By Ikeogu Oke
There is a sense in which the murderous rampage of the
so-called Fulani herdsmen and the other recent killings in our country –
particularly of the members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement
and the Shiite Muslims – can be said to be anti-Buhari.
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| *Buhari |
I have to point this out because
in a country where self-interest seems to trump everything else, especially in
leadership, it may be an effective way to get President Muhammadu Buhari to use
every means available to him to arrest this murderous march of anarchy being
viewed by some as a devious manifestation of the 2015 post-election
triumphalism of his Fulani people, and its nationwide and decidedly southward
spread that threatens our very existence as a nation. For we are witnessing a
pattern of seemingly well-orchestrated violence whose legacy of death and hate
may likely pit the South of the country against the North, with predictable
consequences for our nation’s peace, unity and stability should it be allowed
to fester any longer.
In the unlikely case that
President Buhari’s initial reticence about the carnage is the result of his
having asked himself, “What’s in stopping it for me?” and having not seen what,
drawing his attention to how stopping it might benefit him personally may prove
advantageous to the effort to end the menace, with he leading the charge as
Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces and the person
ultimately responsible for securing our country and the lives and property of
its citizens from being destroyed by the herdsmen.
Now, as an agent of change, Buhari promised to put a stop
to the reign of impunity in the land, with emphasis, it would seem, on the way
some of our public office holders allegedly helped themselves to the contents
of the public till, looting it without facing sanction and without
consideration for our country’s future.
