El-Rufai And The Genocide In Southern Kaduna

By Moses Ochonu

I don't envy my brother, Samuel Aruwan, his job as Press Secretary to Governor Nasir el-Rufai. It is becoming increasingly impossible to defend and rationalize the tyranny and erratic dictatorial tendencies of the governor. As governor, he seems to think that the state he governs is his private estate to control and dominate, and that he is beyond reproach.

*President Buhari and Nasir el-Rufai

And now, it is safe to say we can add the crime of insensitivity and incompetence to the governor's list of infractions. I couldn't believe the headline when I saw it: "How I Paid Fulani Herdsmen to Stop Kaduna Killings—El-Rufai." Alas, there is absolutely nothing factually incorrect about the headline, only a little sensationalism, which is what newspaper headlines do. To counter the Vanguard story, Samuel Aruwan has released the complete transcript of Governor el-Rufai's chat with select journalists. The part of the transcript dealing with the ongoing massacres in Southern Kaduna proves that the Vanguard report, which copiously quotes the governor's own words verbatim, faithfully reflects what the governor said. The quotes are completely accurate. You can question the obvious sensationalism of the headline, but el-Rufai practically cast that headline for them with his words. So here is what the governor scandalously confessed to:

1. The governor said Fulani herders from Niger, Cameroon, Chad, and other neighboring West African countries are responsible for the massacres, which he claims are revenge for the loss of their cattle and kinsmen during the 2011 post election crisis.

Perhaps this is true. Perhaps he is merely trying to externalize the problem. It is always very convenient to blame foreigners. Even Buhari did the same when Agatu happened. What el-Rufai does not realize is that blaming foreign Fulani herdsmen is self-indicting. It also indicts our security services and the administration of President Buhari. For how is it that these Fulani from neighboring countries are able to breach our borders at will while fully armed and make their way deep into the Southern Kaduna hinterlands, murder women and children, burn down whole communities, and melt away unchallenged to visit the same genocidal treatment on another community? At the very least, it indicates that we've totally lost control of our northern borders. The way the governor said it indicates that he doesn't see this breach of our borders by armed herdsmen as a problem. Rather, for reasons known only to him, he sees it as a normal seasonal migration by herdsmen. Does our border not mean anything?