By Tayo Ogunbiyi
IT is no longer news that the ancient town of Ile-Ife was recently engulfed in an ethnic clash. According to unconfirmed reports, about 49 lives were lost and properties worth hundreds of millions of naira lost. Though, there are diverse versions of what triggered the conflict and how it actually happened, what is, however, incontrovertible is that the crisis pitched the Hausa-Fulani community in the town against some indigenes.
Now, the primary concern of this piece is not actually about what led to the gory incident but more in relation to the process that would ensure that justice is accurately meted out without any recourse to prejudice. This is quite essential if we are to prevent future episodes.
Days after the gruesome incident, the police reportedly swung into action, combing the entire Ile-Ife and its environs, as well as other trouble spots in the state apparently in search of possible perpetrators of the heinous incident. By the time the search was over, 38 suspects out of whom 20 were found culpable were detained for further investigation.
But then, there have been insinuations in certain quarters about the impartiality of the process leading to the arrest of perceived perpetrators. It has been alleged that the process favours a particular ethnic group at the expense of the other. It was, for instance, alleged that the bulk of officers involved in investigating the case are from the northern part of the country and they have been accused of indiscriminate arrest of people of Yoruba origin.
It is, nevertheless, important that authorities concerned, especially security agencies involved in investigating and prosecuting the case, should rise above primordial interests and eschew every form of nepotism and other such unpatriotic considerations. Like the revered monarch of Ile-Ife, His Royal Majesty, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi rightly affirmed while addressing security officials that paid him a visit in the wake of the distressing event, security agencies should go after the culprits, irrespective of who they are and where they are from, and bring them to book.
This is the least that is expected of law enforcement agencies in such a delicate situation as this. Whoever instigated and participated in the deplorable episode are irresponsible and devilish elements who must not be allowed to go scot free in order to serve as deterrent to others with similar barbaric instinct.
Therefore, resorting to ethnic sentiments and tendencies in this affair would amount to a careless display of ignorance and gross incompetence. Let me stress at this point that whatever happened at Ile-Ife on that fateful day couldn’t have been a manifestation of relations between Hausa-Fulani settlers in the ancient town and their host community. I have a fair knowledge of Ile-Ife.
Though I am not an indigene of the historic town, my formative years were spent there. The memories of my early years in Ile-Ife remain part of the most cherished aspects of my life. I had both my primary and secondary education at Ile-Ife.
My first degree thesis partly centered on the primordial town. In- fact, I had my primary education right inside of Sabo, where the Hausa-Fulanis predominantly live. I had good friends among them. We interfaced like brothers and sisters. They have become part and parcel of the community. I cannot remember the last time that such gory intra-ethnic clash like the recent one occurred in Ile-Ife. The Ifes are particularly accommodating and unproblematic people.
I can confidently attest to this. On the other hand, the Hausa-Fulani settlers at Ile-Ife had properly integrated into the community. I know quite a few of their men that had married Ife ladies and vice-versa.
I have taken the pain to go into the foregoing details just to drive home my hypothesis that the incident should not be unduly tribalized. Irresponsible men and women abound in every race or tribe. What happened in Ile-Ife was an act of irresponsibility and the responsibility of law enforcement agencies would be to fish them out and apply the law as desirable. Arresting or going after innocent people under any disguise or pretext would be counterproductive.
The crisis that occured in Ile-Ife has dangerous consequences. It threatens the very existence of our nation and makes nonsense of the labours of our heroes past to build a strong and united country. Second, it slows down progress in all dimensions. It is a general truth that no concrete development could be attained in an atmosphere of instability. Third, it could lead to a serious dent on the image of the country within the international community. It could lead to a situation where some countries warn their citizens concerning visiting Nigeria.
It is, therefore, imperative that we collectively make concerted efforts to address the current situation in Ile-Ife and other such places. Irrespective of ethnic, religious, cultural, political and other such divisive affiliations, we all have a duty to maintain peaceful co-existence in the country.
Our leaders need to give every member of the society a sense of belonging by providing equal opportunities to all irrespective of societal status. We need to lay much emphasis on human capital development, especially in places with higher rate of instability. Government at all levels should creatively fashion out security measures that could stem the tide of insecurity across the land.
Finally, our leaders need to eschew all divisive tendencies and other acts that could further throw the country into crisis. This is not the time for our leaders, no matter how politically expedient, to make inflammatory remarks.
Ogunbiyi is of the Ministry of Information and Strategy, Lagos.