baba Omojola and others who played supportive roles in PRONACO. That we were able to conclude our self-given assignment by producing a Draft Constitution as mandated by the Peoples National Conference, was akin to a miracle. The full story of PRONACO will be told on a later date, when the individuals who made the feat possible will be unveiled and complimented. For a leader who had the courage and the vision to move a motion for Nigeria’s Independence in 1953, went to jail several times for the same reason went into exile twice in 1962 and 1997, formed MNR and PRONACO just to ensure the unity of Nigeria and steer her away from the path of disintegration, he was simply a colossus – a great statesman. It is only human that he had his faults, like everyone else. I am now convinced that Lilliputians are needed around a Colossus if only to show the difference between the two Chief Anthony E. Enahoro left great legacies, which are sure to outlive him. Adieu, the Adolor Uromi of Nigeria!
(Sam A. Onimisi was the Secretary General of Pro-National Conference Organization, PRONACO).
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Is Armageddon here already?
Is Armageddon here already?
By Sam Onimisi
In a religious conflict, it is hard to have some people who are neutrals. Not that you may not have a few but that no one will believe them. And the reason for this is not far-fetched. Religion is such an emotive issue that lends itself to blind followership. You don’t have to produce any evidence to convince people of the desirability of your religious faith. In any case, whatever evidence you labour to produce are mere fabrications to those who would never accept them, no matter how plausible the evidence is.
There are those who inherit there faith from their parents, having been born into it. Some choose their religious faith by conscious efforts with their eyes wide open. Others are forced or compelled into it by circumstances within and or beyond their control. Among the many religious faiths, Christianity and Islam are the most popular, especially among Nigerians. Both faiths originated from the Middle-East. Each claims to be the correct way to please God or to make heaven. If God is Allah, it means he is also the author of the Bible and the Quran; meaning that he is the same Supreme Being for whom the Church and the Mosque are built.
If God or Allah is the maker of Christians and Muslims, it means both are offspring of the same Father-God. In the Church as well as the Mosque, it is generally agreed that God has no wife; which is to say that no one can claim that his mother is the most senior or the favourite wife of God. In which case, there is no reason for rivalry or envy between the children of the same father whose mother is also the same. I don’t intend to pursue the argument further, because it will simply lead nowhere to those who have pitched their tents with either of the two faiths.
The Christmas eve bombing of Jos and attacks on Christians and churches in Maiduguri on the anniversary of the attempted bombing of an American aircraft by Abdul Farouk Mutallab of 2009 and the new year eve bombing of Abuja are eloquent reminders that there is a world of difference between Christians and Muslims. If our shared territory and habitation, inter-action and beneficial exchanges are not enough to see each other as humans, then no preachment or sermonization will ever do.
To the Jama’atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda awati Wal Jihan, the Islamic group who claimed credit for the bombings, they did so to remind us that “the disbelievers or non-Muslim in the world are fighting Islam and the entire Muslim community. So we must stand and strive to protect Islam and its ways of life, and would continue until God triumphed over the unbelievers in Nigeria.” So, the 21st century Jihad or holy war is declared?
But the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) as well as the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) both headed by the Sultan of Sokoto has condemned the attacks as an heinous crime. And so, we are left to choose who to believe between the bombers and the JNI/NSCIA. The choice is hard to make, to my mind. This is because the JNI/NSCIA has never ceased to condemn such dastardly and barbaric attacks in the recent past, except that the more they condemned it, the more the attacks are carried out in more horrendous torrents! The Ulama Elders Council, in a sanguine response claimed that atrocities were not restricted to Christian-dominated areas as shooting and maiming also occurred at a Muslim-dominated area of Jos. This is a maladroit manner of equalizing and therefore, justifying the bombing of Jos.
Let us assume for a moment that the bombers of Jos are god-forsaken dim-wits, who are misguided in their small minds that they could fight for Allah, shouldn’t their elders remind them that God and Allah are one? Or are we to take it that the fathers of those bombers must be nit-wits whose offspring must necessarily be dim-wits? Because they have now made it clear that God is different from Allah as they are fighting on the side of Allah against God. What the religious nincompoops of Jos are telling us is that between God and Allah, one must be evil while the other must be good and, when good and evil are fighting, it is fight-to-finish and thus, the employment of a more lethal weapon – the bomb!
