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Informed Commentary Or Journalistic Hooliganism? Tuongo’s Tirades By Joseph
Dangme Rinyom Jos,
Nigeria. It is saddening to hear people speaking from both sides of the mouth. The tirades of Babayola Tuongo have in recent times become irritating. The rendition of “facts” are so twisted that one hardly recognizes the scenarios being presented. First,
Kano has a long history of volatility that defies any justification. The
eruptions of violence against non-indigenes in Kano dates back a long
time. Throughout the last decade, and even the preceding one, Kano has
found it expedient to kill, maim, loot and destroy non-indigenes
especially Christians and their properties at the slightest opportunity.
No, the “Kanonites” never needed any excuse to inflict untold misery
on others. Few examples of these instances may suffice. When Reinhardt
Bonnke was schedule to preach in Kano, Christians were attacked, killed
and their properties either looted or destroyed. When The MISS WORLD
beauty pageant was to be hosted in far away Abuja, Kano again erupted
and killed many non-muslims. And when America bombed Iraq, Christians
and non-muslims in Kano were held responsible for it and their blood
shed. Now that the Plateau man went on a reprisal attack, Kano again was
ever ready to make a “re-reprisal” attack on non-muslims on behalf
of their supposed “brothers” who they thought could not defend
themselves even when they had been on the giving end for long. This is
disregarding the countless times Kano had killed Christians on the basis
of religious reasons like the beheading of a Christian, poling his
detached head and running round the town of Kano amidst cheers by sick
heads. What barbarity exceeds that! Why should the conflict in Plateau
spill over only in Kano and not Sokoto, Kebbi, or even Zamfara? Why only
Kano. If anything, Kano has demonstrated that it reacts, deadly, against
non-indigenes in the event of any world event that they perceive as a
threat to Islam. This deserves an imposition of a perpetual emergency
rule (if this were possible) until other times and events indicate that
they realize we are all now living in a new civilization. What is the
guarantee that non-muslim residents in Kano will not be attacked again
in the event that Israel, in its confounded stubbornness, succeeds in
assassinating Arafat? Not to worry, Kano will sooner than later exhibit
its true colors again, then we shall see if Obasanjo can summon the guts
and courage to declare the deserved state of emergency that should tame
the old city. If it had been done now, some lives that would soon be
lost (not a prayer but more of a certainty) would be saved cause it
would serve as a deterrent for reacting to events that do not concern
them. If all states were to react to such events the way Kano does
Nigeria would be in flames. Think of reprisals in the other states of
Nigeria against the numerous killings that have become the hallmark of
Kano. Kano’s actions and reactions, like the Plateau events that
people scapegoat, are abhorrent and condemnable in the strongest terms.
If the state of emergency is to serve as a deterrent to other states
where violent conflicts have adopted a life all their own, then the
state of emergency in Kano would be a deterrent to all states that
possess the indignity of “return matches” even when the league does
not concern them. There is justice for you. Secondly,
it is on record that the Emir of Kano and other prominent elders had
tried to prevail on Mallam Shekarau, the Governor of Kano, to withhold
assent to the so-called protesters on the ground that no protest in
Kano, for whatever reason, had been non-violent. Shekarau did not only
refuse to hearken to their collective wisdom but played what he thought
was a political trump card-he decided to address the would-be murderers
in inflammatory terms. After declaring that it was the massacre of
Muslims in the world that emboldens them, he asked them not to indulge
in violence. He should have told that to the birds. You cannot set a dog
loose on people and ask it not to bite. Ha, what a convenient alibi! Shekarau
was also reported to have been angry over the deployment of soldiers and
mobile police units that were sent to quell the mayhem on the very first
day of violence. Consequently soldiers and the mobile police were
withdrawn and after a full day of rest, the murderers inflicted a worse
injury on their hapless targets. In fact many victims have reported that
the police and soldiers took part in the mayhem. Shekarau had the power
and wherewithal to put the violence to rest on the very first day but
opted not to. And the Tuongos sing the alleluia for Shekarau and requiem
for Dariye. What a world of contradictions. The period of time is
immaterial because both incidences resulted into the loss of thousands
of lives. Probably, more people lost their lives in Kano, if CAN had
their figures right. More saddening are those who maintain that some few
hoodlums hijacked the protest. Wise up or keep silent. Not everyone is a
fool. Both Governors are therefore culpable, period. Thirdly,
Tuongo’s portrayal of the Jos crisis is one of continuous bloodbath
all three years round. Far from it. It consisted of spells of death
separated, as usual, by long periods of perceived peace until the next
eruption. The exception was the last when the people that had for long
been on the receiving end of the conflicts did not tarry long to indulge
themselves in a commando-style reprisal. When it suited Tuongo’s
friends, the world was silent and there was no problem on the Plateau.
