Former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently wrote yet another missive to President Muhammadu Buhari, warning him to take urgent steps to avert a Rwanda-like genocide now looming in Nigeria.
In his four-page letter, Obasanjo urged President Buhari to open up the public space for debates and dialogues, while the result of such a nationwide exercise should form the basis for the convocation of a national conference.
Obasanjo also stressed, in his letter, that President Buhari must be seen to be addressing killings by herdsmen and other issues “with utmost seriousness and with maximum dispatch and getting all hands on deck to help.”
The former president stressed that Buhari would be held responsible for his failure to address the issues, warning that they could lead to a re-enactment of the pogrom that occurred in Rwanda in 1994, where almost a million Tutsi s and moderate Hutus were slaughtered between April 7 and July 15 of that year.
Obasanjo recalled in his letter that prominent Nigerians and groups, including a Nigerian merit laureate, Prof. Anya O. Anya; Niger-Delta leaders, South-East leaders, Middle-Belt leaders and Northern Elders’ Forum had called for measures to address the insecurity and killings pervading the country, but to no avail.
He warned that the calls by groups and individuals could only be ignored at the expense of Nigeria’s unity and continued corporate existence.
Obasanjo also warned that four calamities awaited Nigeria, if the President failed to act with maximum dispatch, stating, “To be explicit and without equivocation, Mr. President and General, I am deeply worried about four avoidable calamities:
“1. Abandoning Nigeria into the hands of criminals who are all being suspected, rightly or wrongly, as the Fulani and terrorists of Boko Haram type;
“2. Spontaneous or planned reprisals against the Fulani, which may inadvertently or advertently mushroom into pogrom or a Rwanda-type genocide that we did not believe could happen and yet it happened;
“3. Similar attacks against any other tribe or ethnic group anywhere in the country initiated by rumours, fears, intimidation and revenge capable of leading to pogrom;
“4. Violent uprising beginning from one section of the country and spreading quickly to other areas and leading to dismemberment of the country.”
The former president, however, noted rightly that the subject of his latest letter could no longer be ignored or treated “with cuddling gloves,” as, “The issue is hitting at the foundation of our existence as Nigerians and fast eroding the root of our Nigerian community. I am very much worried and afraid that we are on the precipice and dangerously reaching a tipping point where it may no longer be possible to hold danger at bay.”
Obasanjo argued that despite claims by the Buhari administration that it had defeated or decapitated the Boko Haram terrorist sect, the insurgents seemed to have been entrenching itself as it had become more potent and remained “undiminished, putting a lie to the government’s claim.”
He also blamed the Buhari administration for the worsening herdsmen/farmers’ crises, saying with the government’s treatment of attacks by herdsmen “with cuddling gloves instead of hammer, it has festered and spread,” adding, “Today, it has developed into banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery and killings all over the country.
“The unfortunate situation is that the criminality is being perceived as a ‘Fulani’ menace unleashed by the Fulani elite in the different parts of the country for a number of reasons but even more unfortunately, many Nigerians and non-Nigerians, who are friends of Nigeria, attach vicarious responsibility to you (Buhari) as a Fulani elite and the current captain of the Nigerian ship. Perception may be as potent as reality at times.”
Obasanjo further accused the Buhari administration of mismanaging the diversity of the country, which he claimed, was one of the nation’s assets and recalled that the Presidency and the Congress in the United States as well as the House of Lords in the United Kingdom had warned Nigeria to put its house in order.
Noting that the country lacked consensus on issues of mobilisation for national unity, stability, security, cooperation, development, growth and progress, Obasanjo advised the Federal Government to organise and conduct a nationwide debate on violence across Nigeria.
Obasanjo, who noted that there was no consensus on the issues of mobilisation for national unity, stability, security, cooperation, development, growth and progress, advised the Federal Government to open discussion on violence across the country while the outcomes would be collated to form inputs into a national conference to come up with the solutions that will effectively deal with the issues and bring about rapid development. He said every stratum of the country should be carried along in this onerous task.
“We need cohesion and concentration of effort and maximum force – political, economic, social, psychological and military – to deal successfully with the menace of criminality and terrorism separately and together. Blame game among own forces must be avoided. It is debilitating and only helpful to our adversary. We cannot dither anymore. It is time to confront this threat headlong and in a manner that is holistic, inclusive and purposeful,” he further advised the President.
Although former President Obasanjo’s motive, to many who are not his fans, may be questionable, the content of his last letter to Buhari can’t be discountenanced or faulted by any right-thinking person. The country is, indeed, in trying and dangerous times. Although Obasanjo may sound hyperbolic, his message is concise; nobody can fault that.
There is no doubt that with the recent kidnappings and killings by suspected herdsmen across the country, the relationship between the sub-ethnic group President Buhari has come from and others from other areas like the Middle Belt, the South West, South South and South East, has become much more shrouded in mutual suspicion.
Obasanjo is the president of all ex-presidents in Africa and his words cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand because of partisan politics. We shouldn’t say because the message is from Obasanjo, who, many opposed to his kind of politics, have labeled a mischief maker, it should be discounted.
Obasanjo’s latest letter to President Buhari is a clear indication that other former presidents and ex-heads of state of the country should no longer keep quiet and merely fiddle while Nigeria is about to be set ablaze by those who don’t wish the country well. They should all speak out now!
It is shocking to discover now that the Federal Government seems overwhelmed by the myriad of security problems confronting the country. Only recently, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said, while on a visit to the United States, that reports about the problem of insecurity in Nigeria had been exaggerated. But the same Osinbajo expressed worries about the increasing wave of kidnapping and killings across the country, when, recently, he went to commiserate with the bereaved leader of the Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, whose 59-year-old daughter, Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, was killed by suspected herdsmen along the Benin-Ore road.
It is now clear that this government really needs help, urgently. People in government are usually held hostage, and most of the times they are even far detached from the truth and reality.
It’s high time we stopped playing politics with security matters in Nigeria. All hands must now be on deck to save Nigeria.
Contrary to the belief by many supporters of the party in power, Obasanjo’s letter to Buhari is with little or no political colouration. It’s clear this government needs help to tackle worsening insecurity. The former president’s message must be taken seriously as sounding a note of warning that war is looming in the country and some urgent and drastic actions are now required to avert it.
What is contained in the letter is the bitter truth. We should all remember that if anything untoward happens to Nigeria, not many of us will be spared.
