First, let me quickly give a rough definition of the term “elite”: it is a word used to refer to those selected group of people the society considers special and superior to others probably because they possess more wealth, more knowledge, more connection, more influence, and others. Examples of elite are Wole Soyinka, Femi Falana, Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka, and others.
Now, let’s proceed,
If there is one ‘positive’ thing the emergence of the Daura-born ex-soldier; Muhammadu Buhari as the president of the 21st century Nigeria has taught us as a people, it is that the Nigerian elites – the so-called intellectuals, the so-called human right activists, the so-called men of God (not all) are nothing but a bunch of over-indulged morally bankrupt pseudo-intellectuals full of education but devoid of commonsense and with no empathy to the course of the common man.
This government has really exposed the so-called elites for the counterfeit that they really are.
Please note, my views here got nothing to do with one’s choice of a political candidate during an election. I fully acknowledge the right of every man to support any candidate of their choosing in an election. It is called ‘franchise’. But when a man who strongly frowned at bloodshed during the days of President Jonathan suddenly started feigning indifference to bloodshed under President Buhari, then it’s high time the hypocrisy of the moral code of such a man was called out.
During Jonathan era, whenever a Boko Haram bomb went off in any part of the country, these elites would argue (and rightly so) that a president who is incapable of protecting the lives and properties of his people had lost both the moral and legal right to continue drawing salaries as president.
Today, under General Buhari, a well equipped, well funded group more daring and deadly than Boko Haram, the Fulani herdsmen militia, now kill, maim and rape and sack Nigerians from their homes with state-sponsored impunity and active connivance of the security agencies. And these so called elites are suddenly deaf, dumb, and blind!
Why?
Let me reiterate one thing which we all know but are probably too scared to publicly admit:
The murderous land-grabbing campaign by the Fulani herdsmen is state-sponsored and it has the blessings of almost all the Hausa/Fulani headed security agencies in the country. President Buhari is complicit in these killings. His security chiefs who are mostly of the same tribe and religion with these Fulani criminals are all complicit in these. It is not a case of negligence, it is not a case of incompetence. It is a clear case of criminal complicity!
Before you accuse Charles Ogbu of making wild allegations, ask yourself the significance of President Buhari donning a military fatigue for the very first time in 3 decades to inaugurate a high powered military taskforce to protect Fulanis and their cows from thieves less than 48-hours after these same Fulanis killed over 81 people in Benue State?
Ask yourself, why did all the security chiefs in Enugu State allow the April 25 massacre of the people of Uzor-Uwani despite having foreknowledge of the attack and receiving all the necessary logistics from governor Ugwuanyi to stop the attack? These are all verifiable information. A quick Google search will help you determine the truth
Ask yourself, how many Fulanis have been arrested and prosecuted despite all their heinous crime and the fact that they once went with one Senator Dagiri Alkali to the Defence headquarters on May 4, 2016 to admit to and justify these murders?
Take me before a court presided over by Buhari himself and watch me convince him that himself and his Hausa/Fulani security chiefs are complicit in the mindless bloodletting by the world 4th deadliest terror group; the Fulani herdsmen a.k.a ‘Butchers From The North‘ (apologies to Chief Femi Fani Kayode).
Femi Falana was quick to write to the ICC that Ngozi Okonjo Iweala should be investigated for allegedly releasing arms fund to politicians but this same Femi Falana has not deemed it necessary to write to ICC about the role of the President Buhari and his security chiefs in these killings. As a human right activist, what other right could be more important than the right to life which these Fulani beasts and their enablers have taken from us?
The likes of Emeka Ngige, Femi Falana, Festus Keyamo, and other should stop subjecting the tag “human right activist” to ridicule because they are no right activists! They don’t even understand the meaning of that clause!
Where were they when over 1,000 thousand citizens of this country (the Shiite muslims) were massacred in Kaduna by a common army chief; Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai (not even the C-in-C) for blocking his convoy in a country where immediate past President Jonathan was once pelted with stones in Bauchi with no case of his security details shooting anyone? Since December, the Shiites leader; Ibrahim El Zakzaky is still being detained without being taken to court… in a democracy?
Where was the so-called human right activists when security agency invaded homes and churches, killing hundreds of Igbo sons and daughters on May 29 and 30 of this year in an act described as hate-induced murder by Amnesty International? The full report of this was carried by an online media; Premium Times with a full testimony of a DSS official who took part in the operation. Please, Google it to confirm for yourselves.
On December 17, 2015, justice Adeniyi Ademola granted bail to the leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra; Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally. The DSS defied that order and Buhari went on national television during a presidential media chat and said that he wilfully disobeyed a court order because it was “against his personal belief”. Where was the so-called right activists then?