When it turned icy on them, the world suddenly found a voice to condemn
the hitherto persecuted. Now that Tuongo’s kinsmen are on the prowl
again, killing and destroying, even in the heat of the state of
emergency, the drums of condemnation are now still and silent. But to
put things in perspective, the Delta region has witnessed more gory and
consistent ethnic violence than the plateau.
Lagos has never been out of the news over violence be it armed
robbery, murder, OPC or other conflicts. Kano has a record of killing
thousands of people at will for trumped up excuses. No, the Plateau is
not a study in continuous bloodbath. Tuongo seems to be far away from
the Plateau as the people he accuses of journalistic hooliganism. Additionally,
it is tiresome to hear people like Tuongo vilify Dariye, who until
recently was the brain behind the support that the Hausa Muslims in Jos
had. For instance, when the Hausa Muslims sacked the predominantly Tarok
in an inexplicable raid, Dariye, it was, who defended them. For his
reward, Wase rigged the elections in his favor since any person other
than the Hausa Muslim could dare go into Wase and live to tell the
story. When the Ultra-Modern Main Market, the pride of the Plateau, was
bombed in an al-quadic style, Dariye wept openly but for political
expediency refused to expose and prosecute the obvious perpetrators. On
several occasions, lorry loads of weapons and ammunitions were
intercepted in the state. The Governor set them free and protected their
identity and those of their sponsors. Eventually, he got fed up and
voiced his concerns and the Tuongos call these inflammatory statements.
No sir, the statements were but the expression of the truth Dariye had
been shielding for long in anticipation that the crises would die a
natural death! What pity. He did not reckon with his political friends
penchant for total subjugation of their perceived enemies and
underestimated their resolve to annihilate the people of the Plateau.
His is the typical example of a convenient relationship gone sour. When
the white papers and results of investigations into the crises are
eventually published and publicly presented, the truth shall surface and
the troublemakers shall surely be exposed to the world. I hope that
Dariye takes his share of the blame as an accessory to murders against
the Plateau man. Talking
about Tuongo’s reverend Ulamas, it was their regrouping on the Plateau
that ignited the crises in the first place. Kaduna never found peace
until it purged itself of the Ulamas. Plateau, being the cradle of
hospitality, foolishly accepted and housed them and now pays the price
for its folly. A frog does not run in the daytime for nothing.
Dariye’s statements on the Ulamas could not have been for any hidden
motive. For long he had accommodated them and their seemingly
inexhaustible ingenuity at fomenting and sustaining bloody conflicts. He
had grown tired of appealing to them to spare Plateau State their
eternal hatred and wrath without success. When he decided to take some
actions his “friends” turned against him and his statements were
smeared with the tag of sectionalism. If you remember well he attempted
to banish the so-called Ulamas from the state and that marked the
beginning of the Yelwa crisis. Check it out. Even
as at now, the killings still continue in Plateau State as if a state of
emergency did not exist. In the last two weeks more than ten communities
have been sacked and more than a hundred people killed by the rampaging
Fulani militia. That should be the new discussion. Why is the violence
still going on in spite of the state of emergency? Why has the sole
administrator not taken any positive action to fish out the perpetrators
of this new conflict and bring them to justice to deter others from
acting likewise? Could they be waiting for the persecuted to get tired
of waiting for justice, attempt to take the laws into his own hands and
make a reprisal attack before the government acts against him? Could it
be an agenda meant to lure the stubborn plateau man into the hands of
the waiting government full military might in the event that the refuse
to allow themselves to be annihilated? All that the administrator, Gen.
Alli, can think of is a death penalty on imaginary cattle rustlers. And
all that the Tuongos can cook up is perceived journalistic hooliganism.
What happens if the sacked villagers regroup and attack? Tell me about
commentary hooliganism. |