I read a social media post about Sunday Igboho where he reportedly said, “I came prepared to end banditry and kidnapping once and for all.”
That was a good statement to our hearing, especially in times like this in the country and particularly in Yoruba land of the Southwest.
But, sadly, from this tribe the commonly uttered words have been “Gambari pa Fulani, Hausa l’o nparawon” (meaning: their security challenge is their own internally generated crisis), and this has always been the attitude toward the plight of Northern Nigerians over their unfortunate situation with insurgency and terrorism.
I have always said one-tenth of the security challenges the North have faced cannot be endured if it touches the Southwest. That is what we now see. At the news of bandits’ strike in Oyo State and the kidnap of some schoolchildren and the killing of a teacher or more, the reactions of Yoruba have been: “Islamic religion must go,” “Fulani must leave Yoruba land,” or “all Northerners and Muslims will be evicted or killed.” Who told these agitators that kidnappers in the name of bandits in their land are Muslims or Fulani and not strictly criminals? Who told them that it is the Islamic religion that teaches people who come to their land to carry out kidnapping?
If you claim they are Fulani or Northerners, then when police arrested culprits in similar widely publicised kidnap cases in Ekiti, Ondo and Edo states in the past — cases where you had hitherto screamed the same claim until you saw you were wrong — why had you been keeping silent until now? And why would you not be taught a moral lesson before you start again in the same way you now offend the sensibility of other people who also have their rights to life and to enjoy themselves as citizens of this country? Do you remember that nobody can, honestly speaking, divide this country into pieces, which is obviously what you have in mind by doing this unpatriotic thing, without civil war erupting?
Why should Yoruba not learn from the past events that led to the Civil War in this country — that they see their being in power now as “either us or the country collapses”? Do they ever think about who will become the loser in the end should this be allowed to continue and snowball into yet another civil war? What will any part of the country lose if all parts come together to make the country great? What will anyone gain if it keeps causing problems by misrepresenting security issues as religious and ethnic? You say one part dominates others in matters of government representation. Is it the fault of the North that they are most favoured in a democracy where the leader is about numbers?
Back to the statement attributed to Sunday Igboho that triggered this piece: let me say that we will all celebrate the restoration of peace not only in Yoruba land but also in all parts of Nigeria. However, we should worry that non‑state actors are now our hope for security and protection, whereas the purpose for which we have government is precisely for these reasons.
And our Yoruba people too should be careful. We are collectively faced with security challenges, but we have a section of us who claim to be Christians and Omo Yoruba who hide behind religious sentiment and ethnic bigotry to sing anti‑Muslim and anti‑Fulani slogans in protests as if Muslim children were not among the kidnapped schoolchildren.
Again, instead of everyone being on the same page against this new wave of insecurity, a Yoruba man (I won’t call him a leader) who has been governor twice, Ayodele Fayose, went on national television to say Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde orchestrated the kidnap of those children to embarrass President Bola Ahmed Tinubu because he (Fayose) is the current political hustler in town. Up till now neither President Tinubu nor any All Progressives Congress (APC) leader has condemned him for making such a reckless statement in an already charged atmosphere, without proof. I have suggested to an aide of Governor Makinde — through a journalist friend there in Nigeria — that Fayose be dragged before a competent court of jurisdiction and made to lay his evidence on the table or go to jail.
Enough of all these reckless ways of life being portrayed by our fellow Yoruba people in a democracy. We are Omoluabi and we should behave exactly like that. Enough of blaming Islam or Fulani or Governor Makinde for our insecurity. A criminal is a criminal. Every criminal gang can have people from across ethnic and religious backgrounds. There have been cases where a gang lineup in an arrest showed Yoruba as informants, Fulani or Hausa as executors, and Igbo as money keepers and arms suppliers. Then, what is the stereotype about, therefore?
We, the Yoruba, should stop messing ourselves up with such unpopular claims stereotyping Fulani, Northerners, Islam or Muslims and join hands with the government and armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to stop this menace of insecurity together, without sabotage. Did we not see how the people of Burkina Faso joined hands with their president and his government to free their country from similar security challenges the Western powers caused for their country?
What can Sunday Igboho alone do, if all the things we are believing him to do are fashioned on hypocrisy? This man alone has allegations of having orchestrated the killings of countless Fulani people and their cows in Yoruba land — blaming Fulani for crops eaten by cows which were even owned by his fellow Yoruba people, including the cows that intruded into the residential premises of Professor Wole Soyinka in Abeokuta, Ogun State. This is the same man who is being entrusted with the responsibility of ending banditry and terrorism in Yoruba land. Your guess will be as good as mine as to what his attitude will be carrying out this operation, yet he is being backed by the same government that Nigerians — regardless of ethnic and religious background — gave their mandate, number one of which is to provide security and welfare based on justice and fairness.
Let those who have constitutional rights to govern be charged to stand up to their duty and stop empowering non‑state actors to carry out executive duties of ensuring security, welfare and justice. They should also be alert to their duty to be conscious of wielding the political will to stop irresponsible social media utterances considered inimical to national security and the peace of the land. No government should tolerate some acclaimed Christians telling lies against Islam and Muslims. What if Muslims decide to shun the control of their leadership that has been calming them down and become pushed to resist all of these shenanigans — what happens to the country? The time to be responsible as a nation, government and people of Nigeria is now!
