Martins301:
Some years back, I was standing right in front of my school gate (a federal uni), I just logged online to read some news via opera mini. I opened VANGUARD NEWS and the first headline I saw was that my school's gate has been set ablaze. I was dumbstruck. I never recovered from that experience and till this day I DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING FROM VANGUARD NEWSPAPERS.

That aside, I discerned the pattern Omenka described above a long time ago. I have grown tired of calling Seun's attention to people trying to use his platform to destroy Nigeria. If not for the bold step he took against the Biafran propagandists, Nigeria would have been boiling now. They have resurfaced again and this time, it is the Fulani tag they have chosen to use. Why? The president is Fulani and they hate him and the North where he comes from.

It is like everything that trends. It will die a natural death if ignored. Let the Nigerian Press as represented continue to serve junk to the public. I am not dumb. I go into the street everyday and I engage folks in discourse and I tell them the TRUTH. The truth that Vanguard and her cohorts wants Nigeria to fall apart. The truth that Vanguard and her cohorts are directly and indirectly spearheading another civil war with their ethno religious highly flawed reportage. The score will die a natural death and Nigeria will still stand great.

God bless Buhari
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria

omenka:
Another heads up to those kids spamming my mentions, you will not get a whiff of my attention. You shall be IGNORED.

zicoraads:

What's with the back and forth young man? Biko, my time is important to me

You go back and read my response to what you are asking? Need glasses?

omenka:
Good afternoon.

This piece has been a long time coming I'd say. Have been restraining myself from doing this because emotions are at fever pitch at the moment but somehow I reckon if I don't do it today I might never get to do it. Moreso, today's news reports made it all the more imperative to ask some pertinent questions, and perhaps attempt to answer others.

Every opinion herein are strictly the writer's.


Before I go on, I'd like to express my deepest sympathies to all those affected one way or the other by the recent incidences of violence in various parts of the country especially the Middle Belt and the South East. My sincere prayers are with you all. Life is simply too precious to be snuffed out of innocent people just like that.

I hope and pray the perpetrators of these heinous acts of terrorism are apprehended and dealt with accordingly.

Now, since we've dispensed of the necessary preamble, let's get to the meat of the matter as captioned in the title.

Besides the e-uproar over Tiwa and her family issues, there's no gainsaying Fulani Herdsmen has been the word trending online, and to some extent even on the main street. A first timer on earth who happens to stop by Nigeria at this time would think it is some local slang used within political circles- but in reality, it has come to be seen as the greatest problem confronting our dear country- no thanks to our press!!

Growing up as a child, I had my first "conscious" encounter with the Fulanis (take note, I didn't say "herdsmen" somewhere within our residential neighbourhood. Before that encounter, anytime we saw them, easily identifiable by their dressings, facial appearance and long braided hairs, we never hesitated to take to our heels because we were told they turn kids to sheep- especially during Christmas season!! We rarely saw them but whenever we did, it was always one heart stopping terrifying experience.... until that fateful day.

We were playing football at a neighbour's. Someone mistakenly kicks it over the fence. I run out to retrieve it and right in front of me stood some lanky dude wearing rubber shoes that looked like football boots, braided hair, very light skinned in an armless shirt with a little embroidery here and there. He had our precious ball cradled in his hands with them stretched forth as if to hand it back over. I froze in my stride, indecisive- a part of me screamed RUN while another subtly egged me to collect it and walk back- I listened to the counsel of the latter voice. It was the BRAVEST thing I did as a kid!! I simply collected the ball, politely thanked him as he nodded his acknowledgement, then I walked away alive and as a human against all previously held beliefs!!

As I grew older, it became apparent what we believed about the Fulanis was nothing but a childish myth. At some point after we've lost all traces of innocence, we started admiring their women as we patronised them for their "nunu", making suggestive jokes with them. Some of their teens walked about bare chested revealing every damn thing from their waist up as some of us admired the great works of nature lustfully, hoping one day, one would get a chance to handle them.

The myth about the Fulanis was completely obliterated.

Today, so much water has passed under the bridge. Alliances have been built and shattered. Trust has given way to utter suspicion. Friends have become sworn enemies. Babies are being snatched away from their cradle of innocence and imbued with the spirit of hatred and intolerance. Malleable lies are being prepared by the second and fed to a ravenous public which already seems to be suffering from obesity from too much of its consumption- this lethal cocktail is being prepared and served chill by no one else than the Nigerian Press!

When I look at the recent events as they succeed each other with such rapid succession, what I see is some working frantically to reinvent that childhood myth for some yet-to-be-specified purpose, and they have a deadline!

Let us make some things crystal clear at this point:

(A) Not ALL herdsmen are Fulanis!

(B) Not ALL herds of cattle are owned by Fulanis!

