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| Buhari and Soyinka |
Nobel laureate, Professor Wole
Soyinka, yesterday, slammed President Muhammadu Buhari, over what he described
as his government’s seeming inability to contain the violent activities of
herdsmen across the country.
Buhari and Soyinka Buhari and Soyinka In his
address to the National Conference on Culture and Tourism, Soyinka said the
President Buhari-led government was yet to come up with an articulate solution
to tackle the menace, reports Premium Times. This came as Fulani herdsmen on
Monday unleashed terror on Ukpabi Nimbo, a community in Uzo-Uwani Local
Government Area of Enugu State, killing dozens of people.
The attack came weeks
after a similar wave of violence by herdsmen in Agatu in Benue State. Soyinka
said: “I have yet to hear this government articulate a firm policy of
non-tolerance for the serial massacres that have become the nation’s
identification stamp.”
“I have not heard an order given that any cattle herders
caught with sophisticated firearms be instantly disarmed, arrested, placed on
trial, and his cattle confiscated. The nation is treated to an eighteen-month
optimistic plan which, to make matters worse, smacks of abject appeasement and
encouragement of violence on innocents.
“Let me repeat, and of course I only
ask to be corrected if wrong: I have yet to encounter a terse, rigorous,
soldierly and uncompromising language from this leadership, one that threatens
a response to this unconscionable blood-letting that would make even Boko Haram
repudiate its founding clerics.
“When I read a short while ago, the
Presidential assurance to this nation that the current homicidal escalation
between the cattle prowlers and farming communities would soon be over, I felt
mortified. “He had the solution, he said. Cattle ranches were being set up, and
in another 18 months, rustlings, destruction of livelihood and killings from
herdsmen would be ‘a thing of the past’.
18 months, he assured the nation. I
believe his Minister of Agriculture echoed that later, but with a less
dispiriting time schema. “Neither, however, could be considered a message of
solace and reassurance for the ordinary Nigerian farmer and the lengthening
cast of victims, much less to an intending tourist to the Forest Retreat of
Tinana in the Rivers, the Ikogosi Springs or the moslem architectural heritage
of the ancient city of Kano.
In any case, the external tourists have less
hazardous options.” Recalling with nostalgia how he – in the company of the
late Segun Olusola – journeyed across Nigeria in the pre-war 60’s, mostly out
of curiosity, Soyinka said:
“But now, would the young adventurous set out to
visit the mystery caves of Anambra and its alleged curative pools from mere
interest? “They would think twice about it. It is not merely arbitrary violence
that reigns across the nation but total, undisputed impunity. Impunity evolves
and becomes integrated in conduct when crime occurs and no legal, logical and
moral response is offered.”
Narrating his experience with cattle herders,
right at his doorstep, recently, he said: “I returned from a trip outside the
country about to find that my home ground had been invaded, and a brand-new
‘Appian way’ sliced through my sanctuary.
“That ‘motorable’ path was made by
the hoofed invaders. Both the improvised entry and exit are now blocked, but
interested journalists are invited to visit. “In over two decades of living in
that ecological preserve, no such intrusion had ever occurred.
I have no idea
whether they were Fulani or Futa Jalon herdsmen but, they were cattle herders,
and they had cut a crude swathe through my private grounds.
“I made enquiries
and sent alerts around, including through the Baale of our neighborhood
village. There has been no repeat, and hopefully it will remain the first and
last of such invasion. What it portends however is for all thinking citizens to
reflect upon, and take concerted measures against.”
The Nobel laureate noted
that herdsmen are among humanity’s earliest known tourists and must be taught a
culture of settlement with their hosts. His words: The leadership of any
society cannot stand idly and offer solutions that implicitly deem the
massacres of innocents mere incidents on the way to that learning school.
“For
every crime, there is a punishment, for every violation, there must be
restitution. The nomads of the world cannot place themselves above the law of
settled humanity.”
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This came as Fulani
herdsmen on Monday unleashed terror on Ukpabi Nimbo, a community in
Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, killing dozens of
people.
The attack came weeks after a similar wave of violence by herdsmen in
Agatu in Benue State.
Soyinka said: “I have yet to hear this government articulate a firm
policy of non-tolerance for the serial massacres that have become the
nation’s identification stamp.”
“I have not heard an order given that any cattle herders caught with
sophisticated firearms be instantly disarmed, arrested, placed on trial,
and his cattle confiscated. The nation is treated to an eighteen-month
optimistic plan which, to make matters worse, smacks of abject
appeasement and encouragement of violence on innocents.
