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The Atrocious Fulani "Deportation" By Nafata Bamaguje
I’m not sure what informed the abhorrent deportation of Fulanis from Wase local government in Plateau state to neighbouring states, but it is a very bad idea that is bound to be counterproductive, as it plays into the hands of violent Islamists up here in the North who are always looking for excuse to exterminate non-Muslims. They can invoke this unconstitutional impunity as a jihadist battle cry to unleash mayhem.
The Ahmed Datti led Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria has already picked up the gauntlet and fired a salvo in a provocative Daily Trust advertorial. MULAN (Muslim lawyers association of Nigeria) has fired yet another. Islamic propagandists, whose stock in trade is playing victim even when Muslims are the obvious aggressors, now have a field day.
The lame excuses so far offered by the Plateau state government insult our collective intelligence. That these recent Fulani migrants came in trucks - not on foot as expected of nomadic Fulanis - and they therefore pose a security risk, is utterly stupid. So modernity should by-pass Fulanis who are now prohibited from traveling in vehicles ?
It is not uncommon here in the North, for the downtrodden masses who can’t afford the pricey fares charged by commercial passenger transport, to hitch a ride on the back of trucks. Hence the means of transportation cannot be reason to infringe on the constitutional rights of law abiding Nigerians to migrate and live in any part of this country.
That the migrants moved in after the recent Jos Mayhem is also insufficient reason to deprive them of their constitutional rights, particularly as these were whole families including women and children who couldn’t possibly be mercenary Jihadists. At least we’ve not degenerated to the barbaric insanity of Palestinians and Iraqis who strap their women and children with bombs for suicidal jihadi attacks. Furthermore, the tenuous connection to the Jos crisis is mischievous as neither Bashar people nor Wase local government were involved in that conflict.
If there was any reason, to suspect the intentions of some the migrants, then it is up to our security agencies to monitor and fish out the dangerous characters, rather than the collective punishment of bundling whole families, men, women & children onto trucks – the same means of transport for which they are being chastised – then forcibly “deporting” them to other states.
The tall story about Plateau government assisting the Fulanis with voluntary relocation is bullshit. Why were armed soldiers and police men mobilized if the relocation was voluntary ?
There are other ways of averting pastoralist-farmer clashes - if that was the fear - rather than forced deportation of citizens in their own country. Pastoral Fulanis are indeed bona fide citizens whose cattle rearing serve an essential economic need. Governments at all levels must stop viewing them as societal nuisance and work towards innovative long term solutions such as setting aside, irrigating and cultivating grazing land with mechanized production of animal feed.
Governor Jang’s unrepentant harangue against Daily Trust for rightly making an issue of his dangerous assault on our constitution was totally uncalled for and has definitely not helped matters. It was downright puerile and gives the impression that Da Jang doesn’t understand the role of the media in a democracy. Daily Trust is not obliged to join the conspiratorial silence of other biased news media.
My only grudge against the Islamo-jingoists at the Daily Trust is their selectivity in challenging constitutional breaches. They have been conspicuously reticent about Muslim supremacists imposing their alien Arab pseudo-religion in the governance of several Northern states, and running an illegal religious police that habitually tramples on the constitutional rights of law abiding citizens (Muslim and non-Muslim alike) as it enforces Islamic law, contrary to our secular constitution. This indicates that Daily Trust is not motivated by principle in its criticism of the Fulani deportation, but by narrow-minded ethno-religious chauvinism.
The nonsensical idea of “deporting” law abiding citizens in their own country is heinously repugnant and borders on ethnic cleansing which is not just unconstitutional, but a crime against humanity. It is completely at odds with democratic and human rights norms, particularly in an administration that prides it self on the “rule of law”. Stalin’s brutal deportation of millions of Armenians to Siberia, sadly comes to mind.
There are several unanswered questions about this “deportation” saga. The involvement of Federal security agencies like the Police, Army and Civil Defence corps implies Aso Rock’s approval, hence the loud silence of the Fulani led (Yar Adua) Federal government on this sore issue. This is more so as governors of the states where the Fulanis were deported have also been noticeably tight-lipped, which suggests they are all part of some grand conspiracy orchestrated from Abuja.
Perhaps there’s something about the deportation they are not telling us. Yar Adua must speak up and clarify his involvement rather than let governor Jang take all the heat. Otherwise we risk establishing a dangerous precedent that is inimical to the unity of our troubled nation. Sooner or later, other supposedly troublesome settler communities might similarly be “deported”.
Tivs could be “deported” from Taraba / Nasarawa, and Igbos from Kano for repeatedly frustrating Sharia implementation by persistently operating beer parlours and other alcohol joints in contravention of Hisbah enforced Islamic law. We could even deport Ijaws from the Niger Delta to end their secessionist insurrection. Don’t ask me where to…Fernando Po? Atlantic Ocean? After all “wetin good for fish, good for Ijaw man”.
On a more serious note, our inept so-called leaders should live up to their leadership responsibilities and alleviate the socio-economic deprivation that usually underlies ethno-religious strife, rather than ill-thought short-sighted non-solutions like ethnic deportation, which fan the embers of ethno-sectarian discord and risk tearing apart our fragile nation.
Nafata Bamaguje Daura, Katsina state |