02082020 - Miyetti Allah attacks Christain Elders, Afenifere, Ohanaeze over S/Kaduna Killings

More documents

Recommendations

Info

PAGE 6—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2020 Miyetti Allah hits back at Afenifere,Ohanaeze, SOKAPU, Christian leaders •Southern Kaduna women protesting against killings by suspected herdsmen Continued from page 5 Urban and the northern part were fighting, but in Southern Kaduna, they termed it a religious crisis and sacked almost 15 Muslim-dominated villages. The areas affected include Zonkwoa, Masiriga, Walijo, Kamuru Ikulu, Maraban Walijo and Sabon Gari Kwoi. A few people who escaped are now taking refuge in Kagarko and Saminaka. Even Kagoro town was attacked. The present chief of Kagoro went to Saminaka to beg those who escaped to come back to Kagoro. All these people that were killed and chased out because of political crisis, their votes counted during that election. Who voted? Is it fair to kill people because they want to be in power? They should not be blaming Fulani. What role does indigene/ settler issue play in this crisis? Whatever is happening, in the history of Southern Kaduna, we are the indigenous Fulani of Southern Kaduna. We have never had a problem with any tribe in Southern Kaduna. They too can attest to this and they will never say that they know the day the Fulani people came to Southern Kaduna. They saw us there and we saw them there. We have been there for donkey years. Before the jihadists came to Sokoto, we were in Southern Kaduna. But they are claiming to be the natives… We are also natives. They are not older than us in that area. In Southern Kaduna, the oldest person will tell you that we have all been together for ages. In the 1940s, a group of people came to attack the Kagoro people. When they were on a hill, the Fulani gathered and defended them. The Fulani helped them to defeat the attackers. We were living in peace with them. Unfortunately, they ventured into the killing of innocent people because of vested interests. We the indigenous Fulani do not have a problem. But the families of pastoral Fulani, who they are killing, are the people avenging. Why did the Southern Kaduna people attack them in the first place? What was their crime? If you have a problem with your neighbor, sort it out instead of using religion as an excuse to kill. If you use religion, you are not fair. What about the claim that the Fulani in Southern Kaduna connive with Fulani mercenaries to attack Southern Kaduna villages? That is not true. We don’t know if any Fulani militia exists there. These criminals attacking people anyhow are the same criminals attacking people in Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara, Birnin Gwari, and Igabi Local Government Area among others. Instead of them to call us so that we all can join hands together to find a solution, they are blaming us. We are also victims of those criminals. We are not colluding with anybody. For instance, before the criminals steal two of the bulls the Southern Kaduna people are using for farming, they must have rustled more than 100 cows belonging to Fulani. And when such happens, they start blaming the entire Fulani. That is unjust. These criminals do not have religion or tribe. Whenever they are arrested, we discover that there is no tribe that is not involved, even southerners are among them. Some are even helping them to provide arms. Who are the gunrunners taking ammunitions to the criminals in the forests? People should find out. Almost every tribe is involved, but those criminals do not represent their tribes and religions. They represent themselves as criminals. People should call them what they are. Because a Fulani man is found among them does not warrant saying that all Fulani are bad. Their people are also involved in all these social vices. They should stop tribalising criminals. If they are criminals, they are criminals. If they are attackers, they are attackers, if they are kidnappers, they are kidnappers. From your account, the Fulani are also victims, but in many narratives, they are portrayed as villains. Why is it so? The Fulani do not tell their story because we don’t have access to the media like the Southern Kaduna people. Our people are too typical. Our people are defenceless and voiceless. We don’t have enough elites, we don’t have police and we don’t have many journalists who could state our plight. Our people are just typical herdsmen who live in the forests. All they know is to rear their cattle, eat and live. They don’t know how to carry out media propaganda. Even the governor said the Fulani they are accusing do not talk when they are killed. But when they carry out a retaliatory attack, people start making noise. And the Fulani would not forgive you for killing them, because they don’t know what offence they have committed to have warranted the killings. If Southern Kaduna people have a problem with the Hausa, it should be between them and not the Fulani. The larger Now, even Ohanaeze, Afenifere, and Yoruba elders are talking because the Southern Kaduna people have given it political colors communities and constituencies belong to both of them, Hausa and Southern Kaduna. What is the business of the Fulani man in that? Because we