“Let me repeat, and of course I only ask to be corrected if wrong: I
have yet to encounter a terse, rigorous, soldierly and uncompromising
language from this leadership, one that threatens a response to this
unconscionable blood-letting that would make even Boko Haram repudiate
its founding clerics.
“When I read a short while ago, the Presidential assurance to this
nation that the current homicidal escalation between the cattle prowlers
and farming communities would soon be over, I felt mortified.
“He had the solution, he said. Cattle ranches were being set up, and in
another 18 months, rustlings, destruction of livelihood and killings
from herdsmen would be ‘a thing of the past’. 18 months, he assured the
nation. I believe his Minister of Agriculture echoed that later, but
with a less dispiriting time schema.
“Neither, however, could be considered a message of solace and
reassurance for the ordinary Nigerian farmer and the lengthening cast of
victims, much less to an intending tourist to the Forest Retreat of
Tinana in the Rivers, the Ikogosi Springs or the moslem architectural
heritage of the ancient city of Kano. In any case, the external tourists
have less hazardous options.”
Recalling with nostalgia how he – in the company of the late Segun
Olusola – journeyed across Nigeria in the pre-war 60’s, mostly out of
curiosity, Soyinka said: “But now, would the young adventurous set out
to visit the mystery caves of Anambra and its alleged curative pools
from mere interest?
“They would think twice about it. It is not merely arbitrary violence
that reigns across the nation but total, undisputed impunity. Impunity
evolves and becomes integrated in conduct when crime occurs and no
legal, logical and moral response is offered.”
Narrating his experience with cattle herders, right at his doorstep,
recently, he said: “I returned from a trip outside the country about to
find that my home ground had been invaded, and a brand-new ‘Appian way’
sliced through my sanctuary.
“That ‘motorable’ path was made by the hoofed invaders. Both the
improvised entry and exit are now blocked, but interested journalists
are invited to visit.
“In over two decades of living in that ecological preserve, no such
intrusion had ever occurred. I have no idea whether they were Fulani or
Futa Jalon herdsmen but, they were cattle herders, and they had cut a
crude swathe through my private grounds.
“I made enquiries and sent alerts around, including through the Baale of
our neighborhood village. There has been no repeat, and hopefully it
will remain the first and last of such invasion. What it portends
however is for all thinking citizens to reflect upon, and take concerted
measures against.”
The Nobel laureate noted that herdsmen are among humanity’s earliest
known tourists and must be taught a culture of settlement with their
hosts.
His words: The leadership of any society cannot stand idly and offer
solutions that implicitly deem the massacres of innocents mere incidents
on the way to that learning school.
“For every crime, there is a punishment, for every violation, there must
be restitution. The nomads of the world cannot place themselves above
the law of settled humanity.”
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/fulani-herdsmen-killings-soyinka-slams-buhari/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/fulani-herdsmen-killings-soyinka-slams-buhari/
This came as Fulani
herdsmen on Monday unleashed terror on Ukpabi Nimbo, a community in
Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, killing dozens of
people.
The attack came weeks after a similar wave of violence by herdsmen in
Agatu in Benue State.
Soyinka said: “I have yet to hear this government articulate a firm
policy of non-tolerance for the serial massacres that have become the
nation’s identification stamp.”
“I have not heard an order given that any cattle herders caught with
sophisticated firearms be instantly disarmed, arrested, placed on trial,
and his cattle confiscated. The nation is treated to an eighteen-month
optimistic plan which, to make matters worse, smacks of abject
appeasement and encouragement of violence on innocents.
“Let me repeat, and of course I only ask to be corrected if wrong: I
have yet to encounter a terse, rigorous, soldierly and uncompromising
language from this leadership, one that threatens a response to this
unconscionable blood-letting that would make even Boko Haram repudiate
its founding clerics.
“When I read a short while ago, the Presidential assurance to this
nation that the current homicidal escalation between the cattle prowlers
and farming communities would soon be over, I felt mortified.
“He had the solution, he said. Cattle ranches were being set up, and in
another 18 months, rustlings, destruction of livelihood and killings
from herdsmen would be ‘a thing of the past’. 18 months, he assured the
nation. I believe his Minister of Agriculture echoed that later, but
with a less dispiriting time schema.
“Neither, however, could be considered a message of solace and
reassurance for the ordinary Nigerian farmer and the lengthening cast of
victims, much less to an intending tourist to the Forest Retreat of
Tinana in the Rivers, the Ikogosi Springs or the moslem architectural
heritage of the ancient city of Kano. In any case, the external tourists
have less hazardous options.”
