By Nat Apir
While I was on my brief hiatus there were quite a lot of very important events that took place, I’ll however , touch just a few;
1. There’s a noticeable and visible Increase in the number and activities of Fulani herdsmen in the Benue valley
2. The gruesome murders of our farmers and the ransacking of villages and communities by the Fulani herdsmen/terrorists is hitting exponential levels.
3. The lack of of response , deafening silence and or feeble attempt at justifying these attacks by the government and security agencies is to say the least sickening .
4. The minister of Agriculture was on national Television (NTA) on the 8th of May 2016 saying , the creation of grazing reserves in and around wetlands in the Benue valley is the only solution to stopping Fulani Herdsmen killings of farmers on their ancestral lands!
5. Governor Ortom a man of peace was reported to have voiced his frustrations about the failure of the Buhari led government to intervene and arrest this decent into anarchy and the frequent killings of Benue farmers by Fulani herdsmen/Terrorists
These are interesting times indeed !
” Since January 1984, however, we have witnessed a systematic denigration of that hope. It was stated then that mismanagement of political leadership and a general deterioration in the standard of living, which had subjected the common man to intolerable suffering, were the reasons for the intervention.
Nigerians have since then been under a regime that continued with those trends. Events today indicate that most of the reasons which justified the military takeover of government from the civilians still persist.
The initial objectives were betrayed and fundamental changes do not appear on the horizon. Because the present state of uncertainty, suppression and stagnation resulted from the perpetration of a small group, the Nigerian Armed Forces could not as a part of that government be unfairly committed to take responsibility for failure. Our dedication to the cause of ensuring that our nation remains a united entity worthy of respect and capable of functioning as a viable and credible part of the international community dictated the need to arrest the situation.
Let me at this point attempt to make you understand the premise upon which it became necessary to change the leadership. The principles of discussions, consultation and co-operation which should have guided decision-making process of the Supreme Military Council and the Federal Executive Council were disregarded soon after the government settled down in 1984. Where some of us thought it appropriate to give a little more time, anticipating a conducive atmosphere that would develop, in which affairs of state could be attended to with greater sense of responsibility, it became increasingly clear that such expectations could not be fulfilled.
Regrettably, it turned out that Major-General Muhammadu Buhari was too rigid and uncompromising in his attitudes to issues of national significance. Efforts to make him understand that a diverse polity like Nigeria required recognition and appreciation of differences in both cultural and individual perceptions, only served to aggravate these attitudes. ” IBB 1985
Has anything Changed? Has Buhari Changed his position on issues of national importance since 1985? I’m utterly disappointed with the outcome of the change mantra…