POLITICS: MADU, SEUN AND STABILIZER

By Femi Abulude

There is this vibrant middle aged guy of Igbo extraction in my neighbourhood. His name is Maduabuchi but we fondly call him Madu. He is into electronics merchandise at Idumota Market in Lagos Island. He even claimed he has another branch at Alaba International Market along Badagry expressway, in Lagos. Madu is always ready to deliver electronics appliances and electrical wires at cheaper rates to willing residents.

Madu has also caught the Biafra bug. His voice was always the loudest among his peers whenever they were discussing national issues. Understandably, he always defended the Biafra course.

The following discussion took place between Madu and one of his friends Seun recently.

MADU:     Oga Seun, is it true that if we succeeded in this Biafra mandate, all the Igbos in Lagos would go home?

SEUN:       Madu, I am afraid, it would not only be in Lagos but throughout Nigeria. That is the home truth.

MADU:     What would then happen to my property here and my shops at Idumota and Alaba?

SEUN:       You may have to leave them or sell them. If you don’t want to do these, you may decide to carry them along with you.

MADU:     Carry them to where, Oga Seun?

SEUN:       To your village of course!

MADU:     You can’t be serious Oga Seun. Is it possible to carry house? Is it also true that I’ll have to obtain visa to come back to Nigeria?

SEUN:       Madu don’t put me in trouble. Is it possible for you to travel to another country without obtaining visa?

MADU:     So Nigeria would now become another country if we achieved Biafra?

SEUN:       Madu, provide the answer yourself. Please let us put an end to this discussion. I am no longer comfortable with it. How much is a set of stabilizer? I need a new one for my computer.

MADU:     Oga Seun you are dodging my question.

SEUN:       “Madu, me, I no know book!” When you are going to Idumota tomorrow call on me, so that you can collect the money for the stabilizer. I need it urgently.

MADU:     I get your message Oga Seun. We really need to stabilize this our country, Nigeria…

MADU:     (sings) This Nigeria na we own make he no pafuka…

POLITICS: AISHA’S OUTBURST; SAVING BUHARI FROM HIMSELF.

The media was Agog with Aisha Buhari’s outburst on how some cabals have hijacked power from her husband and core APC party faithfuls.

Her response to the question asked by the BBC Hausa reporter that what did she think was responsible for the slowness in the government was revealing. Aisha burst out like an overstretched dam. 

Excerpts:

“In my view I am not a government official and I speak as a woman and a mother. It is known that we will not have a smooth four – year tenure. The first problem is the way this government came into being. No one can say I brought this government into power. People came together and said enough is enough. Nearly half of this people are not involved in running it. They have brought some people who are not politicians, People who did not know what we said we would do and not do during the campaigns, some of them have come out to say they are not politicians but they are sitting in political positions.

Don’t forget some separated from their wives because of politics, some lost their children, some women lose their husbands;  there is nothing that did not happen. But now, with the way things are going, I am not happy because we just started the journey; we have not reached the end. We know that some people who labored have not been brought on board but now those who were  brought  and given positions like head of agencies for example, ( you see such a person fighting his state governor  because they couldn’t contest for the seat with him in PDP and the Governor in the APC, they traded insults), Today, such people are the ones calling the shots”.

If people are wondering about the timing of her Outburst, this was not her first attempt. During a dinner party organized in honor of APC women and Youths at the inception of this administration, Aisha had this to say;

“There is nothing people did not say about the past administration. It is not Jonathan that is not good but the people around him. So, the people that are going to be around General Buhari have to be very careful because this election ended peacefully. We are praying and hoping that people around him should know that it took him twelve years to get to that position and they must know that they are coming to serve the masses, Not General Buhari in Person. It is the people that are around him that will determine the political health of our state”.

The salient question here is that in whose interest is Aisha’s comment? Looking at it critically it all boils down to the general interest of Nigeria and Nigerians. Nigerians can only be great when we put our interest aside and put the interest of this great Nation on the top burner. This woman could have just kept quiet like most of the First ladies before her and kept on enjoying the pecks of affluence and power, but she has decided to be on the side of the masses. Perhaps, If Patience Jonathan had toiled this path, her husband would not have lost the election and shown the way out of the Aso rock villa the way he did.

