The news and stories of wanton killings by herdsmen and suspected herdsmen in Nigeria’s northern parts have reached a deafening crescendo.
Disturbing parts of Buhari’s speech in Bauchi
Nigeria is in chaos. Leaders should use all speaking opportunities to speak peace, not war, to Nigeria.
People are living in fear in all parts, especially in the Northern that West African country because of the activities of herdsmen who are killing and inflicting pain and fear on the people.
President Muhammadu Buhari has not made any strong statement condemning the activities of the herdsmen. And he got and squandered the opportunity to do so on Friday.
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Buhari’s visit to Bauchi State, North-East Nigeria on Thursday and Friday was a good opportunity to make a strong statement against these marauding Fulani herdsmen. But instead of condemning herdsmen killings, Buhari assured them that he would have been a part of the herdsmen fighters had he not gone to school.
President Buhari said: “Now, look at the farmers /herdsmen’s clashes in the northern part of this country. I have been telling people that if I had not gone to school, I would not have gone into the military and where I come from since my cows are finished; maybe, I would have been involved in this fight”.
By that utterance, Buhari has emboldened the herdsmen to do more harm to their fellow citizens.
One would have expected Buhari to say words like, telling the killer-herdsmen to stop such activities forthwith; that killing a fellow human being is bad; that the government is working hard to ensure that there is peace in Nigeria.
Buhari did not make any of such comments instead, he emboldened them by identifying in the course of their fight. There is no justification to Buhari’s stance on herdsmen/farmers clashes.
Before Buhari went to Bauchi, the herdsmen had invaded churches in Benue where priests and parishioners were killed. Between January and now, more than 200 people have been killed in Benue alone. Killings are happening simultaneously in other parts of Nigeria.
Buhari addressed thousands of Bauchi residents in Hausa. He encouraged them to allow their children to go to school.
He said further, “Make every effort to put your children in school, plead with them to be patient and read hard. In this generation, you cannot make it except you are educated.
“But because I went to school, I got a job to do and because of that, desertification is everywhere, there is no bush we will go to and cut down trees and destroy farms and the rainy season is not promising. Because of that, education is the guarantee.
“You should strive hard and be educated, get the education that will benefit you and the society, it is not compulsory that government will give you what to do.”
We state categorically that Buhari’s speech in Bauchi is disturbing. The speech is not fitting of the person of a President of a country. He identified with the Funali alone instead of identifying with Nigeria in general. He chose to be Fulani instead of being a Nigerian.