The Rugarisation of common sense

I f any evidence is needed to support the claim that Muhammadu Buhari has no leadership acumen or a blueprint for running a country as volatile and diverse as ours, it is the furore over the Ruga policy. Never has a simple policy divided a nation to the level of balkanization except when dead bodies […]

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f any evidence is needed to support the claim that Muhammadu Buhari has no leadership acumen or a blueprint for running a country as volatile and diverse as ours, it is the furore over the Ruga policy. Never has a simple policy divided a nation to the level of balkanization except when dead bodies of victims of ethno-religious violence were being shipped across the nation. Governance is a serious job and those who aspire to leadership positions must hire people with vision to help them deliver it. It’s a shame that a simple policy threatens the very foundation of national cohesion.

A foundation for mutual suspicion was laid long ago, when we suspiciously dubbed every act of banditry as the handiwork of Fulani herdsmen. We demonized a whole nation based on the irrational actions of a few that speaks its language. It was like calling all Yorubas thieves because Oyenusi was a Yoruba man. But the blame could be shared. Government at the centre was anything but sympathetic towards the plight of victims. It has failed to demonstrate the impartiality of a father to all. The president is Fulani, owns a ruga and remains the patron of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore. The statements of the leaders of that non-governmental association led to people believing that the Fulani are on a jihad for forceful integration.

A kingdom divided against itself slides. The banditry that led to the funeral of 93 in Benue, a non-Fulani state has affected Zamfara, a predominantly Fulani-populated state for nine years and counting. Same with Adamawa , Katsina and Yobe. The statements of Miyetti Allah’s leaders during the middle-belt crisis was capable of inflaming passions and laying the foundations for hardened hearts against the Fulani. Yet, not all Fulani are members of this association anymore than all Yorubas endorse the OPC or Igbos, MASSOB.

Some have opined that it is worse than Biafra agitation. If an OPC or MASSOB group had taken the stance of Miyetti Allah, they’d be in prison or fugitives from the law. Nothing sends a wrong signal than a feeling that some people are above the law. There lies the reason for the rugarisation of common sense from different quarters and the hardening of positions. Once people perceived that Buhari was treating his kinsmen as if they were above the law, hearts are hardened.

But hardened positions do not alter the law. It is an established fact that we have a country, albeit an imperfect one. No country is perfect – ask the almighty America with its views on everything from white supremacy to abortion. Ask Canada with the way it is perceived to have treated its indigenous peoples and the perception on immigration. Ask India with its Sikh, Hindu and Muslim population. Ask Britain with its Brexit wars.

We all need each other. The Fulani need pasture for their cattle whether or not we ranch. Pastoralists exist all over the world, from Africa to America. Femi Falana situated it historically that regional governments embraced ranching. The failure of ranching could have opened the kraal for the present problem but cows have crossed borders before colonial boundaries and afterwards. Ruga helps with integration – the Fulani have their settlement, the people know who to hold responsible in case of violence or trouble.

If 10,000 heads of cows is what is needed to meet the protein need of the southwest –those cows must come from somewhere. We have always co-existed as people. We have intermarried and raised mixed children who have gone ahead to raise more mixed children. There is a Fulani in all of us who eats meat.

It’s been explained that the land use act vests ownership of land on governors; that only12 states have signed into the pilot project. Buhari has no power to forcefully take lands from any state. Yes, ruga is not different from industrial layouts in most states. It is not different from spare parts business, quarantined to specific areas of most states. It does look like the federal government has good reasons to support ruga. It is not Fulanization of any territory any more than mechanized farming is colonization of our nation. Social and mainstream media influencers must listen first before taking positions.

Its not easy when a passive government communicates. They often speak in mixed metaphors. They have lost the capacity to soften the grounds and to seek mutual consent. Politics has divided us. The federal government lost the confidence of Benue after the massacre. It has failed to regain that confidence. That has led to hardening of hearts in the middle belt region. One individual has just been turbaned as head of Fulani in Lagos! Bad timing akin to when an Eze-Igbo was crowned in the southwest years ago. In making policies, government must soften the ground with diplomacy. Gauge the mood of the nation before making ambiguous statements or policies.

Reality is, we can’t meet our protein need without cows, except we import meat. We don’t have the refrigeration needed to import meat. Even if we do, we must augment it with local production. For now, there’s no need chasing cows or herders out of town. Chances are, the ones we chase have no links with the terrorists we loathe. This land is green, and it belongs to all of us.