Read the piece by Femi Fani Kayode below...
Yet the individual that has captured the situation with more clarity, strength and conviction than perhaps any other in the last few days is my friend and brother Mr. Tony Ipriye Uranta.
Tony has been one of the most courageous, consistent and celebrated voices in the struggle for emancipation from military rule, freedom from northern hegemony and the establishment of democracy in Nigeria for the last 30 years and his words are worthy of consideration. On March 18th he wrote,
"I am unapologetically against ALL bloodthirsty demons, be they Boko Haram or Fulani Herdsmen terrorists. NOT ALL Muslims or Fulanis are evil. Many of my very good friends are either Muslims or Fulani...or, both! But if a devil is either, please, do not let us seek euphemisms to describe him or her. Nobody, for example, sought our permission to label virtually all criminal actors of the South South as Niger Delta Militants....even as far away as in Arepo, Lagos State. Meanwhile let us not forget that Niger Delta armed agitators, whilst one is not holding brief for them, have NEVER gone about any mass killings. I respect all ethnic groups, but I will NOT call a dog a monkey just to assuage anybody's feelings of guilt by association! Why is the Nigerian military not arresting traditional rulers indiscriminately as they do in the Niger Delta each time there's unrest (sans massacres, take note!) in the South South?! Are there really two Nigeria's?! We ALL in Nigeria have long agreed that the killer herdsmen in question are Fulani. Miyetti Allah and some FGN Officials have only quibbled as to their origination...some claiming they are foreign mercenaries of sorts. Even if these are Lunar Fulani, the reality is that they are carrying out genocidal actions and crimes against humanity, as they horrendously slaughter thousands of non-Fulani Nigerians across the nation, but especially in the Middle Belt. It is clear that the FGN cannot contain these killers. The United Nations (UN), the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and all others with interests in Nigeria MUST intervene firmly and immediately. And the International Court of Justice (ICC) in the Hague should begin listing both State and non-State actors alleged to have been directly or otherwise involved in the mass murders, mass rapes, widespread arson, massive population displacements plus other terrorist acts that have eliminated tens of thousands of Nigerians within the past few years! May Nigeria not fail as a result of ethnic violence....for the whole will physically feel the negative fallouts from the creation of millions of Nigerian refugees desperately over-running first West and North Africa, then Europe and Northern America!"
Tony has been one of the most courageous, consistent and celebrated voices in the struggle for emancipation from military rule, freedom from northern hegemony and the establishment of democracy in Nigeria for the last 30 years and his words are worthy of consideration. On March 18th he wrote,
"I am unapologetically against ALL bloodthirsty demons, be they Boko Haram or Fulani Herdsmen terrorists. NOT ALL Muslims or Fulanis are evil. Many of my very good friends are either Muslims or Fulani...or, both! But if a devil is either, please, do not let us seek euphemisms to describe him or her. Nobody, for example, sought our permission to label virtually all criminal actors of the South South as Niger Delta Militants....even as far away as in Arepo, Lagos State. Meanwhile let us not forget that Niger Delta armed agitators, whilst one is not holding brief for them, have NEVER gone about any mass killings. I respect all ethnic groups, but I will NOT call a dog a monkey just to assuage anybody's feelings of guilt by association! Why is the Nigerian military not arresting traditional rulers indiscriminately as they do in the Niger Delta each time there's unrest (sans massacres, take note!) in the South South?! Are there really two Nigeria's?! We ALL in Nigeria have long agreed that the killer herdsmen in question are Fulani. Miyetti Allah and some FGN Officials have only quibbled as to their origination...some claiming they are foreign mercenaries of sorts. Even if these are Lunar Fulani, the reality is that they are carrying out genocidal actions and crimes against humanity, as they horrendously slaughter thousands of non-Fulani Nigerians across the nation, but especially in the Middle Belt. It is clear that the FGN cannot contain these killers. The United Nations (UN), the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and all others with interests in Nigeria MUST intervene firmly and immediately. And the International Court of Justice (ICC) in the Hague should begin listing both State and non-State actors alleged to have been directly or otherwise involved in the mass murders, mass rapes, widespread arson, massive population displacements plus other terrorist acts that have eliminated tens of thousands of Nigerians within the past few years! May Nigeria not fail as a result of ethnic violence....for the whole will physically feel the negative fallouts from the creation of millions of Nigerian refugees desperately over-running first West and North Africa, then Europe and Northern America!"
Tony Ipiriye Uranta is a pride to the Niger Delta, to the south and indeed to Nigeria and he has hit the nail on the head.
To those that think otherwise and that are still living in denial I say it is time to stop playing politics with this matter and to speak the bitter truth.
I say to hell with your shameless political correctness and I urge you to accept the fact that when genocide, ethnic cleansing and mass murder is taking place it is unacceptable to sell the truth for tiny crumbs and a morsel at the Fulani table or to indulge in childish and petty semantics.
In such situations it is simply inexcusable to employ falsehood and deceit as a weapon of war or to attempt to belittle the challenges with which we are faced.
That challenge is called the 'Fulani herdsmen' and 'Fulani terrorists' and, whether you like it or not, that is precisely what we MUST and we WILL call them.
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