15022021 - Nigeria being set on fire, Northern elders tell FG

18—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021
THE admission, at last, by the
Northern States Governors’ Forum
that open grazing has become
“unsustainable” is long overdue but
welcome. The question now is whether
these governors who manage the
states where the <strong>Nigeria</strong>ns among the
livestock herdsmen hail from are now
willing to go beyond rhetoric and take
necessary actions? Are they ready to
take responsibility and save the
country?
The Northern establishment,
leadership and elite must take full
responsibility for the continued
existence of nomadic lifestyle among
the Fulani ethnic group.
This ancient and outdated way of life
leads the livestock herders to wander
far away from their homes and roam
the farmlands and forests of
indigenous people in other parts of
the country.
But because these herders did not
pose any danger to anyone they were
tolerated, even accepted. But since
Herders’ crisis: Northern governors
must act
they started carrying assault weapons,
destroying people’s farms, <strong>set</strong>tling
down with impunity on people’s lands
without permission, even laying
claims to “ownership” of other
people’s ancestral patrimonies,
raping, kidnapping and killing at will,
they have now been served with notices
to quit the forests in several parts of
the country.
Because of the refusal of law
enforcement agents to treat them as
the criminals that they are, many
groups have now resorted to self-help
to protect themselves.
Let us make it abundantly clear that
no ethnic group has been given “quit
notice” in any part of the country,
especially the South. It is the illegal
occupants of the forests, the armed
criminals masquerading as herdsmen
that have been told to quit. Other lawabiding
citizens living peacefully among
fellow <strong>Nigeria</strong>ns are not affected. It is
blackmail and mischief to impute that
there might be “reprisals” for asking
armed criminals to leave the forests.
The Governor of Kano State, Dr.
Abdullahi Ganduje, has <strong>set</strong> an excellent
example worthy of emulation by all
Northern governors. With their
expansive landmass, each Northern
state is capable of reserving space for
ranching equal to each of the South East
states. Livestock farming is more
suitable for Sahelian than rainforest
environments.
Whoever wishes to engage in the
livestock trade should buy or rent space
for that purpose and keep their animals
in enclosures. Cattle should only be seen
in ranches and marketplaces.
This will not only keep them off other
people’s properties, it will also make
for more profitable livestock
agriculture. More importantly, it will
also enable the herders to have access
to education and healthcare and live
like normal, law-abiding citizens.
Positive steps to reintegrate pastoral
nomads must be taken. This is the 21st
century, the age of fast-changing
technology. Surely, if such technology
is applied to livestock farming, the
benefits will far outstrip what is currently
available.
Efforts <strong>being</strong> made to seize people’s
land for herders’ benefit will only
breed bloodletting that will outlive the
regime.
On the new service chiefs
By ADEWALE KUPOLUYI
MANY <strong>Nigeria</strong>ns have come to see
the appointment of new service chiefs
as a boost in response to the parlous and fragile
security situation in the land. Rampant cases
of kidnapping, armed robbery, sectarian crisis,
farmers-herders clashes, rape and
insurgencies, among others, have become
regular features in the country. The truth is
that there is so much insecurity in the land that
many people live in perpetual fear of the
unknown. Despite several efforts at curtailing
crimes and criminality, not much success can
be said to have been achieved, hence the
persistent call for a change of service chiefs to
rejig the security architecture.
President Muhammadu Buhari finally
yielded to the mounting calls and appointed
Lucky Irabor as Chief of Defence Staff; Ibrahim
Attahiru as Chief of Army Staff; Isiaka Amao,
Chief of Air Staff and Awwal Zubairu as Chief
of Naval Staff. He replaced Gabriel
Olonisakin, Tukur Buratai, Sadique Abubakar
and Ibok Ibas after more than five years of
service and nominated them as non-career
ambassadors amid controversies. The new
service chiefs should hit the ground running
by redesigning the existing weak structure
through the deployment of the right officers to
man strategic segments of the security forces
in a manner that competence, experience and
ability to deliver would not be sacrificed on
the altar of nepotism, favouritism and
parochial considerations that have become
the major problem facing public service in
<strong>Nigeria</strong>.