(C) Not ALL herds of cattle are owned by the cattle herder. Some of them are purely hired hands working for some big shot, perhaps a politician. Cattle rearing is a hugely profitable business.

It is important that we distinguished these facts because of the torrent of misinformation that is being disseminated to the public.

This said, one then wonders: is the press oblivious of these facts?? Why are they always quick to use the term "Fulani herdsmen"??

How did they get to know alleged attackers were [b]Fulani herdsmen and not herdsmen of some other tribe?? Did they get to interview the attackers before arriving at that conclusion

If they don't get such info from the culprits themselves, would it be illogical if one asks the question: [color=#990000]is there a grand conspiracy to criminalise Fulanis??

I have come across SEVERAL herdsmen in my life and I say this with every ounce of honestly and responsibility in me: I have NEVER seen herdsmen bearing AK-47s my whole life. There are two pictures of herdsmen bearing automatic weapons that have been circulating the web, they (pics) are as old as I can remember and I have seen them a thousand times in the past. But with these recent incidents, they resurfaced and are being used to taint both herdsmen and the President as people ask why should Buhari allow them bear arms- is it because they are Fulanis??

Two days after the Enugu incident, another similar incident was reported by Daily trust (I think). The title was boldly captioned "Another Fulani herdsmen attack in Enugu" but within that same story, under that same headline, the same writer/reporter said it was just a scare and nothing happened!!!

If it was "just a scare" and "nothing happened", why did they still go ahead to run the story with such a headline??!!



[b]Today, 02/05/2016, Vanguard is reporting an imminent attack as "Fulani herdsmen are massing at some remote part of Enugu to launch another attack on the community attacked last week due to the high success rate (deaths) recorded in the last", and folks seem to have swallowed the story hook, line and sinker with NO QUESTIONS asked- save for a few posters like Modath!

From the story as published by vanguard, shouldn't one ask:

I. Where did Vanguard get her information??

II. Has this information been shared with the security agencies??

III. Have the people at vanguard privy to the location where the "Fulanis" are massing to "re-launch an attack" offered to take the security personnel to location so the "murderers" can be rounded up and taken into custody??

IV. When "Fulanis" are sighted gathering together, does it mean they are "planning to attack and kill people??

V. How is Vanguard sure the people seen there (if the report is anything to go by) are Fulanis??

VI. Doesn't the report read like it is already preparing the minds of people as to whom to blame when Vanguard's "Fulanis" eventually launch an attack??

VII. Most importantly, doesn't it prick the mind THIS REPORT MIGHT BE MEANT JUST TO CREATE A DIVERSION FOR SECURITY PERSONNEL DEPLOYED IN THE ENTIRE AREA SO SOFT TARGET BEING WATCHED COULD BECOME EASY PICKINGS FOR WHOEVER IT IS THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS MADNESS!!??

Aren't these questions worth asking knowing vanguard's position especially as regards events concerning SE Nigeria?? Are we meant to all at once jettison reason and logic based on mundane sentiments even though we understand what a pluralistic society we live in with as many divergent interests as our faces.[/b]

Think about that people.

At this juncture, a few nairaland threads are worthy of mention:

1. www.nairaland.com/3075767/delta-monarch-gives-fulani-herdsmen

2. www.nairaland.com/3079408/fulani-herdsmen-enter-abuja-farm

3. www.nairaland.com/3079244/enugu-massacre-northern-govs-under


4. www.nairaland.com/3077851/it-insult-label-fulanis-criminals

Now, when you go through the contents of these threads with a clear unbiased mind, you cannot but wonder: what is really going on??

@ 1. Is the order of expulsion of "Fulani herdsmen" by the Delta Monarch appropriate?? If one were to predicate such decisions on the logic of this monarch, can we then say it is appropriate ALL Hausa mechanics be expelled from, say, Benue state because one or two or three of them killed an Idoma boy?? Think about that.

@ 2. A twitter user posted a picture allegedly showing cattle grazing on a piece of cultivated farmland and boldly captioned it Fulanis in Abuja![/b] How did the user know they were "Fulanis" I was disappointed when some opposition posters couldn't raise that question.

@ 3. Someone tell me in all honesty, what is wrong with the position taken by the governors who are essentially asking that all Fulanis shouldn't be labelled as criminals?? Memories of how some Nigerians reacted when it was alleged the president called us all "criminals" are still fresh on or minds.

What difference is there in the position taken by the governors regarding Fulanis and the position taken then by Nigerians regarding the president's alleged statement

@ 4. The Sultanate was just reiterating the position of the Northern governors.

When one puts all these together, a sinister pattern starts to form and it is very obvious. The public is being programmed towards arriving at a pre-arranged destination and how fast they are sprinting towards it!!

