The Roots Of Banditry: A Fulani Perspective (III)
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The first and second parts of this essay discussed some salient issues around banditry and its implications on the northern nay Nigerian society. While it should be clear to an objective mind that banditry cannot be in any way associated with the Fulani as an ethnic group, one honest question has to be answered. Why is it possible to successfully attribute banditry to the Fulani and no other ethnic groups? The answer is prominence. If you send a boy to steal money, there will be two beneficiaries, i.e. two thieves. If the mission fails and the boy gets caught, there is likely going to be one boy out there to be hanged as the thief. This is the scenario in The kingpins and tycoons, who run the show in kidnapping and banditry, know their onions. They understand that while they can provide the lethal weapons, feeding and logistics to fund their criminal business, they need a certain category of people with certain attributes and qualities to do the physical aspects of the dirty job. The herders – majority of who are Fulani – have all the prerequisites to be used as foot soldiers in the lucrative business that is banditry in Nigeria. Secondly, more than anyone else, they have been put in a dangerous, hopeless socioeconomic situation that makes them susceptible to recruitment into these criminalities. From Sokoto, Kaduna, Zamfara, Kogi to Niger and other states that suffer endemic banditry, the worst hit areas are those closer to the forests and bushes that are used as dens by the terrorists. Similarly, most dangerous locations on the highways are usually along deep forests that allow bandits close access to their settlements and discourage manhunts. Now, forests and bushes are to herders what cities are to urban people. With or without banditry, the forest is home and bush a resource for not only nomads, but all practicing herders. You own the city, they own the forest. It is no brainer, therefore, that a business in the forest can best be handled by its owners. Herders’ unlimited knowledge, experience and natural domestication of these forests make them the most qualified and unfortunately, available manpower to operate this dreadful terrorism. Furthermore, herding communities around the world are known for abundance of physical, physiological, psychological and emotional skills required for combat and rugged life. This is partly because unlike sedentary life, a nomadic lifestyle is very rudimentary, flexible and less possessive. A nomad, for instance, has barely much to lose other than his life and cattle. He has no address, property or investments, nor does he have affiliations to the typical desires of the modern world to protect or miss. But, wait; are these not the same prescriptions proffered for all social crises in Nigeria, ala Boko Haram, IPOB, Niger Delta militants, etc? Yes. Have these crises been resolved? No. Why? Failure of the leadership. If that is the case, then the first and indeed the only solution to this and certainly other myriad of problems is good leadership. I would then prescribe thus: fix the leadership and the leadership fixes the nation. Ahmadu Shehu, Ph.D wrote from Kaduna via ahmadusheehu@gmail.com
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Date Posted :
2022-02-02 06:25:31
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Posted By :
Horllaryinker44
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