Many Have Issues, But Few Are Roaming the Streets

With Reno Omokri

Ithought I had heard all there was to hear until Monday, July 2, 2018 when the Buhari Presidency came down hard on all those opposed to the administration’s cattle colony project.

Speaking on a morning show on Africa Independence Television, Femi Adesina, Mr. Buhari’s spokesman said giving land for ranching is better than death!

In fact, his exact words were as follows:
“Ancestral attachment? You can only have ancestral attachment when you are alive. If you are talking about ancestral attachment, if you are dead, how does the attachment matter?”

Going further, Femi Adesina opined thus:
“Where you have land and you can do something, please do for peace. What will the land be used for if those who own it are dead at the end of the day?”

To give some perspective, Femi is talking about the deaths from herdsmen killings which, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, have hit 20,000 in the last three years.
The solution offered by the Buhari government to this problem was for the federal government and individual states to use public funds and public lands to build cattle colonies (or ranches depending on who you are referring to) for herdsmen.
Many Nigerians have thankfully rejected this ludicrous proposition, and it is because of them that Femi went on this show.
How can the Presidency say ‘giving land for ranching is better than death’? Is that a threat to Nigerians? Is that the agenda behind these killings? What type of government allows criminals profit from their criminality?

An APC Governor gave herdsmen money now an APC President wants to give them land! Did Kogi and Plateau states not agree to give free land to herdsmen for ranching? Has it stopped the killings there? You do not appease a crocodile by giving it your children or else it will eat them and still eat you! Government exists to secure its citizens not to reward terrorists!

That comment by Femi Adesina is another reminder that many have issues but only few are roaming the streets.
I thought it was only armed robbers that say ‘your money or your life’. I never knew a government could say ‘your land or your life’! Ask yourself what right Buhari has to be in power if the only way he can guarantee the lives of Nigerians is if they give their ancestral lands to herdsmen.

How can I be expected to give out the land in which my great great grandfather, great grandfather and grandfather are buried on just to placate marauding herdsmen?
If Femi Adesina truly believes that giving land for ranching is better than death, he should prove it by surrendering his own house and land for cattle colony. While he is at it, he should also provide herdsmen with his family’s ancestral land. Doesn’t Femi even have a family? Is it until he starts roaming the streets naked and stark raving mad, that his family will know he has spiritual problems?
The preamble of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, states that the purpose of the constitution shall be “promoting the good government and welfare of all persons in our country, on the principles of freedom, equality and justice, and for the purpose of consolidating the unity of our people”.

So how does Femi Adesina’s threat promote good governance or the welfare of Nigerians or even “freedom, equality and justice”?
Femi should just tell us we have been conquered by these herdsmen and we will know what to do rather than coming up with this tale.
His boss, President Buhari, asks us to pray as panacea to these attacks, while the spokesman asked we should simply give up our lands if we do not want to die.
But are we not dying already? Nigerians do not need herdsmen to kill them. We already have Buhari’s policies which are killing us and our economy.

Look at what is happening with Procter and Gamble. Then President Jonathan invited Procter and Gamble to expand their investments in Nigeria and they did. They built a brand new $300 million factory and employed hundreds of Nigerians.
Now they have closed that factory and are leaving Nigeria because of Buhari’s economic policies. Yet, Buhari continues to blame Jonathan for ruining the economy! More companies have left Nigeria in the last three years than at any other time in the nation’s history. The last time divestment of companies occurred on this scale was between 1983 and 1985 when coincidentally (?) Buhari was military head of state.

The richest Nigerian in the whole world is Aliko Dangote. In 2014 Forbes rated Mr. Dangote’s worth as $25 billion. Today, Forbes rates his worth at $12.4 billion, less than half of his 2014 worth.
It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor or in between. Your situation is now much worse than it was in 2015. So forget about whether you are APC or PDP, Christian or Muslim, Southerner or Northerner. The question you need to ask yourself is this: Are you ready to keep getting poorer beyond 2019?

If you are a landowner, your question should be whether or not you want to stay alive.
And the annoying thing is that the President continues to pass the buck and engage in blame games.
On Thursday July 6, 2018, he told a group of Christian clerics representing the Northern branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria that, “When some (people), for clearly political purposes, attempt to suggest that this government is doing nothing about the killings, and that I, being Fulani, must be encouraging these satanic acts, it seems to me that there is no limit to the evil in the minds of men.”
This is utterly ridiculous. I admit to be one of those people who hold such views, but I don’t hold them because I have an ‘evil mind’. I hold them because I have an analytical mind that is able to make deductions based on evidence.

Dear President Buhari,
Those suggesting you support herdsmen because you are a Fulani don’t have evil minds. They are basing it on evidence not emotion.
You sent soldiers to kill Shiites
You sent the army to quell IPOB
You sent crocodile smile to militants
But when it came to herdsmen you sent PRAYERS!
That is evidence. That is fact. If you have evidence to the contrary, then come up with instead of insulting the intelligence of Nigerians with this ‘evil minds’ punditry.

The thing is that since Boko Haram are ‘technically defeated’ and Fulani herdsmen are looking for land and Femi Adesina has told us it is a case of your land or your life, why doesn’t Buhari give herdsmen Sambisa Forest so we can all live happily ever after?
Let me conclude by saying that by now it should be clear to everyone, including Femi Adesina himself, that President Buhari is pursuing a hidden agenda of which I shall dwell more on in my next book which, God willing, is coming out soon.
Sincere advice to Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina-there is life after Aso Rock. If you lose your credibility telling lies to promote a failed leader, what would you do with your life when his Presidency ends? Buhari is 76. You guys are still young. Don’t destroy yourselves to hype him!

A Little About Macron and Buhari
So French President, Emmanuel Macron, was an intern at the French Embassy in Nigeria a mere 15 years ago? Wow! Never underestimate what you can achieve in 15 years. Unfortunately for Nigeria, the man who was our head of state when Macron was in primary one is also the man who received Macron today as President of Nigeria. If you ever asked why France is today experiencing new life while Nigeria is decaying, look no further than the leadership. Buhari was minister of petroleum on 21 December 1977, the day Emmanuel Macron was born!

Thank you Elegant Stallion
Onyeka Onwenu, the Elegant Stallion of Nigeria’s music industry and doyen of afopop sent me a message that touched my heart. I crave my readers indulgence to publish it here:
“There a few good friends in politics and the whole world has seen the fearless and courageous way you stood when many deserted. You give some of us hope that loyalty, commitment and dedication, plus a sense of integrity is still valued and available in Nigeria. May the Lord continue to use you”-From Onyeka Onwenu to Reno Omokri.