The people this writer suspects were behind the viscous attacks on the president over Boko Haram insurgency before the elections, desperate to taint his image by tagging him a sponsor, might have re-emerged out of the woodworks to sell another dummy to the public since the war in the North East is largely being won to his (Buhari's) credit.

1. They want people to still believe Buhari is an ethnic/religious fundamentalist and that explains why there's been an "upsurge" in incidences of "Fulani" attacks after he became president.

2. They want to dull the most visible sheen of his admin since ground work is still being laid to confront the economy itself as things don't seem to be working presently.

Someone says: ..and I totally agree with them!

Whose purpose is the press serving??

I urge us all to take a few steps back to examine the emerging portrait on this giant canvas- it always makes more meaning when we do.

I am a half middle belt, half South South man.

I'm an unapologetic fan of Nigeria's president and I love my country than you can ever imagine.

#ThinkNigerians!!

Thank you all.







Ps: I expect a lot of insults from this as what I just did challenges and runs afoul of what is seemingly currently generally acceptable which is that "Fulanis are demons". But as I've shown time and time again, insults won't deter from doing what my conscience tells me is the right thing to do.

Some will be ignored while others will be reported to the mods.

God bless you all.

wowmenow:


Frustrated zombies nobody will read your rubbish

wowmenow:

a very bad day for omenka
i feel your pain

udatso:

For someone who sees nothing good in his post, considering the number of Posts by you, I would say you are obsessed.

omenka:
You guys should stop trying too hard to sell a lie. At no point did any "international community" designate Fulani Herdsmen as "2nd most deadly" terrorist organisation. What GTI said was Fulani Militant Group but you guys and the press have twisted it to "Fulani herdsmen"

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/global-terrorism-index-nigerian-fulani-militants-named-as-fourth-deadliest-terror-group-in-world-a6739851.html

So, since one encounter allegedly confirms they are Fulanis, it means the rest unconfirmed incidents were carried out by fulanis also?? Is that what you are saying??

Are all drug related crimes committed by Igbos?? The answer is an emphatic NO!!

Criminal profiling never helps any community mr. That is the message I'm passing across.

udatso:

Actually I have. And many others have. Omenka wrote a very educative and enlightening piece I have always wanted to write. If this doesn't open your eyes, I wonder what will.

ShineuEye:


You care about the truth but it seems you don't care about human lives otherwise you said nothing about the attrocities only to speak out for the voiceless Fulanis.
Who speaks for people of Agatu then?

omenka:
That is why he was totally ignored, and it hurt him so deeply he didn't get the attention he desperately craved from me.

omenka:
Regarding the knotty Grazing Reserve bill, I had this interesting idea I'd like to share.

Igbos, for instance, are known to be adept at commerce. Give them a cent today and they give you a dollar the next day. I was thinking, instead of getting too emotional about the bill trying to put it down with an emotional "they are attempting to take our lands" wail, why don't we suggest that areas across the country be specifically earmarked for Igbos to build shops and carry out their commerce?? . Think about it, if NASS rejects such a proposal, then they wouldn't even have the moral right to contemplate a grazing bill- and that cleverly KILLS IT without much noise- simple.

We need to be smart about these things.

udatso:

You have tried your best. It's easier for a lunatic, bigot to believe the vituperations and misinformation oozing from our so called "Nigeria press"
The earlier they wake up from their slumber and smell the coffee, the better for them and the peaceful coexistence of Nigerians

vanbonattel:


The best president of Africa, Goodluck Jonathan. He had an opinion after the incident. Even if it was wrong. What do we have now? An incompetent old man who is totally unaffected by the suffering of Agatu people. Never even visited, C P of police even denied any killing as didn't see corpses in Agatu. The nation is cursed with the worst leadership with APC blundering and bungling everything.

Yorubasgreat:
[s][/s]

It's "vituperations","misinformation" and its oozing when it does not serve your purpose..
The funny ones are not yet born...

Martins301:
Some years back, I was standing right in front of my school gate (a federal uni), I just logged online to read some news via opera mini. I opened VANGUARD NEWS and the first headline I saw was that my school's gate has been set ablaze. I was dumbstruck. I never recovered from that experience and till this day I DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING FROM VANGUARD NEWSPAPERS.

That aside, I discerned the pattern Omenka described above a long time ago. I have grown tired of calling Seun's attention to people trying to use his platform to destroy Nigeria. If not for the bold step he took against the Biafran propagandists, Nigeria would have been boiling now. They have resurfaced again and this time, it is the Fulani tag they have chosen to use. Why? The president is Fulani and they hate him and the North where he comes from.