The history of war teaches that the aggressor is he who attacks first; not only that, a clean war is often declared ahead of time to enable the other side prepare for war. But in Jos, the barbarians choose to raid or plant bombs when others are asleep. This surreptitious method of war, especially when it has a religious colouration is more of a satanic war than a holy war. And I don’t believe that Allah has any relationship with Satan. But the bastards of Jos are giving Allah a bad name by bombing their neighbours and hosts without warning, claiming to be fighting for Allah. They are simply cowards.
I am informed that no one drops from the sky to live here on earth. As the individual is born into a specific family, so each tribe or ethnic nation is born into a territory which they lay claim to as their land. No one can be at home and abroad at the same time, just as no one is an indigene and a settler all at once.
In contrasts however, religious faith is by choice and not by force. If a choice is not good, it can be exchanged for another in a free world. We must wait until we get to heaven where God or Allah rules to make religious choice compulsory; not here on planet earth.
Nomads and itinerant Nigerians are free to roam the land as citizens. They go about with their religion, their culture and way of life. What they cannot carry along is their land or territory. But does this grant them the license to appropriate other peoples land? Or impose their own choice of religion on others? Put in another way, if one is not a courteous guest, can he be a good host? No one is a universal prince. You are a prince only in your own territory, among your own people. If we pretend that the cause of the war in Jos is not ethno-religious and that it is not political, we will be deceiving ourselves. But bomb-making and bomb-throwing is not an exclusive preserve of one ethnic group or religious faith. When both sides are converted into bomb planting by choice or force, there shall be mutually assured destruction. If or when this happens, whom will God or Allah preside over? Someone had better advice their wards that are intent on senseless war to cease or commit suicide by poison rather than bomb planting. If they continue, why; then here is Armageddon!
By Sam Onimisi
In a religious conflict, it is hard to have some people who are neutrals. Not that you may not have a few but that no one will believe them. And the reason for this is not far-fetched. Religion is such an emotive issue that lends itself to blind followership. You don’t have to produce any evidence to convince people of the desirability of your religious faith. In any case, whatever evidence you labour to produce are mere fabrications to those who would never accept them, no matter how plausible the evidence is.
There are those who inherit there faith from their parents, having been born into it. Some choose their religious faith by conscious efforts with their eyes wide open. Others are forced or compelled into it by circumstances within and or beyond their control. Among the many religious faiths, Christianity and Islam are the most popular, especially among Nigerians. Both faiths originated from the Middle-East. Each claims to be the correct way to please God or to make heaven. If God is Allah, it means he is also the author of the Bible and the Quran; meaning that he is the same Supreme Being for whom the Church and the Mosque are built.
If God or Allah is the maker of Christians and Muslims, it means both are offspring of the same Father-God. In the Church as well as the Mosque, it is generally agreed that God has no wife; which is to say that no one can claim that his mother is the most senior or the favourite wife of God. In which case, there is no reason for rivalry or envy between the children of the same father whose mother is also the same. I don’t intend to pursue the argument further, because it will simply lead nowhere to those who have pitched their tents with either of the two faiths.
The Christmas eve bombing of Jos and attacks on Christians and churches in Maiduguri on the anniversary of the attempted bombing of an American aircraft by Abdul Farouk Mutallab of 2009 and the new year eve bombing of Abuja are eloquent reminders that there is a world of difference between Christians and Muslims. If our shared territory and habitation, inter-action and beneficial exchanges are not enough to see each other as humans, then no preachment or sermonization will ever do.
To the Jama’atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda awati Wal Jihan, the Islamic group who claimed credit for the bombings, they did so to remind us that “the disbelievers or non-Muslim in the world are fighting Islam and the entire Muslim community. So we must stand and strive to protect Islam and its ways of life, and would continue until God triumphed over the unbelievers in Nigeria.” So, the 21st century Jihad or holy war is declared?
But the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) as well as the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) both headed by the Sultan of Sokoto has condemned the attacks as an heinous crime. And so, we are left to choose who to believe between the bombers and the JNI/NSCIA. The choice is hard to make, to my mind. This is because the JNI/NSCIA has never ceased to condemn such dastardly and barbaric attacks in the recent past, except that the more they condemned it, the more the attacks are carried out in more horrendous torrents! The Ulama Elders Council, in a sanguine response claimed that atrocities were not restricted to Christian-dominated areas as shooting and maiming also occurred at a Muslim-dominated area of Jos. This is a maladroit manner of equalizing and therefore, justifying the bombing of Jos.