are voiceless, they are blaming us all the time. When we addressed a press conference last June on the incident, they started castigating us, saying we were lying. Now, that the victims’ families are retaliating they are calling it genocide. But when they were killing those they killed, did they talk? We even called on government to take proactive measures, which they did. But security is limited to highways and villages. In remote areas, there is no security. Our people are in remote areas where there is no security. Such a situation makes us defenceless. Since you have established that the Fulani are also victims of the Southern Kaduna crisis, can you count the cost on the side of the Fulani? Last June, we lost 99 people in the Zangon Kataf crisis in Atyap Kingdom. We lost over 2, 000 cows. Some are still missing. Some were killed and burnt. Our houses were destroyed. There was a reprisal that happened in Kukum in Kaura Local Government Area last February. Kukum is very close to Masiriga in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area. Kukum is in Kaura Local Government Area. There was a problem between two people in Masiriga, The feuding parties are of the same tribe, Baju. There was a court case and one won. The person who lost was angry, saying the man who won bought the judgment. He went to the man’s house to kill him at night but didn’t meet the man. He killed the man’s two children who he met. The next day, people said it was the Fulani who came and killed the man’s children. Baju people in that area said it wasn’t Fulani people that killed but a Baju man. Even the person who committed the crime said he was the one who did it. Baju people in the area protected the Fulani people against any attack, but the people of Kukum, who are Kagoro by tribe, started killing Fulani people in Kukum. They killed eight Fulani people while 80 cows got missing. Last Sunday, the victims’ families carried out retaliatory attack and the Southern Kaduna people started making noise. I have the pictures of the cows they killed when Southern Kaduna people first attacked the Fulani. In another incident very close to Garaji, Fulani people from Gombe State were passing and stopped over at a filling station to refill their vehicle only for these people to attack the vehicle and burnt the passengers inside. They were killed because they were Fulani. Their members didn’t waste time to retaliate. That is why Southern Kaduna people are making noise. But why did they start the crisis by killing innocent people? You killed people and their members retaliated, but you keep on blaming government. Yesterday, a reverend told us that those who killed Fulani people at the filling station were Christians. And those who killed Christians in that community must be Muslims. Whether they are Fulani or not, we don’t even know. This crisis is purely a product of the killing of innocent people. Did the people who retaliated go to Masiriga? They didn’t because Masiriga people didn’t kill anybody. They went to Kukum where their people were killed. Now, even Ohanaeze, Afenifere, and Yoruba elders are talking because the Southern Kaduna people have given it political colors. They are supporting Southern Kaduna people because they do not know the true story. Instead of finding out what is happening, they are talking because of the falsehood that the Fulani are killing Christians in Southern Kaduna. For that reason, every southern Christian is concerned. If there is a problem, Southern Kaduna people should stop waylaying and killing people on the highway. The travelers they are killing are innocent. Do you think their people would leave you for killing their person for no cause? What they are doing is causing more harm than good, because it is not a remedy. If people attack you, take a legal action instead of killing people. How true is the claim that the Fulani sack communities and take over the places? They should name the community that has been sacked, claimed and renamed. In Ungwan Rimi Baju, the village of the SOKAPU President, Muslims were killed during the 2011 post-election crisis. He didn’t talk. Nobody said anything and the community is living in peace to date. Saying that the Fulani are invading and sacking communities is wrong. The arguments are baseless. Southern Kaduna people are even the ones coming from the remote areas to the towns because all the historical towns in Southern Kaduna are being inhabited by the Hausa. All these Southern Kaduna tribes were in remote areas. They are now coming to civilization. Is there any Kataf village that is older than Zango Urban? The District Head has been in that community since the time of the colonial masters. Zangon Kataf Local Government Area was under the district for donkey years. Where did Southern Kaduna people get civilisation? They got it from the Hausa. Before western civilisation, the civilisation in the North was Egyptian. But the southern part of the country got its own from western powers. Your submissions show that you are desirous of peace. How can a lasting solution be achieved? There can only be peace when all the tribes in Southern Kaduna stop considering us as second class citizens or foreigners in the area. We are not. They know we are not foreigners. They