It is like everything that trends. It will die a natural death if ignored. Let the Nigerian Press as represented continue to serve junk to the public. I am not dumb. I go into the street everyday and I engage folks in discourse and I tell them the TRUTH. The truth that Vanguard and her cohorts wants Nigeria to fall apart. The truth that Vanguard and her cohorts are directly and indirectly spearheading another civil war with their ethno religious highly flawed reportage. The scorge will die a natural death and Nigeria will still stand great.

God bless Buhari
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria

capip120:
Omenka is an inconsequential and in-effectual Buffoon, a never do well Doramus who has sold his concience for a gourd of gworo and palm wine.

udatso:

Like seriously? ...is Fayose your Role model?

omenka:
Fulani today, Yoruba tomorrow, Chadian the day after.

Omenka, man of many nations.

Won't be surprised if I'm Chinese sef.

omenka:
Fulani today, Yoruba tomorrow, Chadian the day after.

Omenka, man of many nations.

Won't be surprised if I'm Chinese sef.

Hahaha...funny!

omenka:
Another incident worthy of note was the thread regarding cattle sighted in front of CBN. The comments on that thread were simply a disgusting evidence of how some people, for reason of an electoral defeat, have allowed hatred to dismember their conscience!

Hell, is cattle moving on our streets (much as it is wrong) a new thing?? How twisted are the minds of some people to think the are cattle passing in front of CBN because a Fulani man is today the president?? That is totally preposterous.

We've had some incidences of near collisions between cattle and aircraft on runways in the past and people took them for what they were- an accident luckily avoided. Imagine the image that would be painted if that happens today!!!

I see some bold caption like Fulani Herdsmen take over airports in Southern Nigeria!!!

Can't people see the pattern that is forming here??

Jeez.

Xsolutions:
Anybody with half-a-brain knows this 'Fulani Herdsmen' debacle is a politically motivated script!
Only "quarter-brains" whose hearts have been corroded with HATE and whose ears love LIES, especially those people from 'THAT PART' of the country believe false/unverified tales from compromised news outlets like the untrusworthy and insidious VANGUARD

GET IT NOW!, there is no group of 'Fulani Herdsmen' looking for people to kill; what you have is a politically sponsored and motivated group of terrorists looking to dictate the political destiny of our country. KAPISH!

God Bless The President.
God Bless Nigeria...AMEN

luvinhubby:


For your theory to hold, you need to point out an alternative suspected culprits in all the massacres associated with Fulani herdsmen, starting from Zamfara to Kaduna to Plateau, Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Kogi, Ondo, Ogun & Enugu states.

Secondly, did Fulani herdsmen killings start today?

Moreover, the Fulanis have not denied killings, they've only justified it as repraisals.

Xsolutions:
First off, my 'theory' is not a theory but TRUTH, whether you believe it or not!

The 'bolded' in your statement is not new; that said, ALL killings of that nature is bad and should have been contained and stopped a long time ago...

BUT, these recent 'Fulani Herdsmen' (notice the quotes) attacks, coinciding with Boko Haram's near and almost complete decimation, is UNDOUBTEDLY politically motivated...PERIOD!

Thank you.

luvinhubby:


It is still a poor theory because your submission is seeking to clear the Fulani herdsmen of killings that they are guiltyof without pointing to alternative suspect.

Also Jos & Plateau states are theatres of Fulani herdsmen killings that started years ago.

Xsolutions:
It's not a theory.

Thank you.

luvinhubby:

No proof = Theory.

Thanks

luvinhubby:

It is still a poor theory because your submission is seeking to clear the Fulani herdsmen of killings that they are guiltyof without pointing to alternative suspect.
Also Jos & Plateau states are theatres of Fulani herdsmen killings that started years ago.

Abagworo:


Herdsmen and farmers have always clashed since the evolution of man from wanderers to settlers. The issue has lingered in sub Saharan Africa because the herdsmen refused to evolve to ranchers while farmers remained subsistence instead of mechanized. In Nigeria rapid population growth, desert encroachment and community farm expansion has led to more frequent confrontation between herdsmen and farming communities.

However what Omenka and other well meaning Nigerians are concerned about is the recent use of the media to sell a false report that because Buhari is President he has empowered herdsmen whom they tagged Fulani and Muslim to invade communities with purpose of "Islamizing" them. That the clashes started or has increased under Buhari or that there was no such clash in the Southeast until Buhari became President. The aim is to create an ethno-religious crisis where Nigerians will start killing each other just because they belong to different ethnic or religious groups.

I've once asked if many Nairalanders actually read Philosophy and Logic in School.

1 All Fulanis are not herdsmen

2 All herdsmen are not Fulanis

3 All Fulanis are not Muslims

4 All Muslims are not Fulanis

5 All herdsmen are not Ak 47 carrying criminals

6 All Ak 47 carrying criminals are not herdsmen

mightyhazel:
lame!