Let us assume for a moment that the bombers of Jos are god-forsaken dim-wits, who are misguided in their small minds that they could fight for Allah, shouldn’t their elders remind them that God and Allah are one? Or are we to take it that the fathers of those bombers must be nit-wits whose offspring must necessarily be dim-wits? Because they have now made it clear that God is different from Allah as they are fighting on the side of Allah against God. What the religious nincompoops of Jos are telling us is that between God and Allah, one must be evil while the other must be good and, when good and evil are fighting, it is fight-to-finish and thus, the employment of a more lethal weapon – the bomb!
The history of war teaches that the aggressor is he who attacks first; not only that, a clean war is often declared ahead of time to enable the other side prepare for war. But in Jos, the barbarians choose to raid or plant bombs when others are asleep. This surreptitious method of war, especially when it has a religious colouration is more of a satanic war than a holy war. And I don’t believe that Allah has any relationship with Satan. But the bastards of Jos are giving Allah a bad name by bombing their neighbours and hosts without warning, claiming to be fighting for Allah. They are simply cowards.
I am informed that no one drops from the sky to live here on earth. As the individual is born into a specific family, so each tribe or ethnic nation is born into a territory which they lay claim to as their land. No one can be at home and abroad at the same time, just as no one is an indigene and a settler all at once.
In contrasts however, religious faith is by choice and not by force. If a choice is not good, it can be exchanged for another in a free world. We must wait until we get to heaven where God or Allah rules to make religious choice compulsory; not here on planet earth.
Nomads and itinerant Nigerians are free to roam the land as citizens. They go about with their religion, their culture and way of life. What they cannot carry along is their land or territory. But does this grant them the license to appropriate other peoples land? Or impose their own choice of religion on others? Put in another way, if one is not a courteous guest, can he be a good host? No one is a universal prince. You are a prince only in your own territory, among your own people. If we pretend that the cause of the war in Jos is not ethno-religious and that it is not political, we will be deceiving ourselves. But bomb-making and bomb-throwing is not an exclusive preserve of one ethnic group or religious faith. When both sides are converted into bomb planting by choice or force, there shall be mutually assured destruction. If or when this happens, whom will God or Allah preside over? Someone had better advice their wards that are intent on senseless war to cease or commit suicide by poison rather than bomb planting. If they continue, why; then here is Armageddon!
The Dangers of Dual Citizenship
The Dangers of Dual Citizenship
By Sam Onimisi
By reason of failure of governance, it is becoming difficult to understand the meaning and values of citizenship. But who is a citizen and what is citizenship? Why not leave the definition till later, and let us explore backward with some illustrations? On 6th and 21st July 2005 – both days being Thursday, the British capital London had a sour taste of terror attacks by suicide bombers, which left death, injuries and destruction on their trails. Security agents had thought that some Osama Bin Laden’s disciples must have gained entry into the UK with forged passports to perpetrate the mayhem. But it was not so. It was discovered that the suicide bombers were citizens of Britain but of Arab descent, born, bred and resident in the U.K
Now the British policy on citizenship is that wherever your parents came from on planet earth, so long as they are residents of Britain, and if during that period you were born there, then you are an automatic British citizen with the same legal rights like the English, Irish, Scot or Welsh man. It is this policy which made thousands of Africans, Arabs and Asians citizens of the United Kingdom. There has been many other terror acts by Arabian descendants of British citizenship. Lets examine some other instances.
On November 5, 2009, an American army officer and psychiatrist shot dead 13 soldier/colleagues at Fort Hood, Texas U.S.A Major Nidal Malik Hassan was an American by residence and orientation of Arab descent and was said to have had contacts or connection with Yemen’s radical Muslim cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki.
Again, British police on 29 December 2010 charged nine men with conspiracy to cause explosions in what they described as an extensive terror plot against U.K targets. Who are these men? The West Midland Police identified them as Gurukanth Desai, Omar Sharif Latif, Abdul Malik Miah, Mohammed Moksudur Rahman, Nazam Hussain, Usman Kham and Abul Bosher Mohammed Shahjahan – all residents and citizens of Britain but of Arabian, Indian, Pakistan and Iranian descents. Citizens plotting against their country?
Again, on 29 December 2010, five suspected Islamist militants were arrested for planning a gun attack at Copenhagen, an attempt described by the Danish Justice minister Lars Barfoed as “the most serious attempt at terror so far in Denmark.” The suspects? They are Swedish citizens of Tunisian, Lebanese and Iraqi descents – all Muslims.
