Alia: In the Face of Challenges, Providing Hope

THEFRONTLINES

Benue State once acclaimed as the food basket of Nigeria and home to the now defunct famous BCC Lions of Gboko was in the news recently not for what it’s famed for but the gory massacre of almost 200 innocent Benue citizens including women and children in their sleep by terrorists.

According to the incremental horrendous graphic accounts narrated by the few survivors, terrorists in their numbers armed with sophisticated weapons swopped on Yelwata, a sleepy rural farming community situated right in the middle of the Lafia – Makurdi expressway in the middle of the night.

In the intervening three hours while the attack lasted, the terrorists had a field day matcheting, shooting  and killing innocent women and children in their sleep.

By the time the mission was over and they were finally repelled to neighbouring Nasarawa state where they reportedly came from, Yelwata community was almost wiped out. At least each family lost one or two members and in some reported cases, families were completely wiped out of the face of the earth.

But why? From historical perspectives, Benue, because of its lush vegetation and table arable land, has always been a target of Jihadists dating back to the 18th century.

After conquering Kanem Borno Empire and establishing their presence through emirate councils implanting their Emirs to superintend the natives, the Jihadists headed down toward Ilorin, crossing into Plateau and finally Benue. But Benue people strongly resisted their incursions and bravely fought them off.

To date, Benue remains the only area which never fell to the incursions of the Jihadists. This may have explained why perhaps from that time, Benue has never seen peace as the Jihadists remain resolute in conquering and bringing the people under Islamic rule.

It is therefore not surprising that Benue and Plateau States have witnessed relentless attacks by these terrorists who are bent on bringing them to their knees to embrace their ways of life. Following the outcry that greeted the massacre, Tinubu had to reschedule his planned trip to Kaduna to enable him visit the survivors of the massacre.

With his service chiefs in tow, the President hosted a town hall meeting including traditional rulers, the past and present governors of the state were all present to chart the way forward to peace and progress.

A summary of most contributions pointed at the much orchestrated farmers- herders clash as the cause of the recurring killings in the two states.

It will be recalled that although the Samuel Ortom administration enacted the anti-grazing law to stop the roaming of cattle openly, it exacerbated rather than provided a solution. Why? As laudable as the law is, it has failed to address the fundamental rights of others.

The ideal step to take was the establishment of a ranch first to provide an alternative for the herders because once that is done, it would have provided a legal ground for the anti-grazing law to take effect and anyone contravening it will face prosecution.  Therefore, the loophole of not providing an alternative was exploited for both religious and political reasons. Now we need to understand that constitutionally, no law bars anyone from any state ditto the Fulani herders. Miyetti Allah cashed in on this loophole and has been exploiting it to its full advantage.

But is it really a farmer-herder crises? Historically, Benue farmers lived peacefully with the traditional Fulani herders whose cattle grazed peacefully without bloody skirmishes.

During this period, herders and farmers lived in harmony going to the same markets and trading in the different products produced by both sides.

The traditional rulers were custodians of law and order and any infraction by either sides, a fine will be pronounced and it must be redeemed without delay.

Thus, if your cattle stray into another person’s farm and destroy his crops, the owner will be notified and the specified fines must be paid promptly to assuage the side whose crops have been destroyed.

However, today those confronting the farmers are not herders but terrorists. Their mission therefore is to carry out and complete the 18th century Jihad of Othman Dan Fodio by annihilating the people take over their lands and establish their fiefdoms.

The question now is who are these terrorists, where are they from, who brought them and what’s their mission? It’ll be a great injustice to attempt to find a solution to these relentless killings without looking critically at the causative factors.

The terrorists are foreigners whose origin could be traceable to Libya and other notable crisis ridden Sahel countries; their sponsors could be foreigners supported by their local collaborators who are bonded by religion and their motive is to islamized these states.

In all these happenings, is Alia complicit?  Those looking at these issues on the face value believe Alia has failed as a Chief Security Officer of the state. To them, he should deploy state resources to confront these terrorists. Really?

This sort of thinking is too simplistic, mischievous and smacks of crass ignorance. It is true that the 1999 Constitution as amended confers the CSO’s responsibilities in the governor to secure his immediate environment and maintain law and order.

Alia’s role is to garner his security chiefs and mobilise them to protect the lives and property of the citizens in the state. It is his responsibilities to deal with arm robbery, kidnap, all local crimes etc.  Yet, it is an open secret that the governor can not deploy federal troops stationed in his vicinity because that power belongs to the commander in chief of the armed forces. So where will Alia mobilise against foreign terrorists when such powers reside in Abuja?

Therefore, it is clear that when the President advised the governor to hold a stakeholders meeting and carry out reconciliation, he was still looking at the solution from the traditional Fulani settlement system.

Even this sort of arrangement is still in place in Benue and being superintended by the state government in liaison with the traditional rulers. There was a reported recent case where the Fulani herders complained that their cattle were rustled by some criminals in the community. A conflict resolution meeting was held with the parties involved where the Governor reportedly openly blamed his people for indulging in criminal activities of rustling Fulani cattle, killing and devouring the meat.

