In this piece, WALE OYEWALE writes that the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, faces the dilemma of protecting people of Ibarapa against killer herdsmen and guaranteeing the freedom of movement of all Nigerians in the state
As the case may be with every mortal, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State is human and imperfect. However, for the majority of people of the state, the governor is the beautiful bride whose shortcomings and sins are easily ignored. That, in the thought of watchers of events, is why his administration is being pampered like a sacred cow that is hardly ever caned.
For the people of Igangan, the current peace being enjoyed in the community and the entire Ibarapa/Oke Ogun zone of Oyo State is as result of the eviction of killer herders from their midst after the uproar that greeted the unabated cases of killings, raping and plundering of farmlands by some marauders.
However, the people of the zone are apprehensive that unless they work hard to retain the fledgling peace being achieved within the community, their triumph over the long nightmare may not last for long if the killer herders are not kept at bay from their territory. Many of them are worried that the body language of Makinde, who they see as their idol, suggests that he is favourably disposed to having the evicted herders back as he is unequivocal about his belief on the right of every Nigerian to live wherever he wants without fear or molestation.
The governor had reiterated the fact that the herders in Oyo State have the constitutional right to live in any part of the country. During a live broadcast to the residents of the state he maintained that the real enemies of the state were bandits and kidnappers saying that the herders were merely seeking pasture for their flock.
He said, “We cannot overlook the fact that there have indeed been instances that cause concern. The fragile peace between the herdsmen and farmers in Oke-Ogun is being threatened. Individuals who are not authorised are going around chasing people from their homes and causing mayhem. This assault on residents of Oyo State is not the way to further the Yoruba cause. We shall not sit back and watch anyone make any law-abiding resident of Oyo State feel unsafe in their homes, farms, or business places. We are aware of some people circulating flyers and giving people ultimatums to leave their land. This is totally unacceptable and will not be condoned.
“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which I swore to defend and protect, guarantees freedom of movement in Section 41(1), such that citizens are free to reside in any part of the country without fear. We are determined to preserve that right in Oyo state.”
With the ongoing peace drive by the governor, and considering his body language, many residents of Igangan are suspicious that the Seriki of Igangan, Salihu Abdulkadri, and his men may soon be called back to live again in the town. With the compensation promised by the governor to victims of the Igangan violence, some people have said that the hope of Seriki and his cronies resettling at their former base, razed with fire by some suspected irate mob in the community at the expiration of the eviction notice which Chief Sunday Igboho gave, may be quick.
While the governor is committed to signing a peace pact with the host community on the continued cohabitation of any Nigerian in any part of Oyo State as laid down by the Nigerian Constitution, the people have sworn with their blood never to agree to a term that would drift them back to the period of horrific nightmare and bloodletting.
This, indeed, for some stakeholders might be the major test of how enduring the acceptance that Makinde has, so far, enjoyed with the people might be. As a populist in power in the state, a former Commissioner and Executive Assistant to late Senator Abiola Ajimobi, Dr Morounkola Thomas, noted that the vast majority of people in Oyo State are ardent disciples of Makinde regardless of what critiques, political friends and foes say or see of him.
In his view, despite the implications of past and immediate actions of the governor, the All Progressives Congress chief said the masses would easily back him as their idol, “regardless of whatever may be happening in the state now. The masses are still with Governor Makinde. Makinde, like the late Chief MKO Abiola, used philanthropy as a strategy to gain people’s sympathy and consequently win elections.”
However, some sections of Igangan community are already blowing hot. When asked if they would allow Seriki and his men back to town after the security/town hall meeting with different communities in the zone, the General Secretary of the Ibarapaland Farmers’ Association, Mr. Taiwo Adeagbo, said, “My answer to that is capital no.”
The Convener, Igangan Development Advocate, Mr Oladiran Oladokun, said, “No, the town will not accept. It is a capital no. Nobody will accept a criminal. What the governor needs to do if he wants to bring the Seriki back is to launch an investigation and a public hearing on the allegations against Seriki Salihu. There is a Seriki in Igbo Ora presently. He is a very peaceful man; nobody ejected him. There are Fulanis who have been living with us for a long time. When you get to AUD, you would find Fulanis. They are coexisting peacefully with us. They bear names like Adamu, Alao and so on. Nobody ejected them. They play football in the evening with Yoruba guys.
“It is not about hostility towards a tribe. It is about somebody enslaving you on your father’s land for a very long time and somebody rendering you economically oppressed and you don’t have any means with your life taken over. There was no crime that was committed that Seriki would not throw his way into to ensure that there was no prosecution after all. And when there is no prosecution, criminals would be emboldened.”