Here is another instance. Anya Kushchenko, daughter of a Russian diplomat was born in the UK and had an automatic British citizenship. She got married in 2002 to a Briton, Alex Chapman and so became Anna Chapman. She had dual Russian-U.K nationality. She became a spy for Russian, her nation of descent and in the process was arrested in New York U.S where “… she did not seek to conceal her Russian identity….” She was among 10 Russians arrested in the U.S who admitted to being agents for a foreign country, and were exchanged for four U.S spies in a swap carried out in Vienna on 9 July 2010.
At home here in Nigeria, some Hausa-Fulani Islamic terrorists threw bombs in Jos Plateau State on Christmas Eve, killing scores of people with the excuse of fighting unbelievers on behalf of Allah and Muslims. On the same day, they attacked Christian worshippers in Maiduguri, Borno State, killing about eight people and burnt down some churches. This instances and illustrations call to question the meaning and value attached to citizenship. If a people will forever owe allegiance to their ethnic nation of ancestry and descent, what is the need for making them citizens of your country or town just because they are residents? Has these suicide bombers in the four countries sited above not enough proofs that citizen-by-residence or orientation is a fictitious creation which does not endure?
What the terrorists have proved is that most human beings cannot or do not forget their ancestry easily nor do they play with it. How could you disprove this if Britons, Danish, American, Russian and Nigerians of Arab descent or faith could destroy “their own countries or towns” in retaliation for what they perceived these countries had done against Arabian and Islamic interests? In what practical ways does the crisis in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan or Somalia affects the British-born, or American-born Arab suicide bombers, if not their ethnic feelings for their fellow Arab brethren? If the Hausa-Fulani Islamic terrorists of Jos, regards the town as their home by virtue of their Nigerian citizenship, would they plant bombs to kill their ‘brothers’ and destroy their ‘town’? Or when and how many bombs have been thrown in Kano, Sokoto or Gusau by the Berom, Tiv or Jukun in order to kill Hausa-Fulani and take over their land or rule over them?
In Nigeria, immigrants and nomads have assumed the status of MOBILE CITIZENSHIP and acquired indigenous rights to boot; whereas other Nigerian ethnic groups cannot enjoy the same right outside their ancestral lands. Is it not when such assumed rights clashes with the interest and the rights of their host communities that ethno-religious conflicts erupt? Where do the rights and interests of migratory-cum-nomadic ethnic group’s ends, and where does the rights and interests of sedentary ethnic groups begins? Need we not harmonize the rights of both so that Nigerian citizenship will stop spinning riots, mayhem and bomb blasts? The majority and minority tribes each have their ancestral lands or territory which is their natural inheritance. When did one territory grow to swallow the other up? Does land grows or expands, if not by war or conquest? Is the Jos crisis a war by Hausa-Fulani to conquer the land of the Berom, Afizere and Bassa of Plateau State? Until these questions are answered, there can be no light out of the tunnel.
One of the main causes of the Jos crisis is the proximity and porous borders Nigeria shares with Niger and Cameroon. For instance, the Cameroon has as many Fulani as there are in Nigeria, while the Hausa is the dominant ethnic group in neighbouring Niger Republic, a tribe which also is a major ethnic group in Nigeria. It is not disputable that most Fulani’s are nomads just as most Hausas are itinerant traders and farmers. Our porous borders facilitate entrances for millions of immigrants from those countries into Nigeria, without relevant papers and have been granted automatic citizenship status by their host tribesmen whose numerical strength is thus enhanced. Fallout of this situation is that the bloated population of Kano, Katsina, Sokoto etc has over-stretched social infrastructure and facilities in those states which made drifting to neighbouring states inevitable. Whenever these immigrants sought to enjoy dual citizenship, they infringe on the natural and legal rights of their hosts, thus a clash of culture and faith arises.
The second reason or cause of the crisis in Jos is economic. Livestock industry is a universal avocation. But the Fulani is more known as cattle rarer than others even though they practice theirs on nomadic basis. The topography of Plateau State is conducive to livestock farming. This is probably why the Vetenary Research Institute is sited in Vom, which has trained many Nigerians, especially the indigenous people of Plateau State the art and science of livestock farming. Today, many Plateau State indigenes are owners of large livestock farms with better and modern management skills and so, are in serious competition with nomadic Fulani cattle men. This has bred rivalry and often results in accusation of cattle rustling against one another. Not only this, nomadic cattle-men seem to take delight in marching their cows into cultivated farm lands of crop farmers, wrecking destruction of hard-earned foodstuffs with impunity-resulting in clashes of various proportions.
