News Editor
Dr Umar Ardo’s article titled “A CALL TO HALT THE VILIFICATION OF THE FULANI IN NIGERIA” represents a classic rehash of the Fulani overall war of conquest, dominance and deceit; and the historical role of justification for all their conducts – good or bad – assigned to the Fulani intelligentsia. From Gobir to Gwandu, Kano to Fombina in the southernmost flank of their Empire of blood, that role of justification and propaganda has been efficiently discharged with coldblooded distinction since 1804.
Dr. Ardo’s piece can only be properly understood and squarely situated within that historical role of the Fulani intelligentsia. At the realization that the Fulani are face to face with the verdict of history, and to avoid the natural comeuppance of their misdeeds, their intelligentsia has now gone into overdrive, seeking an escape route for these illegal immigrant terrorist group.
Any well-informed follower of recent events in Nigeria, particularly as they relate to the rampant bloody massacres in the North West, Middle Belt and parts of South West of Nigeria will find Dr. Ardo’s article most ridiculous, reckless, mendacious and embarrassing for two reasons.
1. Not too long ago, Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi with his friend, Dr Usman Yusuf (the embattled former NHIS Executive Secretary), toured the forests of the North with cameras and interviewed leaders of several Fulani Bandit Militias. The tour showcased to the world that all the leaders of these Bandit groups were Fulani, pursuing a Fulani agenda. Further it showed that they had thousands of mobile well-trained militia capable of causing mayhem anywhere they wanted, that they were well funded and armed with sophisticated weapons.
2. Recently, Fulani terrorist leaders have openly declared responsibility for all dastardly massacres in the North West, the Middle belt and other parts of Nigeria. Indeed, the social media is suffused with live declarations by these numerous Fulani killers, displaying their many weapons, millions of naira collected as ransom from non-Fulani Nigerians and challenging the Nigerian military to battle. The Bello Turjis, Alieros, Buharin Dajis, Dogo Gides, etc are testament to the nationwide conspiracy of the Fulani to inflict the most barbarous pain on and massacre of non-Fulani Nigerians that their evil minds can conceive. They kidnap hundreds of people for ransom, sack and destroy communities at will.
Is Dr Ardo unaware of these raw data? Absolutely not. From his article, Dr Ardo is saying two things. Firstly, he argues that these acts are “driven by a mix of environmental pressures, economic exclusion, demographic dislocation, state failure and regional instability especially accross the sahel.”
Secondly, he says, “this handful of criminal actors,” a reference to the thousands of armed Fulani militia showcased on social media platforms by Sheikh Gumi and Dr. Yusuf, brandishing sophisticated weapons, riding on motorcycles and state of the art Hilux vans.
These Fulani Militia brandish anti-aircraft equipment and drones, they capture and slaughter military personnel like goats in the most barbaric manner conceivable.
Is Dr Ardo right in suggesting that these are a “handful of criminal elements?” Unless the meaning of “handful ” has changed, a militia that can terrorise the States of Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Katsina, Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue, Taraba, Kogi and the FCT for years, certainly cannot be so described!
The greatest fallacy in Dr Ardo’s article is the claim that “criminal behavior is not the preserve of any single ethnic group. He writes “…every ethnic group has its share of individuals who engage in violence and criminal acts.” He goes on to give examples of such crimes as drug trafficking, cyber fraud, cultism, prostitution, ritual killing, etc as crimes attributable to the Igbo and Yoruba tribes.
Respectfully, this is the lowest Dr Ardo could ever get. Conceded that every crime is detestable to every law abiding human being, commonsense should not allow anyone to place these set of criminal acts on the same pedestal with the perpetrators of the mayhem, brutal daily bloodshed, rampant kidnappings, rape of women/girls and infants in front of their parents, destruction of food stores and farmlands, cattle rustling, etc all carried out by members of his Fulani stock.
The records are in the open. Besides Boko Haram, the Fulani militia terrorists remain the single ethnic army that has dared the Nigerian Military and taken up arms against the Nigerian state. They have sustained the fight against the Nigerian Armed Forces for years at different fronts. They boast of inflicting heavy casualties on the Nigerian military, evading capture and destroying military equipment / facilities. Most embarrassing is that these Fulani bandits have so overwhelmed the Nigerian military that the military was forced to negotiate with them at a meeting in Zamfara where the bandits entered the meeting venue with their heavily armed personnel! Handful of criminals indeed!
If Dr Ardo still pretends not to know or suffers amnesia, he is reminded that his Fulani “handful of criminal elements” have received international condemnation as the Fulani militia was listed on the Global Terrorism Index, 2014 as the 4th most deadliest terrorist group in the world, a position they have retained till date.
How an otherwise well-informed scholar like Dr Ardo will ignore these national and international notorious facts and rant that there is a vilification of Fulani in Nigeria surely typifies hypocrisy and insincerity. This posture by Dr Ardo is a constant hiding narrative which the highly placed Fulani elite employ to evade doing the rational and proper thing, i.e isolate and condemn the wicked criminals and crimes committed by his Fulani stock. Rather than condemn the dastardly acts of their fellow Fulani, the Fulani intelligentsia bullies the victims, hoping that attack being the best form of defence, the victims engrossed in defence of their own victimhood, the Fulani will escape justice!
The Dr Ardos in Nigeria will rather choose to raise fantasies to justify the crimes committed by the Fulani, so he says “…these acts are driven by a mix of environmental pressures, economic exclusion, state failure and regional instability.” How Dr Ardo or anyone else can suggest that the Fulani are the only tribe affected by the regional, environmental global issues in Nigeria is most laughable. Even if they are, how do you suggest that the nationwide bloody massacres of people who have nothing to do with the birth or growth of the so-called pressures are a natural, nay, justifiable reaction.
We all recall that under the Fulani reign of Buhari, IPOB, a group with a secessionist agenda whose activities were restricted to the Igbo heartland was hounded by the Nigerian State. Their leader was trailed and arrested outside the shores of Nigeria in a manner that many have held to amount to illegal rendition and is languishing in prison. When the Yoruba nation’s Igboho attempted something similar, the Buhari regime mercilessly crushed, chased and captured him in a neighboring country. On the other under Buhari, the Nigerian state looked elsewhere as the Fulani militia had a free reign. They grew stronger, captured territories, killed thousands and are still killing.
Dr Ardo and other Fulani elitist brains should not rub agboniki on our open wounds with write ups like this. As the immediate victims of what the Fulanis are doing, there is no doubt the Fulani have declared a bloody war on other Nigerians and are not apologetic or embarrassed by it. They brazenly publish their exploits for the world to see and then employ a Dr Ardo to rub salt on the injury through write ups like this where they attempt to downplay the magnitude of the evils perpetrated by the Fulani across the country. This is arrogant unintelligence.
The Nigerian State must step in and stop such justifiers of genocide. The Fulani crimes against humanity may soon end up at The Hague for inquiry. The enablers of these genocidal fellows should know that one day, they will answer in the comity of humanity.
Dr. Pogu Bitrus
President, Middle Belt Forum