A Tiv youth who was at the venue of the meeting confirmed that the governor’s outburst was impolitic and tactless. “He literally threw us under the bus with that unguarded comment and we are very angry.” He scoffed.

Will the President advise for reconciliation work? Mr. President, the situation in Benue and Plateau States has taken a new international dimension; it is no where near the scenario where you mediated as Lagos governor. It is beyond the scope of these two CSOs.  A portion of Nigeria is under siege and being buffeted by international terrorists and you must act fast to save the daily carnage and eventual take over of parts of Nigeria.

Your pronouncement announcing plans to establish a ranch in the state is a welcome development and could not have come at a better time.  With campaigns for the 2027 presidential polls looming, can the President muster the political will to take the bull by the horn and halt these daily security threats?

The President can if he wishes to because the resources are readily at his beck and call. For instance the President can unearth the financiers of these attacks and their local collaborators by calling for the report of Operation Service Wide (OSW) a covert operation commissioned by the former President Muhammadu Buhari to fish out those behind Boko Haram and bring them to book.

In an exclusive no-holds-bar interview recently in THISDAY, Major General Danjuma Alli Keffi (rtd) detailed graphic accounts of their top secret operations in collaboration with some  foreign allies who shared Intels leading to the identification of the financiers and their local collaborators.

According to him, OSW’s exploits led to the identification and arrests of the masterminds behind terror financing in the country. A detailed report was submitted for action by Buhari.

Surprisingly, he was arrested, detained and forcibly retired before the report could see the light of the day. The question is: why was the OSW covert operations suddenly terminated? Is there a likelihood that the report found some highly placed government officials complicit?

Why was Alli arrested, detained and summarily retired on alleged trumped up charges? Were these complicit highly placed individuals in government fighting back to cover their tracks? We will never know.

Nonetheless, the President owes Nigeria a duty to bring closure to this if it is the silver bullet that will unravel those behind terror financing and bring them to justice. The time is now. Meanwhile, even as he is buffeted by insecurity and internal revolt by the state’s Abuja-based politicians, Alia keeps trudging on like a Trojan horse totally unperturbed as he sets his sights high on delivering his mandate to his people. It is not surprising that although Alia is not promoting his developmental accomplishments in the media, the joy, confidence and satisfaction by his people that he is on track are spontaneous.

For the civil servants and pensioners, the long months of agony, pains, anguish and death over unpaid salaries and pensions are a thing of the past. When he took over, he cleared all the salary and pension arrears in the state.

Today, as a state policy, salary and pension payments are priority. It is mandatory that all of these must be paid on or before the 25th of each month and the people are in joyous mood.

Clarifying some misinformation being peddled after the President’s visit, a resident who preferred to speak anonymously said “it is untrue that the reason the President didn’t travel to Yelwata community to visit the scene of the killings and also the IDP camps was because the governor had failed to construct roads to connect with the community.

“On the contrary, the President didn’t need to travel anywhere to visit Yelwata community because if he wanted, he would have simply stopped by the Lafia -Makurdi expressway where the community occupies both sides of the roads which now lay in ruins wrecked by the terrorists.” He volunteered.

According to him, those arguing that the President had no access to the IDP camps because the government did not construct roads were speaking out of ignorance.

“All the IDPs are quartered inside Makurdi, in an old market structure constructed by former governor Gabriel Suswam. Ortom also took care of the IDPs from this very location and it is right in the middle of town.” He clarified.

On the claim that flood water took over the ExpressWay, he said “ that road is owned by a Chinese concessionaire and has nothing to do with the state government. The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi placed a public apology on behalf of the ministry. So what are these people talking about?” He asked rhetorically.

Meanwhile the governor, undeterred by critics is forging on with his developmental agenda. In the words of Tersoo Kula, the governor’s spokesman, the governor is a silent achiever and has achieved alot even to the admiration of his Traducers. Among the first things the governor reportedly did in his first hundred days was to complete over 150 kilometres internal urban roads with drainages.

According to him, “he gave Makurdi a facelift by completing over 150 kilometre of internal urban roads that were hitherto impassable. All these roads come with drainages to transport flood water to the canal.

“If you come to Makurdi, you’d see some houses were abandoned and relics of watermarks as reminders of the sufferings residents underwent whenever River Benue raged.” Kula said.

To ensure free flow of rainwater whenever it rains, Kula said the governor has completed a canal which runs through the entire endangered flood prone areas in the metropolis to ensure that no house or apartment is flooded whenever it rains.

He said the newly built Benue Teaching Hospital is a child of circumstantial birth. “During the governor’s campaign, one of his close persons was rushed to the hospital for treatment and he died. The governor vowed that if he wins he will do something about healthcare.

“So when he did, the first thing he did was to turn around the hospital equipping it to world class standard with capability for telemedicine. He has recruited medical doctors and medical staff to fit into positions that will deliver the much needed medical services to save lives.” Kula explained.

Alia is also constructing a road each leading to all the local councils in the state including drainages. He is currently recruiting teachers and expanding school enrolment and access to education.

Alia may look naive and a political novice, he is already showing how fast he’s learning the ropes. Regardless of the insecurity engineered from outside the state, he is clear on who’s side he truly belongs as he sets his eye high up on restoring hope and delivering his campaign promises to his people.