The third cause of the Plateau crisis is religious. Perhaps religion might rank as the immediate cause as the immigrants and nomadic or itinerant traders are almost all Muslims while the host community are almost all Christians. In a milieu of economic rivalry, clash of faith, values and culture, especially when immigrants asserts rights which are non-concomitant with and impinge on the legal or natural rights and freedom of the indigenous people, conflicts become inevitable. The contrast is that Hausa-Fulani are mostly Islamic monotheist, the native Plateau people are mostly Christians plus some polytheists. One is claiming universal right of faith, even seeking to impose their values and the others are resisting such impositions, thus the seemingly endless ethno-religious crisis.
The fourth cause of the conflict is political. Large immigrant settlers concentrated themselves on Jos North Local Council Area. With their large number, they believe the area should be conceded to them to field candidates. But the natives also believe in their own numerical strength and insist that all seats must be contested so that whoever emerges the winner wins. Each time election approaches, one side devices or instigates trouble to make election disputable or impossible. The State authorities often resort to appointing an administrator, and that sparks protests by the settler-community. One unique feature of this crisis is that it has always been the Hausa-Fulani settlers who protests. Other Nigerians hardly contest the election or participate in the protests.
It is an irony that while Nigeria ceded Bakassi to the Cameroon, the Fulani’s of Cameroon enjoys dual citizenship of both countries. As no citizen could give loyalty to two countries on equal basis, permanent allegiance goes to their ethnic nation and here is where Nigeria is cheated, minus the Hausa-Fulani. If citizenship by residence has proved to be fictitious and dangerous to stability, same cannot be said of citizenship by descent. If your parents are Urbogbo for example, you cannot by any stretch of imagination or audacity, become Hausa-Fulani, just because you were born and resident in Kano or Dutse! Never!!
Citizenship by descent or procreation is immutable, regardless of where you are born or domicile. The act of procreation or descent knows no boundary in the sense that you are who you are if you must be identified by the offspring of your parents. Your loyalty or allegiance and kin-feelings, must of necessity, go to your ancestry and not to the people or territory in which you are domicile. The Arabian-Britons and others as sited above have proved this point beyond doubt, just as the Hausa-Fulani bombers of Jos. Dual or mobile citizenship only helps to swindle others of their heritage. There is no place for dual indigeneity as the bombers have demonstrated. The real issues therefore are ethnic nationalism, religious freedom and political rights. Who else to blame? The fraudulent rickety geo-political structures and the decadent systems of government put in place by successive military dictatorship are to blame.
Any unit of government which has no coercive force under its control is a helpless federating unit. Any federating unit without a constitution of its own-making is fundamentally deficient as a tier of government. And none of the 36 States has either a police force or a constitution and so, they remain vassalage of the all powerful centre, and whoever controls the centre makes a slave of the so-called states. The crisis in Jos started during Joshua Dariye’s tenure Governor Jonah David Jang inherited it. Removing him by a state of emergency cannot be the solution. The Plateau people seem not willing to hand over their land or government to others who has their own land and government back home. Until we meet at a national conference to resolve our differences, no ethnic religious group will surrender their rights to another in peace.
By Sam Onimisi
By reason of failure of governance, it is becoming difficult to understand the meaning and values of citizenship. But who is a citizen and what is citizenship? Why not leave the definition till later, and let us explore backward with some illustrations? On 6th and 21st July 2005 – both days being Thursday, the British capital London had a sour taste of terror attacks by suicide bombers, which left death, injuries and destruction on their trails. Security agents had thought that some Osama Bin Laden’s disciples must have gained entry into the UK with forged passports to perpetrate the mayhem. But it was not so. It was discovered that the suicide bombers were citizens of Britain but of Arab descent, born, bred and resident in the U.K
Now the British policy on citizenship is that wherever your parents came from on planet earth, so long as they are residents of Britain, and if during that period you were born there, then you are an automatic British citizen with the same legal rights like the English, Irish, Scot or Welsh man. It is this policy which made thousands of Africans, Arabs and Asians citizens of the United Kingdom. There has been many other terror acts by Arabian descendants of British citizenship. Lets examine some other instances.
