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| "And then, there is Ugwuanyi. This man looks and sounds pathetic." |
The Government of Enugu State received intelligence on the impending carnage by Fulani herdsmen. Dutifully, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi summoned a 10pm State Security Council meeting attended by the following on the state government’s side: Ugwuanyi, the Deputy Governor, the Secretary to the State Government, the Governors’ Chief of Staff, the State Attorney-General, and the Chairman of the State Traditional Rulers Council.
President Buhari’s government was represented by the following: Brigadier General Olufemi Akinjobi, the Commander of the Enugu Garrison (representing the GOC 82 Division of the Nigerian Army); the Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Nwodibo Ekechukwu; the Enugu State Director of the Department State Security Services (DSS), Mr. M. Abdul Malik; the State Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Mr. Lar Stephen; and the representatives of the Nigerian Air Force, the Federal Road Safety Corps and the Nigerian Prison Services, who attended as observers.
President Buhari’s government was represented by the following: Brigadier General Olufemi Akinjobi, the Commander of the Enugu Garrison (representing the GOC 82 Division of the Nigerian Army); the Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Nwodibo Ekechukwu; the Enugu State Director of the Department State Security Services (DSS), Mr. M. Abdul Malik; the State Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Mr. Lar Stephen; and the representatives of the Nigerian Air Force, the Federal Road Safety Corps and the Nigerian Prison Services, who attended as observers.
Yet, the carnage took place, costing anything between 60 and a hundred precious lives; leading to widespread destruction. Would this have happened if the threat had been on Muhammadu Buhari’s hometown of Daura? The attitude of three politicians in this dispensation – Buhari, Fayose and Ugwuanyi – best illustrates contemporary Nigerian antinomies.
And then, there is Ugwuanyi. This man looks and sounds pathetic. This was how he started his statewide broadcast:
“Four days ago on Monday April 25, 2016 many of our brothers and sisters in Nimbo in Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of the state were murdered in cold blood by suspected Fulani herdsmen…”
Four whole days passed before this man deemed it necessary to address his massacred and traumatised people. What was he doing in the interim, apart from leaving his handkerchiefs sopping wet with tears? He found time to be “very grateful to the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari, for his prompt and decisive reaction to the incident in Nimbo.” Someone certainly is trapped in cloud cuckoo land.
Four days after, Enugu State Governor sets up Nwodibo Ekechukwu, Enugu Police Commissioner as the fall guy of the Fulani terrorists massacre of Nimbo people
The President hadn’t visited the scene of the massacres. He hadn’t sent a condolence message. He hadn’t ordered an investigation. When he met with Ugwuanyi, it was at the Governor’s instance. Still Buhari got effusively appreciated for his “prompt and decisive reaction”. This beggars belief.
This provocative condescension was voiced in a broadcast that had the following only paragraphs away: “In less than three months, violent clashes have occurred in Enugu State in Awgu, Nike, Abbi and Nimbo between suspected Fulani Herdsmen and our people,” with absolutely no reaction from Abuja.
The genocide of 1966 happened before me. Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the then Governor of Eastern Nigeria, did not respond to that anti-Igbo pogrom by grinning ear-to-ear before the murderers of his people; he didn’t go about salaaming them.
It is inconceivable that Governor Fayose, were he in Ugwuanyi’s shoes, would have allowed a single night to pass before taking exception, before acting like a man with his people’s mandate. That recommends itself as the stuff of commonsense.
The bloody trail of mass murders by Fulani Herdsmen is unfolding in front of all our eyes. Think of the quotes from Archbishop Tutu and Martin Luther King Jr. above. Think of the dictate of conscience. Think of the sacredness of life. Think of the impunity of these mass murderers. Consider that “Impunity evolves and becomes integrated in conduct when crime occurs and no legal, logical and moral response is offered.”
Then ask yourself this question: Am I sitting on the fence, deadening my senses in silences?
- Mr. Chuks Iloegbunam, an author wrote from Lagos.
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