In law, even if a judge makes a pronouncements under the influence of cocaine, the only way to set it aside is by filing an appeal against that judgment. But the DSS never appealed that particular judgment, they only went to another high court with the same case. This is also verifiable.
A Femi Falana who led 23 lawyers in an attempt to convince a judge that President Buhari has a WAEC result instead of prevailing on the president to fulfill the provisions of the Electoral Act by presenting his ‘O’ level result. I find it criminally offensive that the name of such a man is being mentioned as a right activist. How can you fight for my right when you are in bed with the worst violators of this same right of mine?
However, we look at this, the truth remains that these corrupt activists, bankrupt intellectuals, and opinion moulders are in bed with our oppressors and they take up most of the cases they handle solely for financial gains and not for any altruistic considerations.
That our badly trained, badly motivated security agencies could get away with all the proven cases of extrajudicial killing is because we don’t have human right activists in this country.
Even against the provisions of the Criminal Code, soldiers are still being deployed against unarmed defenceless protesters.
Speaking on television doesn’t make one a human right activist. You have to go further than that. You have to initiate cases in court to challenge government impunity. When government refused to properly probe Buratai and his London property case, as a right activist, you initiate a court case to force them to do the needful. That is what a human right activist does. That is what the late Senior Advocate Of The Masses; Chief Gani Fawehinmi would have done!
Oh, Chief Gani, if only you were here! If you can hear me, I want you to know that the people you left behind are at the mercy of a very powerful tyrant and all the “boys” you trained and left for us have since chosen the side of our oppressors. They cower in fear and regale us with trash about the sham that is the anti-graft war while we are all being killed by both the state and non-state actors.
Where are all the civil society and NLC organized protest and strikes that characterized the past government? Where is Obasanjo the letter writer? Where are those who cried blood and called for Jonathan’s head (and rightly so) at every Boko Haram attack?
They have all gone deaf and dumb.
The silly excuse of blaming Jonathan has since died a natural death. In their ostrich attempt to shield Buhari from criticism, they now blame some fictitious nonsense known as “the cabal”. Fuel scarcity was seen as a sign of ineptitude during the Goodluck Jonathan era, but, today, it is the fault of the cabal, not the president. Boko Haram killings was blamed on Goodluck Jonathan, but, today, the state-sponsored fulani bloodletting is now the fault of the president or a governor.
What a bunch of morally bankrupt integrity-challenged men!!
I am not a religious man but I must pray for the country right about now. Please bow your heads in prayer:
Dear God, I know I have strayed just like the biblical prodigal son. I have equally sinned. But please, dear Lord, forgive my sins and intervene in this our ugly situation.
Send us brave, fearless and courageous men who will look this Pharaoh called Buhari in the face and tell him, “you are a wicked man, call your Fulani militants to order!”. And please, God, we don’t want pigeon priest like Father Ejike Mbaka who would not even speak out against the killing of his own people by Fulani militants just so he won’t jeopardize his friendship with the Fulani president.
Don’t give us pastor Tunde Bakare who would criticize this Pharaoh today only to visit him tomorrow and start preaching patience. (Patience while we are being killed on daily bases right there in our own villages) Don’t give us shameless old men like the Otta farmer; Matthew Aremu Obasanjo who would mock us by declaring that it was him and four others who made Buhari president.
Father please, we reject cowards like my governor; Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State who would only cry and declare fasting when we are killed only to go smiling from ear to ear with the grand master of our killers few minutes later. We don’t want inconsistent men like Soyinka who would say one thing today and do another thing tomorrow.
Faithful God, give us a people’s governor like Ayodele Fayose who would do anything to protect his people. Give us fearless brave men like Femi Fani-Kayode who would look the bitter leaf plant in the face and say: “my friend, you are bitter!”. Give us clergymen like Bishops Matthew Kukah, John Onayakain, Anthony Okogie and a few others. We don’t need ‘toys’ like Osinbajo (the vice president) and the other pastorpreneuers who would be too scared to speak out even when their fellow Christians have since become endangered species.
Omnipotent God, only you knew how you handled Abacha’s case when he started thinking he was you and began imitating you. Now, Buhari is imitating you by thinking he and his Fulani militants can determine who lives and who dies. Ancient of days, do your job! Fix this! God.
Buhari and his militants may be stronger than the southern christians, middle-belters, Southern Kaduna people and other minority groups they’ve been killing in the North but one thing is certain, they are not stronger than you. Prove this to him once again, please dear God.
In Jesus mighty name, we have prayed.
Amen!
Charles Ogbu is a social media activist.
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