To make the desired impact, such sentiments
should be jettisoned. The usual tradition is that
sensitive appointments are based on political
allegiances rather than experience or
capabilities. Naturally, such appointees often
shift loyalty to their political patrons rather
than to democratic institutions. Military
officers should shun partisan politics when
dealing with security matters as the provision
of adequate security is a basic constitutional
responsibility and is not tied to a particular
party in power, while military presence should
not be based on links to the Federal
Government. In the past, states that are not
controlled by the same political party as the
central government have cried out against
neglect and inadequate federal presence in
their domains. This should not be as national
security should transcend political
An unnecessary rivalry that
characterised the flow of
communication and sharing of
intelligence in the past should no
longer be permitted
shenanigans.
The service chiefs should be allowed to carry
out their duties professionally without undue
interference. This intrusion may come in the
course of procuring military equipment,
allocation/release of funds, and performance
of tasks. This is not to say that the armed forces
should be left alone without <strong>being</strong> supervised
and given oversight monitoring, but they
should not be prevented from doing their work
within their rules of engagement. The welfare
of men and officers of the military should be
given appropriate attention. It is difficult to
OPINION
get the best from a workforce that is illmotivated
and disgruntled. There have been
reported cases of personnel <strong>being</strong> owed salaries
and allowances, inadequate arms and
ammunition, inability to pay the retirement
benefits of officers, and the neglect of family
members of deceased officers. Restoring
morale that had been battered over the years
should be addressed and victimising perceived
personnel within the armed forces avoided.
The new service chiefs should right the wrongs
and ensure that the welfare of all officers is
accorded priority to elicit loyalty and get the
best from them.
Lack of inter-agency collaboration has been
a <strong>set</strong>back for security operations in the country.
An unnecessary rivalry that characterised the
flow of communication and sharing of
intelligence in the past should no longer be
permitted. There should be proper
coordination of efforts without distrust and the
overlapping of functions. What should be
paramount is the security of lives and property
without giving cheap glory or apportioning of
blame to any particular agency.
The re-orientation should be that nobody is
more important and none is less useful as a
system. The promotion of synergy among the
security forces should be the primary concern
of the military chiefs and ensuring that due
respect is accorded civilians. This time around,
security agents should be proactive by using
more of intelligence to burst crime. There have
been cases where Boko Haram and other terror
groups give advance notices of their attacks
without <strong>being</strong> foiled. This is nothing, but sheer
security lapse and dereliction of duty.
The modern-day approach to tackling
insecurity requires the gathering of intelligence
and deployment of technology. Terrorist plots
are better foiled based on undercover work,
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technological, financial surveillance and
counter-terrorism. It should be realised that
those engaging in security warfare with the
people and state do so with careful planning
and sophistication that should be matched with
superior intelligence and weaponry. The
service chiefs should relay correct and timely
information to <strong>Nigeria</strong>ns and not be shy to
consider the possibility of external assistance,
if imperative. Corruption has been a recurring
decimal that has stagnated the development
of many emerging countries.
The armed forces are not insulated from this
problem of graft. The Civil Society Legislative
Advocacy Centre/Transparency International
in <strong>Nigeria</strong> reported that there is a prevalence
of bribery and extortion among the security
agencies, including the <strong>Nigeria</strong> Police Force,
NPF.
To this extent, the security chiefs should
uphold transparency and accountability in
their dealings. Hence, allocated resources
should be judiciously used such that the fight
against crime and terrorism would get the
needed tonic. Another key component that we
should take seriously is policing. Ordinarily,
most of the crime beats <strong>being</strong> handled by the
military should be done by the police since
they border on internal security.
However, over the years, the police have been
poorly-funded and inadequately empowered
to carry out their statutory functions. The
military should be withdrawn from law
enforcement to allow them to concentrate on
their core mandate. It is imperative to reform
and decentralise the police amid the glaring
inadequacies in their operations.
Continues online via:www.vanguardngr.com
•Kupoluyi, a social commentator, wrote
from the Federal University of
Agriculture, Abeokuta , Ogun State