The Trouble With Buhari's Approach To National Security

By Onyiorah Paschal Chiduluemije

The recent massacre of scores of fellow Igbo and brethren in our homeland by the invading and marauding Fulani herdsmen and the seem­ingly implicit endorsement of their cruelty by the government (judging of course by what could arguably be regarded as a mere formality condemnation on the part of the Presidency that reluc­tantly had to speak on this nas­ty development following public condemnation of almost notori­ous indifference and/or taciturni­ty on matters concerning increas­ing Fulani herdsmen bestiality under this administration) is not just heart-rending, but also it is an indication that there is indeed a deliberate and desperate attempt by this inept administration to generally provoke Ndigbo with a view to compelling them to de­but with their worst case scenario panacea to containing litany of of­fensives against them so far.

 

*Buhari

Just a couple of weeks ago or so, the Directorate of State Securi­ty Service (DSS) under the seem­ingly malfunctioning leadership of Alhaji Lawal Daura – a Fulani man – roundly surprised all sane minds, when it reportedly told the public that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) allegedly mur­dered no less than Fulani folks in Abia state and readily buried them in a mass grave. Undoubt­edly, while many reasonable peo­ple across the globe still await to hear the last from the DSS in this regard and/or see proofs to sub­stantiate this preposterous asser­tion, it is increasingly crystal clear, as it were, that the only logically ascertainable prima facie intent of the leadership of the DSS under the watch of Muhammadu Bu­hari’s kinsman is to simply crim­inalise the IPOB in order to cre­ate and convey the impression to the international community that Ndigbo and Biafrans alike now parade their own wing of terror­ist group like the Hausa-Fulani Is­lamist terrorist Boko Haram sect. Indeed it is most unfortunate that under President Muhammadu Buhari, the DSS, a hitherto high­ly respected institution of the state, has abysmally become rid­iculed, compromised and relegat­ed to be serving the interest of the migrant Hausa-Fulani in Nigeria at the expense of the larger inter­ests of the real indigenous people of other nationalities of Nigeria.

Strangely enough, while the same leadership of the DSS un­der Alhaji Daura had never and still does not seem to care about disclosing to the public the actu­al number of lives that have been wasted under his watch by the marauding Fulani vermin in Ag­atu community of Benue state, among other places, and the level of damage done so far by his wan­dering kith and kin on the prop­erties of their host community, it is somewhat unbelievable that the DSS appears nowadays to be only “good” at and “alive” to its respon­sibilities whenever and where the interest and affairs of the Fulani/Hausa-Fulani become a fact in is­sue or are likely to be adversely affected vis-a-vis the competing interest and affairs of other folks.

What is more, it is by no means less disturbing, disappointing and, in fact, highly suspicious that despite early warning signals, in­dices and reports that reported­ly went viral within and beyond the Uzo Uwani L.G.A of Enugu State clearly pointing at the fact of the impending attack by the Fulani herdsmen, all the secu­rity agencies, including the sus­pect in the minds of many called the DSS, were understandably docile and as such most proba­bly inclined to treat the pre-at­tack concerns of this Igbo com­munity with near absolute levity, thereby invariably paving the way for the Fulani herdsmen to first carry out their dastardly and eth­nic cleansing act (perhaps in line with an already existing script) so as to later on avail President Mu­hammadu Buhari – their broth­er and patron – the opportunity and the much needed platform to broach and articulate the so-called “priority” of his “adminis­tration’s agenda” and “readiness to deploy all required personnel and resources to remove this new threat to the collective security of the nation”.

Meanwhile, granted that this afterthought announcement by Garba Shehu, the President’s Sen­ior Special Assistant on media, is ultimately coming now, it is not all the same illogical to submit that ab-initio the Buhari-led gov­ernment had perhaps consciously allowed the Fulani herdsmen the leeway to have a field day killing and maiming members of their host communities and/or their perceived enemies across the length and breadth of the coun­try. On the other hand, this an­nouncement of Buhari’s “priority” to bring to an end the so-called “new threat” which the activi­ties of the Fulani herdsmen pose to the “collective security of the nation” further implies that un­til now, the incessant carnage be­ing perpetrated by the Fulani in Agatu community of Benue state meant nothing to a man adjudged to be the President of all and as belonging to everybody, and to no one tribe (?). Besides, as one is inclined to ask, why would it take President Muhammadu Bu­hari, a Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces for that mat­ter, donkey’ ‘months’ and, more­over, the occurrence of the avoid­able killings of the Igbo folks of Uzo Uwani LGA of Enugu state before publicly acknowledging that the activities of his kith and kin constitute a “new threat” to lives and properties of law-abid­ing citizens?

Now come to think of it, as things stand now, it does really appear that whenever the Pres­ident’s kith and kin, the Fulani herdsmen, are involved in an is­sue whereby they are apparently on the trouble-making side, the Federal Government will be said to be “silently” working (apolo­gy to Alhaji Lia Muhammed) to bring it to an end(?). But, con­versely, whenever Ndigbo and Ni­ger-Delta people alike legitimate­ly attempt to put their grievances in proper democratic perspec­tives or even attempt to exercise their guaranteed rights to peace­ful assembly and self-determina­tion, President Muhammadu Bu­hari himself, not his minister or aide, will quickly and boisterous­ly rush out to the public domain to address the concerns and ag­itations of the Igbo and Niger-Deltans by either killing them or threatening them with assault in a manner reminiscent of what he and his ilk are wont to believe was their wonderful achievement as encapsulated in the mass mur­der of the Igbo people of the 20th century before and during the Ni­geria-Biafran civil war. Indeed, here lies the greatest trouble with President Muhammadu Buhari’s morbid thoughts and mind set and the resultant biased approach to the prevailing issues of nation­al security in the country.

*Chiduluemije, a Journalist, writes from Abuja via duluem­ije4justice@yahoo.com