We innocently thought we were done with colonisation and its weird mentality some 57 years ago. But we goofed. We were just naive. And this government is saying so loud and clear that we erred greatly.

This government is determined to #bringbackcolonisation by every means possible. And it tragically finds a suitable ally in cattle colony. That is the “change” government is forcing down our delicate throats. It insists we must eat and drink it to its satisfaction.

The states resisting it are having tales of woe to tell; the regret of their lives. They are being visited with Fulani herdsmen’s carnage and bloodbath almost on a daily basis. Checklist: Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Adamawa and still counting.   

It is amazing and amusing the manner in which the Federal Government is thirsting for cattle colony. This smacks of desperation; in this 21st century? This is appalling!

 Its officials are everywhere. They are cravingly preaching the sordid “gospel” according to cattle colony. They do it with rash impunity at any given opportunity. They wickedly lash on our gullibility. They do not care a hoot if our ox is gored or brutally injured.

All they long for is an exchange of the British colonisation of old for a despicable, odd cattle colony; or better still Fulani colony, to be tagged Fulani (Federal) Republic of Nigeria.

They are throwing up all sorts of postulations, hypothesis, propositions, et al. Samplers: Mansur Dan-Ali, a Fulani, retired Brigadier-General, Nigerian Army. He holds sway as President Muhammadu Buhari’s Minister of Defence.

This is his argument and explanation for the Fulani herdsmen’s killings of innocent and unarmed citizens and destruction of their farmlands. Stranger than fiction:

“Look at this issue (killings in Benue and Taraba), what is the remote cause of the crisis? Since the nation’s Independence, we know there used to be a route whereby the cattle rearers would take because they are all over the nation. If you go to Bayelsa or Ogun (states), you will see them.”

Then his satanic poser: “If those routes are blocked, what do you expect would happen?” He alone has the eerie answer; strange and frightening indeed: “These people are Nigerians. It’s just like one going to block shoreline, does that make sense?”

He refused to answer that.

Instead, he opined: “These are the remote causes. But the immediate cause is the grazing law. Since Independence, there are clear routes these people pass.”

Strangely, in another breath, before he finished asking the question, he displayed a confused thought: “We must learn to live together. Communities and other people must learn how to accept foreigners within their enclave. Finish!”

In other words, we must learn to accommodate our killers! It is unheard of. Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State vowed: “I will not surrender my land to foreigners. You (Dan-Ali) can go and do that in your own (Zamfara) state.”

If we may ask Dan-Ali, who are the foreigners in this context? Are they the farmers whose farmlands were destroyed, or the Fulani whose cattle destroyed the farms? The minister was not patient and fair enough to fill in gap.

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He left us wondering to our fate. But we are wiser by his outpourings. Those utterances actually showed us the mindsets of those who are supposed to lead us. We could sufficiently gauge their colonial mentality, and we would be damn right.

By every standard, Dan-Ali’s response is below the belt. He ought to be seen to provide solutions, not give reasons for the killings. His pronouncements reside in hate speech.

You cannot justify killing by any means, when we are not in a war situation, let alone killings by herdsmen. These types of hate speeches could embolden the perpetrators of evil to want to do more. It could send wrong signals to the killers that they are justified to do what they did and even up it.

Unfortunately, government has not denounced Dan-Ali. In fact, more government officials are cashing in on it. They are propagating it the more. Nobody is doing something serious about it except rhetoric. Nothing concrete is being put in place to guarantee security of life and property.

But the Fulani herdsmen are advancing in their killing spree. They have practically moved over to neighbouring Plateau from Benue State. They are doing what they know how to do best with reckless abandon.

Anyway, Dan-Ali should not expect us to believe him, hook, line and sinker. Even as he was speaking with State House correspondents last Thursday, the Fulani herdsmen killers continued the massacre with greater intensity.

The so-called relocation of the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to the theatre of war did not disturb them in any way physical. It did not help matters in any way tangible. They just carried on their operations smoothly and more fearlessly.

Ortom is sticking tightly to his guns. He refused to be cowed, he refused to cave in.

He hit back decisively: “I am beginning to see that they have given immunity to (Fulani) herdsmen, who kill, and to their cattle. A few days ago, they said those responsible for the killings were members of ISIS. All these are diversionary moves by the (federal) government.”

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike boldly asked Dan-Ali: “Assuming that grazing routes were blocked, should killing be the next action? We are not in a jungle, we are a society of enlightened people.”

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State provided the comedy. Quiet laughable, the height of sycophancy: “Kogi has the culture of tolerance. Why can’t we tolerate our Fulani brothers whose meat we are eating every day?”

We very well know where he is coming from and where he is heading.

But Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State rubbished that. He snapped back: “The killings were there before the (grazing) law came into being. The laws are part of the solution to end the killings.

The Department of State Services (DSS), said the killings were done by the Islamic State of West Africa (ISWA), and the minister is blaming the killings on blockage of cattle routes and anti-grazing laws. So, who do we believe?”

We are on the same page, in the same shoes. Honestly, it is suicidal to believe our leaders.!