On November 5, 2009, an American army officer and psychiatrist shot dead 13 soldier/colleagues at Fort Hood, Texas U.S.A Major Nidal Malik Hassan was an American by residence and orientation of Arab descent and was said to have had contacts or connection with Yemen’s radical Muslim cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki.
Again, British police on 29 December 2010 charged nine men with conspiracy to cause explosions in what they described as an extensive terror plot against U.K targets. Who are these men? The West Midland Police identified them as Gurukanth Desai, Omar Sharif Latif, Abdul Malik Miah, Mohammed Moksudur Rahman, Nazam Hussain, Usman Kham and Abul Bosher Mohammed Shahjahan – all residents and citizens of Britain but of Arabian, Indian, Pakistan and Iranian descents. Citizens plotting against their country?
Again, on 29 December 2010, five suspected Islamist militants were arrested for planning a gun attack at Copenhagen, an attempt described by the Danish Justice minister Lars Barfoed as “the most serious attempt at terror so far in Denmark.” The suspects? They are Swedish citizens of Tunisian, Lebanese and Iraqi descents – all Muslims.
Here is another instance. Anya Kushchenko, daughter of a Russian diplomat was born in the UK and had an automatic British citizenship. She got married in 2002 to a Briton, Alex Chapman and so became Anna Chapman. She had dual Russian-U.K nationality. She became a spy for Russian, her nation of descent and in the process was arrested in New York U.S where “… she did not seek to conceal her Russian identity….” She was among 10 Russians arrested in the U.S who admitted to being agents for a foreign country, and were exchanged for four U.S spies in a swap carried out in Vienna on 9 July 2010.
At home here in Nigeria, some Hausa-Fulani Islamic terrorists threw bombs in Jos Plateau State on Christmas Eve, killing scores of people with the excuse of fighting unbelievers on behalf of Allah and Muslims. On the same day, they attacked Christian worshippers in Maiduguri, Borno State, killing about eight people and burnt down some churches. This instances and illustrations call to question the meaning and value attached to citizenship. If a people will forever owe allegiance to their ethnic nation of ancestry and descent, what is the need for making them citizens of your country or town just because they are residents? Has these suicide bombers in the four countries sited above not enough proofs that citizen-by-residence or orientation is a fictitious creation which does not endure?
What the terrorists have proved is that most human beings cannot or do not forget their ancestry easily nor do they play with it. How could you disprove this if Britons, Danish, American, Russian and Nigerians of Arab descent or faith could destroy “their own countries or towns” in retaliation for what they perceived these countries had done against Arabian and Islamic interests? In what practical ways does the crisis in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan or Somalia affects the British-born, or American-born Arab suicide bombers, if not their ethnic feelings for their fellow Arab brethren? If the Hausa-Fulani Islamic terrorists of Jos, regards the town as their home by virtue of their Nigerian citizenship, would they plant bombs to kill their ‘brothers’ and destroy their ‘town’? Or when and how many bombs have been thrown in Kano, Sokoto or Gusau by the Berom, Tiv or Jukun in order to kill Hausa-Fulani and take over their land or rule over them?
In Nigeria, immigrants and nomads have assumed the status of MOBILE CITIZENSHIP and acquired indigenous rights to boot; whereas other Nigerian ethnic groups cannot enjoy the same right outside their ancestral lands. Is it not when such assumed rights clashes with the interest and the rights of their host communities that ethno-religious conflicts erupt? Where do the rights and interests of migratory-cum-nomadic ethnic group’s ends, and where does the rights and interests of sedentary ethnic groups begins? Need we not harmonize the rights of both so that Nigerian citizenship will stop spinning riots, mayhem and bomb blasts? The majority and minority tribes each have their ancestral lands or territory which is their natural inheritance. When did one territory grow to swallow the other up? Does land grows or expands, if not by war or conquest? Is the Jos crisis a war by Hausa-Fulani to conquer the land of the Berom, Afizere and Bassa of Plateau State? Until these questions are answered, there can be no light out of the tunnel.