know that they are not more Southern Kaduna than us. They know they are not more indigenous than us. Because our people did not obtain western education does not mean we should be treated as if we are just coming. We are no newcomers there. In what could be termed an expression of hopelessness, the army, last Tuesday, said it lacked the required manpower to provide security in the troubled areas. To an extent, the statement justified reports in many quarters that Southern Kaduna lacks security. What is Miyetti Allah’s proposing in this regard? The communities should be brought together to form community guards. The guards should represent all the people living in the area. They should come together and form a vigilante group that comprises of every tribe in the area. They should not take more Kagoro, more Baju or more Fulani. They should take equal numbers so there won’t be suspicions. They should work hand-in-hand with security agencies. Does the idea of a peace and reconciliation committee on the matter appeal to you? It is a very good idea. There should be sincerity of purpose. There should be a levelplaying field for everyone in the committee. We can’t object to such an idea because we are a peace-loving community. The people of Southern Kaduna should be asked if there is any community that has ever had any problem with Fulani among the 53 Southern Kaduna tribes that are predominantly Christians. The answer is no. It is because we are not lazy. We are productive. For instance, in Jabba community where the people are ginger farmers, they can’t do without Fulani people. In dry season, they beg the Fulani to come to their land to make it fertile for cultivation. They even pay Fulani to stay in their farms and make Fulani huts for the herdsmen to live. During rainy season, the Fulani leave after making the land fertile. Our people are the most peaceful in Southern Kaduna. If a peace and reconciliation committee that would represent every interest would be set up, we are in support of it.
SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2020, PAGE 7 .uk DESOPADEC: Era of Abandoned Projects is Gone —Bashorun Askia Ogieh Bashorun Askia Ogieh is the (IC) to the biometric machines to avoid Managing Director/Chief being compromised by dubious staff or Executive Officer of Delta people of such shady mindset. So, the State Oil Producing Areas biometrics machine is already Development Commission, programmed to address truancy and serve DESOPADEC. In this interview, he as unimpeachable evidence to support such talks about the innovations his board exercise. This will enable us to determine if introduced in the last one year to meet there is an attempted compromise of that the development challenges of the system. mandate areas and the many The MD/CEO or any of the management successes achieved so far. staff can check any of the staff biometrics details for any particular month from his/ The Delta State Governor In His her mobile phone, anywhere in the world. Wisdom And Choice Appointed You This is a big boost to what we have and As The Managing Director/Chief the moment the staff saw that we were Executive Officer Of The Board And transparent about what we were doing, From His Citation, You Came In With and they can also attest to this attendance A Rich Bouquet Of Corporate details, of course they just keyed in. These Governance Experience As A Banker, are some of the new orders we brought A Broadcaster, An Accountant, A and they have been very effective in Technocrat And Of Course An rejigging the system. Again, there is need Administrator, Being A One-Time to state here that for every infraction that Local Government Chairman As Well violates our rules, there are consequences. As An International Business Man, It is not peculiar to our Commission. This Capping It Up With Being A Total was what informed salary deduction, Grassroots Politician. How Would forfeiture or query, depending on the You Say These Credentials Have magnitude of the offence. What that Actually Prepared You For The means is that if you do not come to work for Position? certain months, of course you would lose Ordinarily, the experiences in my many your entire salary for that month or those years in the private and in public sectors months as the case may be. Also, if for some have actually put me in a good stead for number of days, you were not here, you this job, and I do know also that the job would have to forfeit a portion of your salary itself is not just about my own experience, deducted on pro rata basis. Of course, these because the management of the were carefully kept in an escrow account. Commission is not a one-man affair. It is And in an era where people think that something that we have to do, and are doing, whatever you keep for government is easy jointly, particularly with my colleagues and to prey on, we don’t do that here. We kept the executive management board and that fund as an overtime and it grew. I want indeed the other members of the larger to believe that you are already aware that Board. we are trying to put in place a DESOPADEC Like you said, I have been here before as Tower, to connect this block to the last block the Executive Director, Finance and at the back. This is so that we can