Recalling with nostalgia how he – in the company of the late Segun
Olusola – journeyed across Nigeria in the pre-war 60’s, mostly out of
curiosity, Soyinka said: “But now, would the young adventurous set out
to visit the mystery caves of Anambra and its alleged curative pools
from mere interest?
“They would think twice about it. It is not merely arbitrary violence
that reigns across the nation but total, undisputed impunity. Impunity
evolves and becomes integrated in conduct when crime occurs and no
legal, logical and moral response is offered.”
Narrating his experience with cattle herders, right at his doorstep,
recently, he said: “I returned from a trip outside the country about to
find that my home ground had been invaded, and a brand-new ‘Appian way’
sliced through my sanctuary.
“That ‘motorable’ path was made by the hoofed invaders. Both the
improvised entry and exit are now blocked, but interested journalists
are invited to visit.
“In over two decades of living in that ecological preserve, no such
intrusion had ever occurred. I have no idea whether they were Fulani or
Futa Jalon herdsmen but, they were cattle herders, and they had cut a
crude swathe through my private grounds.
“I made enquiries and sent alerts around, including through the Baale of
our neighborhood village. There has been no repeat, and hopefully it
will remain the first and last of such invasion. What it portends
however is for all thinking citizens to reflect upon, and take concerted
measures against.”
The Nobel laureate noted that herdsmen are among humanity’s earliest
known tourists and must be taught a culture of settlement with their
hosts.
His words: The leadership of any society cannot stand idly and offer
solutions that implicitly deem the massacres of innocents mere incidents
on the way to that learning school.
“For every crime, there is a punishment, for every violation, there must
be restitution. The nomads of the world cannot place themselves above
the law of settled humanity.”
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/fulani-herdsmen-killings-soyinka-slams-buhari/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/fulani-herdsmen-killings-soyinka-slams-buhari/
Nobel laureate,
Professor Wole Soyinka, yesterday, slammed President Muhammadu Buhari,
over what he described as his government’s seeming inability to contain
the violent activities of herdsmen across the country.
Buhari and Soyinka
Buhari and Soyinka
In his address to the National Conference on Culture and Tourism,
Soyinka said the President Buhari-led government was yet to come up with
an articulate solution to tackle the menace, reports Premium Times.
This came as Fulani herdsmen on Monday unleashed terror on Ukpabi Nimbo,
a community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, killing
dozens of people.
The attack came weeks after a similar wave of violence by herdsmen in
Agatu in Benue State.
Soyinka said: “I have yet to hear this government articulate a firm
policy of non-tolerance for the serial massacres that have become the
nation’s identification stamp.”
“I have not heard an order given that any cattle herders caught with
sophisticated firearms be instantly disarmed, arrested, placed on trial,
and his cattle confiscated. The nation is treated to an eighteen-month
optimistic plan which, to make matters worse, smacks of abject
appeasement and encouragement of violence on innocents.
“Let me repeat, and of course I only ask to be corrected if wrong: I
have yet to encounter a terse, rigorous, soldierly and uncompromising
language from this leadership, one that threatens a response to this
unconscionable blood-letting that would make even Boko Haram repudiate
its founding clerics.
“When I read a short while ago, the Presidential assurance to this
nation that the current homicidal escalation between the cattle prowlers
and farming communities would soon be over, I felt mortified.
“He had the solution, he said. Cattle ranches were being set up, and in
another 18 months, rustlings, destruction of livelihood and killings
from herdsmen would be ‘a thing of the past’. 18 months, he assured the
nation. I believe his Minister of Agriculture echoed that later, but
with a less dispiriting time schema.
“Neither, however, could be considered a message of solace and
reassurance for the ordinary Nigerian farmer and the lengthening cast of
victims, much less to an intending tourist to the Forest Retreat of
Tinana in the Rivers, the Ikogosi Springs or the moslem architectural
heritage of the ancient city of Kano. In any case, the external tourists
have less hazardous options.”
Recalling with nostalgia how he – in the company of the late Segun
Olusola – journeyed across Nigeria in the pre-war 60’s, mostly out of
curiosity, Soyinka said: “But now, would the young adventurous set out
to visit the mystery caves of Anambra and its alleged curative pools
from mere interest?
“They would think twice about it. It is not merely arbitrary violence
that reigns across the nation but total, undisputed impunity. Impunity
evolves and becomes integrated in conduct when crime occurs and no
legal, logical and moral response is offered.”
Narrating his experience with cattle herders, right at his doorstep,
recently, he said: “I returned from a trip outside the country about to
find that my home ground had been invaded, and a brand-new ‘Appian way’
sliced through my sanctuary.
