FANTASY OF A MAN AND THE MAKING OF ENDANGERED SPECIES
Looking at what is playing out in Nigeria at the moment, the hatred for the Fulanis, the ultimatum given to the Fulanis to vacate different parts of the country and the response from the man at the top; i decided to write this piece.
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Sometime ago, i was opportune to be in a place where restructuring of Nigeria was being discussed, and one of the persons in the room, a former governor of a Southwestern state asked a question.. He said "in a restructured Nigeria, how would the North central Nigeria coexist, given the number of tribes and the religious differences in the zone?"
As we were deliberating on that question, someone (a northerner) made an important remark; he said "the crisis in the North central and Northern Nigeria at large is not actually because of religious differences but the quest for land inheritance".. he continued "all the tribes in Nigeria has a land they call their own except the Fulanis (who only have political inheritance), and that's why restructuring of Nigeria would be a difficult task".
This write up is not about restructuring anyway, but about the fantasy of a man whose actions and inactions has made and is making many enemies for the Fulanis across the country.
For someone that contested for the office of president three times and failed, and finally got the mandate on the fourth try; one would've thought that such a man that was so desperate in becoming Nigeria's president would have great plans for the country.
His desperation even made some people believe that his coming would usher in a new day in Nigeria, but when you take a look at what has played out in the 5years of the man's regime, what you'll see is what can be called the "FANTASY OF A MAN".
At the country's driver's seat is a man who believes that the country he's driving is partitioned into 97% and 5%, and the people that fall on each side of his division should be treated differently. The events of the past 5years is showing us a man who believes he can complete what Usman Dan Fodio started, a man who still believes that the world should have a cattle grazing route in this 21st century and he's ready to make it happen in Nigeria. The man's actions and inactions has given credence to the belief that his sole aim of struggling to become Nigeria's president seemed to be based on the fantasy that he could create a home for the Fulanis and handover Nigeria to them..
The moment the man got into power, he started with the appointment of his brothers into key positions with the excuse that he needed people he can trust.. this has lead to the most nepotistic government the country ever seen.
The moment he was through appointing the 'people he could trust', he launched his plan through what he called RUGA; this RUGA was designed to handover a sizeable portion of lands in every corner of the country to the Fulanis.. but the motive behind RUGA was too visible that even the blind could see it. Nigerians collectively shouted RUGA down. He went back to drawing board and came out with another plan whose motive again was well hidden within the plan.. That's the water ways Bill, the Bill wouldn't have raised any dust among Nigerians if not for the fact that most Nigerians have deciphered the fantasy of this man. With the uproar that greeted the Bill, i knew it was going to fail, but what we don't know is the other plans he would deploy to bring this his fantasy to life.
Since the man took over power, we've not seen a clear cut plan on how he'll revive our educational system, neither have we seen any plan on reviving our dead health system which in the real sense he's in most need of. Nigerians are still waiting to see the plans he had for the economy and how he'll make one dollar equal one naira. All the plans he ever brought to fore were centered around cows, grazing routes and Fulanis.
Fantasy is a very difficult thing to let go, especially when you feel you've got the power to bring it to life, but an intelligent person should understand that there are fantasies that are not possible in today's world.
It'll make more sense if the man used the remaining years of his regime, and under the cover of Nigeria as the West Africa's big brother to do some diplomatic lobbying with the government of Guinea and Segenal to resettle the wandering Fulanis in their ancestral home, like it was done for the Jews in 1948.. and he needs to do that before he leaves office, cos when Nigeria is finally restructured, Fulanis will have a bigger problem than they're currently having today.
Someone close to the man should pls let him know that his actions and inactions is not doing Fulanis any good; yes he gave many of his appointments to the Fulanis but what about the rest of the Fulanis his actions has turned to endangered species across the country?
In life people have had crazy fantasies, but most of the times the person fantasizing may not have the opportunity or the capacity to bring his/her fantasies into life.. But in a few cases where these fantasies came to life, its results were often catastrophic.
One of the example is the fantasy of Adolf Hitler.. He had fantasized of a world where the Aryans are the superior race, and the other races in East & central Europe would be deported to Siberia or exterminated completely for the Aryans to have enough living space. This very fantasy led to the WW2.
Some fantasies are better left as fantasies!
Nwafor Kingsly