Aisha’s statement has just confirmed the fear of the majority. People have been wondering if this was the CHANGE they bought line hook and sinker and voted for. It has been confirmed that the proponents of CHANGE are not the ones behind the driver’s seat. That is why the vehicle could not more smoothly. We are now in a period of uncertainty and this is dangerous, if we were to be in the military era, what is happening is a veritable excuse for a coup de tat!

How well do we even know about this man Buhari that we put all our hope on him? Here is a man that was told when he was the military head of states that Gen Ibrahim Babangida was planning to overthrow him. He called Babangida and accused him openly. That one did not deny the accusation but gave a flimsy excuse that some people accused him of brandishing a gun during one of their SMC meetings. The issue was laid to rest just like that. Few months later, Babangida swept him aside in a Palace Coup.

Aisha knew her husband inside out. Nigerians should sit up. There is fire on the mountain! Not Yet Uhuru!

POLITICS: CREATION OF GRAZING ZONES; LAND MINE IN WAITING.

By Femi Abulude

At independence, Nigeria was a relatively peaceful country. The skirmishes we had before then were protests and agitation for independence.

This relative peace was truncated by the 1966 coupists who sent the politicians parking from the political space of Nigeria.

Before you start crucifying  me or justifying the reasons for the coup, which they claimed was corruption in high places, nepotism etc. can one honestly say that the political leaders of that time were more corrupt that those leaders; military and civilians, who took over since 1966. The military who came with the corrective mantra failed woefully.

When General Muritala Mohammed took over from General Yakubu Gowon in a military coup. He set up a military tribunal. The outcome showed that ten out of the twelve military governors were indicted for corruption.

Don’t forget that it was the insensitive and parochial actions of the coupists led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu that set in motion what led to the civil war. After the war, which claimed millions of lives, Nigeria went back to the cocoon of peace, enjoying the petrol Naira boom.

Another rude kick at the peaceful existence of Nigeria was the misadventure of General Ibrahim Babangida and General Sani Abacha. The political gang mire was amicably settled in the usual Nigerian way and all the warring factions sheathed their swords.

Just from nowhere, Boko Haram group came in the guise of Islamic fundamentalists. The Muslims faithful at the initial stage thought they were genuine. They were soon proved wrong. In no long time, blood letting which was initially targeted at churches spread to markets and mosques! Prominent Northern leaders including Emirs and Village heads were attacked as well. Since the emergency of Boko Haram sect, the whole northern part of Nigeria, especially the North eastern part to be précised had not known peace.

Before the full scale attacks of Boko Haram sect, the Fulani herds’ men were always at logger heads with their host communities all over the country.  They were the ones that turned the peaceful Plateau area to perpetual war zone.

The Fulani’s are nomadic in nature; therefore they could not stay in a place. It has always been fisticuffs with the local farmers who claim that the cattle’s were destroying their farm produce.

The bone of contention now is the purported bill being sponsored in the federal house of parliament for the creation of grazing zones for Fulani herdsmen all over Nigeria. If this bill is passed, this will no doubt create an endless imbroglio.

A typical Fulani herdsman is a violent person. If you are in doubt, go and ask Chief Olu Falae, an elder statesman. The herdsmen did not only vandalize his farm serially, they went ahead and kidnapped him in his own farm and put a ransom on his head. He was lucky to come out alive to tell the story.

The herdsmen are always fully armed. perpetually battle ready. This makes the farmer always vulnerable. They would destroy their farm, rape their women and kill the farmers.

Creating a grazing zone means putting the herdsmen with the farmer in the same locality as permanent and legitimate neighbors. This can not work because a typical Fulani man thinks he has the power and he is superior over any other person any where. They did it with the Hausa Kanuri, the Yoruba in Ilorin, Zuru e.t.c. in the Northern part of the country despite their minority status.

My submission here is that, the herdsmen are in business of farming like any other farmer. Let them purchase their grazing land like cocoa or yam farmers would do anywhere. They should also be ready to comply with the norms of their host communities.

In conclusion, if the President, General Mohammed Buhari (Retd) wants us to believe his much touted statements that he belongs to all, let him treat this issue with fairness, and there would be peace.