“That ‘motorable’ path was made by the hoofed invaders. Both the
improvised entry and exit are now blocked, but interested journalists
are invited to visit.
“In over two decades of living in that ecological preserve, no such
intrusion had ever occurred. I have no idea whether they were Fulani or
Futa Jalon herdsmen but, they were cattle herders, and they had cut a
crude swathe through my private grounds.
“I made enquiries and sent alerts around, including through the Baale of
our neighborhood village. There has been no repeat, and hopefully it
will remain the first and last of such invasion. What it portends
however is for all thinking citizens to reflect upon, and take concerted
measures against.”
The Nobel laureate noted that herdsmen are among humanity’s earliest
known tourists and must be taught a culture of settlement with their
hosts.
His words: The leadership of any society cannot stand idly and offer
solutions that implicitly deem the massacres of innocents mere incidents
on the way to that learning school.
“For every crime, there is a punishment, for every violation, there must
be restitution. The nomads of the world cannot place themselves above
the law of settled humanity.”
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/fulani-herdsmen-killings-soyinka-slams-buhari/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/fulani-herdsmen-killings-soyinka-slams-buhari/
Nobel laureate,
Professor Wole Soyinka, yesterday, slammed President Muhammadu Buhari,
over what he described as his government’s seeming inability to contain
the violent activities of herdsmen across the country.
Buhari and Soyinka
Buhari and Soyinka
In his address to the National Conference on Culture and Tourism,
Soyinka said the President Buhari-led government was yet to come up with
an articulate solution to tackle the menace, reports Premium Times.
This came as Fulani herdsmen on Monday unleashed terror on Ukpabi Nimbo,
a community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, killing
dozens of people.
The attack came weeks after a similar wave of violence by herdsmen in
Agatu in Benue State.
Soyinka said: “I have yet to hear this government articulate a firm
policy of non-tolerance for the serial massacres that have become the
nation’s identification stamp.”
“I have not heard an order given that any cattle herders caught with
sophisticated firearms be instantly disarmed, arrested, placed on trial,
and his cattle confiscated. The nation is treated to an eighteen-month
optimistic plan which, to make matters worse, smacks of abject
appeasement and encouragement of violence on innocents.
“Let me repeat, and of course I only ask to be corrected if wrong: I
have yet to encounter a terse, rigorous, soldierly and uncompromising
language from this leadership, one that threatens a response to this
unconscionable blood-letting that would make even Boko Haram repudiate
its founding clerics.
“When I read a short while ago, the Presidential assurance to this
nation that the current homicidal escalation between the cattle prowlers
and farming communities would soon be over, I felt mortified.
“He had the solution, he said. Cattle ranches were being set up, and in
another 18 months, rustlings, destruction of livelihood and killings
from herdsmen would be ‘a thing of the past’. 18 months, he assured the
nation. I believe his Minister of Agriculture echoed that later, but
with a less dispiriting time schema.
“Neither, however, could be considered a message of solace and
reassurance for the ordinary Nigerian farmer and the lengthening cast of
victims, much less to an intending tourist to the Forest Retreat of
Tinana in the Rivers, the Ikogosi Springs or the moslem architectural
heritage of the ancient city of Kano. In any case, the external tourists
have less hazardous options.”
Recalling with nostalgia how he – in the company of the late Segun
Olusola – journeyed across Nigeria in the pre-war 60’s, mostly out of
curiosity, Soyinka said: “But now, would the young adventurous set out
to visit the mystery caves of Anambra and its alleged curative pools
from mere interest?
“They would think twice about it. It is not merely arbitrary violence
that reigns across the nation but total, undisputed impunity. Impunity
evolves and becomes integrated in conduct when crime occurs and no
legal, logical and moral response is offered.”
Narrating his experience with cattle herders, right at his doorstep,
recently, he said: “I returned from a trip outside the country about to
find that my home ground had been invaded, and a brand-new ‘Appian way’
sliced through my sanctuary.
“That ‘motorable’ path was made by the hoofed invaders. Both the
improvised entry and exit are now blocked, but interested journalists
are invited to visit.
“In over two decades of living in that ecological preserve, no such
intrusion had ever occurred. I have no idea whether they were Fulani or
Futa Jalon herdsmen but, they were cattle herders, and they had cut a
crude swathe through my private grounds.
“I made enquiries and sent alerts around, including through the Baale of
our neighborhood village. There has been no repeat, and hopefully it
will remain the first and last of such invasion. What it portends
however is for all thinking citizens to reflect upon, and take concerted
measures against.”
