By Akinwale Kasali
The Southern Nigeria, Middle Belt and Northern Minorities Forum, SNMBF, has call on President Muhammadu Buhari to be proactive and provide adequate security for Nigerians, especially in Southern Kaduna and the North East where Boko Insurgents and alleged Fulani settlers and Herdsmen have been terrorizing.
The Group alleged President Buhari’s kinsmen, the Fulani Ethnic Group are largely responsible for the violence and killings in some parts of the country, most especially in Southern Kaduna.
In a letter addressed to the President, the Group said that in the post COVID-19 era, Nigeria may face downturn in the number of her citizens living abroad returning to their homeland.
The letter submitted to President Buhari was signed by the Group’s President, Sidney Imohbio, based in New York, United States of America.
Early in August the group had submitted a petition to the United Nations, (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Guetters asking the world body tp appoint a Special Rappateur on Nigeria.
The Group blamed the President for pampering his ethnic nationality group, the Fulani and attempting to place them above other ethnic groups in Nigeria through his political and economic policies.
It noted that while millions of Nigerians are not ready to return home even for holiday, millions at home are desperate to leave the country due to insecurity and economic downturn.
“The glory of our country is being pulled down by you. Nigerians abroad are not willing to return home and those at home are chocked, desperate to leave the country and prefer to relocate abroad through the dangerous Atlantic Ocean even if it means being eaten by Sharks. Investors are leaving the country and new ones are scared of the emerging state of blood” the group said.
The Group said millions of Nigerians abroad are now scared to come back to their homeland due to violence, corruption and general insecurity in many parts of the country.
The group said some Nigerians living abroad who came home have either been kidnapped or killed by bandits. SMBNNF said the recent reports of extremist groups planning to invade Southern Nigeria have further heightened the prospect of Nigeria becoming a failed state unless drastic efforts are taking to stem the tide.
“Millions of Nigerians will not come home again. We are returning to 1993 when the country was ruled by fear, violence and trembling. With the mass killings, adductions and murder without respite, Nigerians abroad are not willing to come back home to help build their fatherland”, the group said.
The group told Buhari that though his government placed emphasis on fighting insecurity as a campaign slogan but that in recent times, the country has assumed a violent territory where human lives are like cockroaches on the sidewalk.
The group said “Everywhere abroad, from Asia to America and Europe, the question we are asked is why is Nigeria such a violent country. Though we fought a civil war, we never had history of violent terrorism. Today, people are slaughtered daily in Nigeria. No Nigerian abroad is anxious to come back home because of the killings”
According to the group, Nigeria is assuming the status of a terrorist country similar to Afghanistan. “Nobody wants to go to Kabul. If you do not change the ways things are in Nigeria, very soon, nobody would wish to come to Abuja”, the group said.
Sidney, a lawyer, said to end violence in the country, the Federal and State Government should take decisive actions which includes the mopping up illegal weapons said to be in millions in the country and restructuring of the country to reflect its plural nature.
The group said the proliferation of arms in the hands of non state actors pose a great threat to the stability of the country.
The group said “We the members of Southern Nigeria, Middle Belt, and Northern Minorities Forum resolved and state that Nigeria will be greater if it remains indivisible and indissoluble,
but very negotiable. We must be focused, steadfast, and resolute not to be deceived, or fooled in this 21st century. Nigeria is a beautiful country with beautiful people.
The group said the problems in Nigeria are from the leadership.
“We allowed just a few handful wicked, greedy, and selfish people to subjugate, oppress and maltreat us like second class citizens or idiots. The South South, South East, South West, Middle Belt and Northern Minorities should wake up from their slumber.”
The group blames the recurrent violence on a section of the armed Fulani people working hard to conquer the country.
The group said “North of West Africa to Sokoto and labeled Hausa leaders as corrupt leaders. With the help of the indigenous Hausa traitors he conquered their leaders. This was in 1800s more than 200 years ago. How can we allow the same thing to happen to us again in the same country, and in the 21st-century? What would be our excuse? The Hausa state has never known peace since the conquest by Fulani. I am quite sure we don’t want that. Let us come together and restructure Nigeria without fear of being killed now or we will all perish in the hands of Fulani.”
The group told Buhari that his co-political travelers came into power in 2015 because the Nigerian electorates believed the party’s slogan.
“The purported purview of the slogan was to address four cardinal points in the manifesto of APC: 1) Security, 2) corruption, 3) poverty and 4) unemployment. Of the four, corruption and security situation were regarded as serious matters and therefore needed immediate attention. You promised that corruption and insecurity would be a thing of the past if he was voted for. After five years, we are yet to see how the FG plans to tackle corruption. In fact, the situation has since deteriorated. Corruption has now become a problematic monster seed whose taproot is very difficult to uproot. It is now endemic in the daily affairs of almost all Nigerians.”
The group said Buhari has failed to tackle corruption without bias. “We would want to encourage and suggest that it should be a wholistic address without fear or favor. There should be no sacred cows whether dead or alive. It may be pertinent to remind our President that claims against corruption have no statute of limitation, restrictions or respects for anyone who contravened the law-EFCC vs Sami Abacha. Corruption has many faces: a) tribalism, b) Sectionalism, c) Bribery, d)nepotism,e)favoritism, f) ethnocentrism, g)pervasion of justice, h) refusal to render account, i) stealing, and j) rigging of elections are all corruption. Then who is not corrupt in Nigeria”
The group said further “The stylish and restricted definition given to corruption in Nigeria is deceitful, dubious, misleading and unacceptable. The definition of corruption should not be made for a section of the public. Let the head and all the leaders of government first lead by good examples before they are qualified to label others as corrupt people. It is an aberration to make scape goat of people perceived as opposition”
It said in a democratic society,no one arm of government should play god and perform the functions of the three arms as is practiced in Nigeria. The president is all in one. Hence he can decide who is or not corrupt. He can hire and fire.
