Threats, provocations and politics

Aside  from the  much   publicised   clean bill of health given the tweet bombastic US President Donald Trump by his doctor this week, the more interesting and  riveting news  on the world scene in my view came  from Nigeria. Three   of them caught my fancy. The  first was from the Emir of Kano who  in defending the killing of Fulani  herdsmen and giving the number killed at 800 in a state,   including the killing of a baby brought out of the mother’s  womb, added fuel to the fire on the issue  of marauding Fulani  herdsmen killing Nigerians with impunity. The  second was the   order as it were from  a group called  the Ohaneze Youth Council – OYC– to  Fulani  herdsmen to quit  the South East   immediately and for the Federal  Government   to create what  it called  ‘Pig Colonies  ‘in the North  as a counterweight to the demand    of the apex cattle rearers  association  Myetti  Allah    for  Cattle  Colonies. And    the OYC  asked     boldly   that  the Federal  Government  should declare the Fulani  herdsmen  as terrorists. The  third was   the  declaration at  the sympathy visit  to the Benue State Governor   on    the state citizens killed by Fulani  herdsmen, by  notable and veteran politician Chief Ayo  Adebanjo, that our president is a tyrant, a dictator   and  an   autocrat  on the  matter  and on  his leadership. Remarkably  Chief  Adebanjo  is going to be 90  this year  and since  not many  Nigerians can  claim  to be older than  him,   or      be  his  father, you have to concede  he  has enough experience   to know what  he has seen  and what he is saying, no matter  how  controversial that  may be.

Really   if    it was  not the case  that human lives  are involved in all  these  issues  and the   grim  fact   that     life  has no duplicate  as we all  know,  one would find all of  these   issues   humorous  and extremely  laughable.  But really  that would  be coarse, bloody  bad    humour   or at  the very least  tolerance and connivance at dangerous and  disruptive  humour,   which   in   stark     reality,  is what  the issues  boil  down to  anyway. How  that    sad    and   sorry  state has come to be,  is our food for thought today.

Let  us start  with  the declaration  of Donald  Trump’s  White  House  doctor that   the US president is not only sane  but is expected to be so  for the duration of his tenure and for a second term  if  he so  desires. The  humour is that the joke  now is on those who  branded the US president crazy  just like the N Korean  leader, even  though that of the Korean leader was more  important in terms of human lives because  both him  and the US  president   have nuclear  buttons  at their behest  and in their  offices  to annihilate us all. The  amusing thing  was  the excited  way  the Naval  Admiral  doctor reeled out  his findings  before an  unbelieving   and  disappointed  media that  would have been confortable with an opposite  medical  declaration.  That   was inherent in the loaded question on how a president that does not exercise  and eats junk food  could be declared  medically   fit. But again  the doctor’s answer  was charming and disarming. Genes  he  said  and the answer  is in genetics, he gleefully  answered.  He  went  on to say  Trump’s life long abstinence from alcohol  and tobacco  has stood  him well  in life for someone his age and he can  only  be cautioned to show restraint on his eating habits  and have more exercises. Which   really is a disappointment  to his detractors who  should  be  told  clearly   that in calling him mad  they  committed the fallacy of ad hominem, which is abusing the person  you argue with  and abandoning the substance of your argument  and that is  also   a dishonest  way  to win an argument.

Let  me  digress a bit  to comment on Trump’s  so called  decscription  of some nations  as ‘shithole  nations’. While   I   agree that the description is repulsive and unethical  in diplomatic discourse I   do  not see  the terminology  as a preserve of poor nations and their immigrants coming to the US for a better  life   or  seeking the golden fleece. It  is a relative term and  the US has been a shit hole nation  for years on drugs and environmental pollution, and  crime. Even before  terrorism  and Islamic Militancy   became the vogue after George  Bush  and  Tony  Blair  conspired  to invade Iraq in 2003  on the false premise  that Saddam  Hussein  had weapons of mass  destruction. Really  I lose  no sleep  over the matter  in  terms  human  dignity. Its  like African  nations saying  that their culture  does not permit   homosexuality  and gay  rights and nations doing and allowing  that are ‘shithole nations’. What is wrong with that?  Certainly  not much,  at least in this   Trump  era.

We  go back  now  to the three  Nigerian  contents  of the issue of   the day.  We  start  with   the OYC  and  its  call  for the  banning  of Fulani  herdsmen  in the  South  East     and  the call  for Pigs Colony. Both  calls are unrealistic  and smirk  of youthful exuberance   which  is certainly  not a crime.  But  it    also  cannot be ignored because youths  have energy on their side and are prone to violence  and must  either as a consequence be called to  order  firmly  or  be called  and appeased  by the government of the day,  one way or another. They  certainly  cannot  not  be ignored in   the scheme  of things   especially   where  innocent lives  are  being shed in their midst  without let.

In  the case of the Emir of Kano’s  defence of Fulani  herdsmen, the Emir  should be told firmly  by the  Federal  Government  to  watch  his language  as no  Nigerian  is above the law including traditional leaders  like him.

The  Emir  should know that two  wrongs do not make a right and as someone who has  a   Master’s  degree in Islamic  studies          from  Sudan , he  should  help  in  making Nigeria not to go the way of  Sudan  on this issue of  water  for cattle which  has  bloodily   polarized and  pauperized Sudan  and  split it into two  nations today . The  graphic  description  of the slain  pregnant  woman and  her  baby  should  not be  in public  space and  Nigerians should  not have such  horror inflicted on  them  even from a traditional  ruler as it is in very  bad  taste  for the peace  and stability of the nation which this issue  is threatening so provocatively .

Thirdly  Chief  Ayo  Adebanjo’s  condemnation of the president can  only  come from someone  of his pedigree and ilk who  does not care  whose  ox  is gored . But  his utterances on this condolence visit remind  me of the role of  Mark  Anthony in Shakespeare ‘s  tragedy  Julius Caesar . Mark  Anthony historically  lamented   after  Caesar’s   murder –  I come  to bury Caesar , not to praise  him .  Yet  his oratory  over  Caesar’s  body  sparked a civil  war in which all of Caesar’s  assassins  met their  tragic  end  and waterloo . Again  , Caesar  on the day  of his death teased  the soothsayer  who  predicted his death on   the  Ides  of  March , that  ‘the  Ides of March  is come ‘  and he  Caesar  was still alive   and the soothsayer  replied  that though the  Ides  of March  had come , it was  not gone yet . Caesar  was  murdered  in the Senate  a few  moments later  fulfilling the prophecy on the  Ides  of March . I  tremble  to think  that this Fulani  herdsmen  issue  and the attendant solution of cattle  ranch and colonies  may  be the Achilles heel  of our unity as a nation  ,  if care is not taken . I  pray  it does not lead to our Ides  of  March  as we seem  to be saying to our selves confidently  that the Ides of March  has no  bearing on us and our existence. Just    like the great  Caesar  did  so  pompously  ages  ago  before  he met  his tragic  end that same day . Once  again , long  live the Federal  Republic of Nigeria .


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