have a Administration and I was also in a very key very big complex here. position that exposed me to the running of Now, that project, when finances became DESOPADEC. And these all put together low for the state and we needed to start it, have actually positioned me in a very good we had to approach His Excellency, the stead. So, my understanding of the workings Governor to allow us access that fund that of DESOPADEC as a grassroots person was accruable to these defaulters. And by remains a huge leverage for me and the the time we decided to check that account, assignment thrust on me by His Excellency, it had risen to 289,000,000.00 (Two the Governor. I have come to use my wealth Hundred and Eighty Nine Million) which of experience to better the lives of my His Excellency graciously authorized and people, to reach them at their point of needs approved that we should commence the and to effectively deliver on the mandate of project with. And that is what we are doing the Commission. now. So, the people can see that the fund they forfeited for playing truancy with their job is being judiciously channeled into something to the benefit of all and it is not touched by anybody. When you do things like this and you are transparent, of course our people would appreciate you. On One Occasion, You Did Say You Were Here With A New Song. We Would Want To Ask What Exactly Is This New Song And How Acceptable Has This New Song Been Thus Far? Well, when we came on board, it was very necessary for us to do a bit of rebranding, because, like I said, I have been here before. I know the few areas where errors were made at the Board level. And my own is to ensure that these things are corrected. And people were just taking advantage of the system. We also needed to ensure that we did more and so, we started placing the HODs in positions that we felt were most appropriate to their training and background; where they could put in more in terms of their output by placing round pegs in round holes. And so, we did that rebranding along the line. Overtime, we started in the last Board – like this issue of biometrics, to ensure that our staffers come to the office and that they earn salaries as appropriate and not just sitting at home. DESOPADEC, before the last Board, had been veiled in that toga of complacency, where anything goes. When we came on board, with the experience that I have gathered from the biometrics exercise, we had to redesign it the way it is, for it to be more transparent and acceptable by the people. The biometrics system is now better synchronized such that as you clock in and out, you can now directly check your clocking data and know your regularity status. Every staff receives his/her clocking details as customized text messages on his/ her mobile phone monthly for transparency. Also, we attached security integrated circuit You Were The Executive Director Of Finance And Administration In The Last Board, And Now You Came In As Managing Director/ Ceo. Can We Say This Management Style Is Somehow Different From The Former? Yes, and it is to be expected. The former Board where I was EDFA, we did a wonderful work even though I was not at the driver’s seat the way I am now. But I was very prominent in it. Also, I would say that all I am doing is my own way to improve what has been done and even previously. The foundation was laid then and to add more blocks to it in a more perfect manner that is what we have done. You would expect that we are of different background - myself and my ex boss and it is to be expected because, as an individual with the brief of citation you read at the beginning, I have cultivated a lot of friends across the different broad spectrum of the state and the country. And I have been in government for quite a long time and so, I have the opportunity of calling in these relationships with my people, my interpersonal relationship. I don’t want to sound immodest or blow my trumpet but I do know that I am a very transparent individual. I am disciplined and firm in the way I do things and at all times I try as much as possible to listen to all sides, where there are issues. And I try as much as possible not to hurt my relationships. But that doesn’t take away the fact that I am disciplined and firm. In my approach to governance, I think that this has been more purposeful in the way we do things. When we commenced, we took a clue from his the Governor’s advice and the directive he gave to us inspired us to commence our tenure, immediately after inauguration, by organizing town hall meetings across board to feel the pulse of the people and carry them along, so that they will be involved and so that we can give them what they need as a community and so on. In other words, we meet them at their point of need. I don’t just sit here in the office, dreaming of what I think would be good for the Urhobo people, for the Ika people and all of that. This interface took us quite some time and it was very rewarding and revealing regarding the needs of the people. Because over time, actually, we got to realize that some of our projects, when they are vandalized, the community doesn’t really bother about them and from our investigation, it was like that is DESOPADEC’s project, it is not their