One of the main causes of the Jos crisis is the proximity and porous borders Nigeria shares with Niger and Cameroon. For instance, the Cameroon has as many Fulani as there are in Nigeria, while the Hausa is the dominant ethnic group in neighbouring Niger Republic, a tribe which also is a major ethnic group in Nigeria. It is not disputable that most Fulani’s are nomads just as most Hausas are itinerant traders and farmers. Our porous borders facilitate entrances for millions of immigrants from those countries into Nigeria, without relevant papers and have been granted automatic citizenship status by their host tribesmen whose numerical strength is thus enhanced. Fallout of this situation is that the bloated population of Kano, Katsina, Sokoto etc has over-stretched social infrastructure and facilities in those states which made drifting to neighbouring states inevitable. Whenever these immigrants sought to enjoy dual citizenship, they infringe on the natural and legal rights of their hosts, thus a clash of culture and faith arises.
The second reason or cause of the crisis in Jos is economic. Livestock industry is a universal avocation. But the Fulani is more known as cattle rarer than others even though they practice theirs on nomadic basis. The topography of Plateau State is conducive to livestock farming. This is probably why the Vetenary Research Institute is sited in Vom, which has trained many Nigerians, especially the indigenous people of Plateau State the art and science of livestock farming. Today, many Plateau State indigenes are owners of large livestock farms with better and modern management skills and so, are in serious competition with nomadic Fulani cattle men. This has bred rivalry and often results in accusation of cattle rustling against one another. Not only this, nomadic cattle-men seem to take delight in marching their cows into cultivated farm lands of crop farmers, wrecking destruction of hard-earned foodstuffs with impunity-resulting in clashes of various proportions.
The third cause of the Plateau crisis is religious. Perhaps religion might rank as the immediate cause as the immigrants and nomadic or itinerant traders are almost all Muslims while the host community are almost all Christians. In a milieu of economic rivalry, clash of faith, values and culture, especially when immigrants asserts rights which are non-concomitant with and impinge on the legal or natural rights and freedom of the indigenous people, conflicts become inevitable. The contrast is that Hausa-Fulani are mostly Islamic monotheist, the native Plateau people are mostly Christians plus some polytheists. One is claiming universal right of faith, even seeking to impose their values and the others are resisting such impositions, thus the seemingly endless ethno-religious crisis.
The fourth cause of the conflict is political. Large immigrant settlers concentrated themselves on Jos North Local Council Area. With their large number, they believe the area should be conceded to them to field candidates. But the natives also believe in their own numerical strength and insist that all seats must be contested so that whoever emerges the winner wins. Each time election approaches, one side devices or instigates trouble to make election disputable or impossible. The State authorities often resort to appointing an administrator, and that sparks protests by the settler-community. One unique feature of this crisis is that it has always been the Hausa-Fulani settlers who protests. Other Nigerians hardly contest the election or participate in the protests.
It is an irony that while Nigeria ceded Bakassi to the Cameroon, the Fulani’s of Cameroon enjoys dual citizenship of both countries. As no citizen could give loyalty to two countries on equal basis, permanent allegiance goes to their ethnic nation and here is where Nigeria is cheated, minus the Hausa-Fulani. If citizenship by residence has proved to be fictitious and dangerous to stability, same cannot be said of citizenship by descent. If your parents are Urbogbo for example, you cannot by any stretch of imagination or audacity, become Hausa-Fulani, just because you were born and resident in Kano or Dutse! Never!!
Citizenship by descent or procreation is immutable, regardless of where you are born or domicile. The act of procreation or descent knows no boundary in the sense that you are who you are if you must be identified by the offspring of your parents. Your loyalty or allegiance and kin-feelings, must of necessity, go to your ancestry and not to the people or territory in which you are domicile. The Arabian-Britons and others as sited above have proved this point beyond doubt, just as the Hausa-Fulani bombers of Jos. Dual or mobile citizenship only helps to swindle others of their heritage. There is no place for dual indigeneity as the bombers have demonstrated. The real issues therefore are ethnic nationalism, religious freedom and political rights. Who else to blame? The fraudulent rickety geo-political structures and the decadent systems of government put in place by successive military dictatorship are to blame.
Any unit of government which has no coercive force under its control is a helpless federating unit. Any federating unit without a constitution of its own-making is fundamentally deficient as a tier of government. And none of the 36 States has either a police force or a constitution and so, they remain vassalage of the all powerful centre, and whoever controls the centre makes a slave of the so-called states. The crisis in Jos started during Joshua Dariye’s tenure Governor Jonah David Jang inherited it. Removing him by a state of emergency cannot be the solution. The Plateau people seem not willing to hand over their land or government to others who has their own land and government back home. Until we meet at a national conference to resolve our differences, no ethnic religious group will surrender their rights to another in peace.
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