The Nobel laureate noted that herdsmen are among humanity’s earliest
known tourists and must be taught a culture of settlement with their
hosts.
His words: The leadership of any society cannot stand idly and offer
solutions that implicitly deem the massacres of innocents mere incidents
on the way to that learning school.
“For every crime, there is a punishment, for every violation, there must
be restitution. The nomads of the world cannot place themselves above
the law of settled humanity.”
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/fulani-herdsmen-killings-soyinka-slams-buhari/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/fulani-herdsmen-killings-soyinka-slams-buhari/
Nobel laureate,
Professor Wole Soyinka, yesterday, slammed President Muhammadu Buhari,
over what he described as his government’s seeming inability to contain
the violent activities of herdsmen across the country.
Buhari and Soyinka
Buhari and Soyinka
In his address to the National Conference on Culture and Tourism,
Soyinka said the President Buhari-led government was yet to come up with
an articulate solution to tackle the menace, reports Premium Times.
This came as Fulani herdsmen on Monday unleashed terror on Ukpabi Nimbo,
a community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, killing
dozens of people.
The attack came weeks after a similar wave of violence by herdsmen in
Agatu in Benue State.
Soyinka said: “I have yet to hear this government articulate a firm
policy of non-tolerance for the serial massacres that have become the
nation’s identification stamp.”
“I have not heard an order given that any cattle herders caught with
sophisticated firearms be instantly disarmed, arrested, placed on trial,
and his cattle confiscated. The nation is treated to an eighteen-month
optimistic plan which, to make matters worse, smacks of abject
appeasement and encouragement of violence on innocents.
“Let me repeat, and of course I only ask to be corrected if wrong: I
have yet to encounter a terse, rigorous, soldierly and uncompromising
language from this leadership, one that threatens a response to this
unconscionable blood-letting that would make even Boko Haram repudiate
its founding clerics.
“When I read a short while ago, the Presidential assurance to this
nation that the current homicidal escalation between the cattle prowlers
and farming communities would soon be over, I felt mortified.
“He had the solution, he said. Cattle ranches were being set up, and in
another 18 months, rustlings, destruction of livelihood and killings
from herdsmen would be ‘a thing of the past’. 18 months, he assured the
nation. I believe his Minister of Agriculture echoed that later, but
with a less dispiriting time schema.
“Neither, however, could be considered a message of solace and
reassurance for the ordinary Nigerian farmer and the lengthening cast of
victims, much less to an intending tourist to the Forest Retreat of
Tinana in the Rivers, the Ikogosi Springs or the moslem architectural
heritage of the ancient city of Kano. In any case, the external tourists
have less hazardous options.”
Recalling with nostalgia how he – in the company of the late Segun
Olusola – journeyed across Nigeria in the pre-war 60’s, mostly out of
curiosity, Soyinka said: “But now, would the young adventurous set out
to visit the mystery caves of Anambra and its alleged curative pools
from mere interest?
“They would think twice about it. It is not merely arbitrary violence
that reigns across the nation but total, undisputed impunity. Impunity
evolves and becomes integrated in conduct when crime occurs and no
legal, logical and moral response is offered.”
Narrating his experience with cattle herders, right at his doorstep,
recently, he said: “I returned from a trip outside the country about to
find that my home ground had been invaded, and a brand-new ‘Appian way’
sliced through my sanctuary.
“That ‘motorable’ path was made by the hoofed invaders. Both the
improvised entry and exit are now blocked, but interested journalists
are invited to visit.
“In over two decades of living in that ecological preserve, no such
intrusion had ever occurred. I have no idea whether they were Fulani or
Futa Jalon herdsmen but, they were cattle herders, and they had cut a
crude swathe through my private grounds.
“I made enquiries and sent alerts around, including through the Baale of
our neighborhood village. There has been no repeat, and hopefully it
will remain the first and last of such invasion. What it portends
however is for all thinking citizens to reflect upon, and take concerted
measures against.”
The Nobel laureate noted that herdsmen are among humanity’s earliest
known tourists and must be taught a culture of settlement with their
hosts.
His words: The leadership of any society cannot stand idly and offer
solutions that implicitly deem the massacres of innocents mere incidents
on the way to that learning school.
“For every crime, there is a punishment, for every violation, there must
be restitution. The nomads of the world cannot place themselves above
the law of settled humanity.”
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/fulani-herdsmen-killings-soyinka-slams-buhari/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/fulani-herdsmen-killings-soyinka-slams-buhari/