project. So we began to wonder, why would people say it is DESOPADEC’s project, a project that has been put in place to uplift their standard of living? How did they arrive at such detached disposition in the first place? The only answer is that they were not part of the original conception of the project. It was not their immediate need and so when you give to people something that is not their immediate need, there are chances that they try to withdraw themselves from the ownership of the project and so we needed to change that narrative and that led us to these town hall meetings. As a necessary consequence, I can boldly say now that whatever project we are going into, is as demanded by the people. Within the framework of our finances, when the people make a demand, we try to look at it and see how we can do it. The narrative has really changed. We do not have nor contend with cases of vandalization of our projects anymore. All the projects we have put in place since we came have been serving the people very well. Thank God, the DESOPADEC Weekly is moving on, you have been feeling the pulse of the people you are in a better position to tell the story. And it has actually been a very great information window to tell our own story of impact and value in service delivery to our mandate area. At the level of relating with the staff, my guiding philosophy is just be transparent, be truthful to them, what you know you When we commenced, we took a clue from his the Governor’s advice and the directive he gave to us inspired us •Bashorun Askia Ogieh cannot give don’t promise that and tell them what you can give. Let the people know the changes that will affect them early enough and keep them informed about it. They will brace up and key into it. When you don’t let them know what will affect them and you just do it of course they will seem to run from it. We Will Like To Look At Your To Do- List For The Past Twelve Months. Now We Are Saying Congratulations For Being On Board For The Past One Year And We Know That You Have Planned For The Things You Want To Do. We Would Like To Know If You Have Achieved All So Far Well, to a large extent, I can simply say that we have done very well. So far so good, as per my action plan for the Commission, I think I have been following it very effectively. Like I said, every programme that we have initiated within the period, knowing the needs of the people as harvested through the town hall meetings, has actually helped us. This includes the projects that we are sure that funding is available. I have always told my people and I have to beg them that it will fully come to this, not when you have a budget of ten million and you award a contract of a hundred million. I don’t know how many budget cycles you are going to use to deliver on that project. It is like planning to abandon the project from conception. For me, that is not acceptable. So, the projects may not be too many but we are ensuring that the ones we are planning for are those that we can deliver. Since we came on board, we have been able to deliver quite a number of projects, with a handful of others ongoing. We have commissioned projects across Isoko ethnic nationality, Urhobo land, Ijaw and more on the river axis. Now, we are going round to look at the projects and commission them. The era of abandoned projects, I must say, is gone, and that is because we planned it that way. Now, we try to look at our women folks within the period because we want to attend to the youths and women as our strategic catchment. We were able to pull together 1,200 women across the six ethnic groups. We brought them together, gave them some pep talk and training on learning how to convert their passion into wealth. Although, something you have been used to, you may just take as normal, but you may not know that, hidden under that personality, if you put some little effort and sharpen your passions, it may just become the answer to all the headache and questions you have been asking yourself. We did that training with a thousand two hundred of them and apart from the cost of bringing them in, accommodation, training venue and all of that, we set aside fund, a hundred thousand naira for each of them and raised a bank draft for each of them to open an account, the essence is that theft of their money would not happen and of more importance, we are to encourage them to imbibe the spirit of banking so that they will be able to open an account. If you have a hundred thousand naira and you don’t have an account before, that will at least be a lure for you to go to the bank to open an account. To be continued next week
Page 2 and 3: PAGE 2—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2,
Page 10 and 11: PAGE 10 -SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2,
Page 12 and 13: PAGE 12—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2
Page 18 and 19: PAGE 18— SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST
Page 22 and 23: PAGE 22, SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2,
Page 24: SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2020 SEE

02082020 - Miyetti Allah attacks Christain Elders, Afenifere, Ohanaeze over S/Kaduna Killings

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?