“When the governor was talking of compensation to the people, he was talking about victims of years of Fulani banditry when, even the media did not take cognizance of what was happening here. He is talking about people who have become homeless, raped, the homeless and widows; those were the people that he was talking about, due to the oppressive presence of the Seriki. He was not talking about people who engaged in the act.
“According to him, he did not have the clear picture. Whoever hears of the cases would think it was mere exaggeration. Until you come into contact with those who have become handicapped one way or the other from the sword of the Fulani, that you would know it is a reality that has been ongoing for a long time. Akowe Agbe presented to the governor a file of all that he had gathered over the years. Those are the people that the governor is talking about.”
On whether Igangan people would welcome “Everybody has the right to live anywhere as a law abiding citizen of the country not a law breaker. The Seriki is not law abiding but he had been a criminal, a crime lord and don. He is a kingpin of kidnapping, extortion, robbery and motivator of broad daylight oppression. The governor said he had been staying with us, yes, that adds to the pains. That means it has been years of wicked, draconian atmosphere on the part of the Seriki.
“The fact that the governor agreed that he had been with ui for a long time is tantamount to a long time of the enslavement of his people; of the raping of our land. Seriki had not been a law abiding citizen. Peace, they said, is not the absence of conflict but the presence of justice. What the governor would concentrate on is justice. The governor should get justice for the people by launching a public hearing. Let the governor leave the task in the hand of the state lawmakers.”
When asked about how it all started, the residents of Igangan recalled that it started from petty farm plundering to broad daylight farm plundering, to kidnapping, to murderous activities. Stating that they could no longer bear what years and years of uncurbed criminal activities of the Seriki led Ibarapa communities into. They said, “Ibarapa as a whole can never accept Seriki back unless the governor can prove to us that our allegations are untrue.”
The commercial farmers in Igangan community under the aegis of the Igangan Agro Park Investors Association, which stated that it had very unpleasant experience under the hostility of the killer herders, made references to killings, plundering of farmlands, destruction of harvested crops and the multiplier effects on their members and trade. Lamenting that many of the distrust farmers had deserted the farm for fear of being killed or kidnapped for money, they urged the state government to take a deep look at the situation and address it using holistic approach.
The President of the group, Mr Oluwafemi Abioye, said, “The Igangan Agro Park Investors Association is using this opportunity to call on the Oyo State governor to put actions to his words, this is the time to sign the Anti- Open Grazing Bill passed since 2019 into law. IAPIA expresses serious dissatisfaction as to how the state governor and the entire teams are playing politics with the investors lives and assets.
“Over 21 investors invested over N650m within 3 years after the OYSG gave out the massively deforested reserve out to Agribusiness investors in 2017, it is sad to recount that we have lost over N400m of our investments within 3 years between 2018 and 2020 to majorly herdsmen destruction with records of several attacks of our workers, farm equipment and security personnel.
“The Investors have written several petitions to the governor with the latest of such dated December 9, 2020 and received at the Governor’s Office on December 10, 2020 with copies sent to the Speaker OYHA, relevant security heads including NSCDC, Amotekun and the NPF. We stated our readiness to work with the state government in strengthening the security and peace of the zone by providing support to the Security Agencies (Operational vehicle, motor cycles and office equipment).
“Over 15 investors have run away from the Igangan Agro Park (formerly known as Igangan Forest Reserve) due to incessant financial loss and constant threats by the herdsmen to bring in foreign Fulani militia from Niger or Mali. We pray that Almighty God will be with the governor and grant him wisdom to do the needful because our members (local and diaspora) are ready for the 2021 Farm year.”
Tracing the origin of Fulani’s activities in the country, a professor of History at the University of Ibadan, Olutade Adesina, blamed the situation on the British colonial masters.
Adesina, featuring on a weekly radio show, ‘Parrot Xtra Hour on Radio’ on the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State’s Oluyole 98.5 FM, said,
“The Fulani people have remained the most pampered in the history of Nigeria.”
He noted that the British Colonial Government pampered the Fulani through the indirect rule system practiced in the North, stressing, “The British did not take away their privileges, and when you retain certain privileges, you appear invincible while in the South some of our traditional rulers were rough handled by the colonial administrators.
“Over the centuries, we have seen the relationship between the herdsmen who came from across the Sahara, to Yorubaland and at the beginning of the raining season, they moved back to the edge of the Sahara. It was the farmers that used to invite the Fulani herdsmen after harvest to come to their farms so that the cattle dung would serve as manure for the farmers. Our people in the South-West of Nigeria really need to study their neighbours and understand them. Specifically, I do not think we the Yoruba understand the Fulani. They look fragile, harmless and friendly. But, we really need to understand them. I will not say more than that.”
