Apostle Suleiman and the later day crusader

He, Apostle Johnson Suleiman, was allegedly saved from the DSS arrest by the Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, who did not hesitate to milk as much media mileage from this ‘triumph’ . But DSS in its characteristic manner has now formally invited the Apostle to their office. An invite I hope he will accept and respect. Ever since, the Christian Association of Nigeria has come out to ask the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, to come out and fight for christiandom, stating that his silence is no longer golden.

We are now reopening another vista of conflict as if the ethnic bigotry that the Biafran people have been preaching is not enough. Today there is a massive attempt by stakeholders on all sides of the divide to break out an all round religious war using the platform of the irresponsible Fulani Herdsmen, who themselves are not helping matters with their continuous raiding and killing of innocent and often harmless farmers down south.

The Apostle was quoted to have called for the killing of these herdsmen if they came near his church or his person. This statement immediately threw him to the front burner making him the leader of the fight against the Fulani Herdsmen in the country. The Muslim leadership has asked for his arrest, the CAN and people like Fayose have called for his defense and I have seen a report which says that over thirty lawyers would be following him to the DSS office. It is not looking good especially at a time of economic hardship because we can ill afford a war of attrition along religious lines.

Now, here is my take. I strongly disagree with the revered Apostle as a Christian and as an impartial observer of the goings on. My reason is very simple, I do not believe that the ruthless Fulani herdsmen do not carry out their nefarious activities with religion on their mind. To the best of my knowledge they carry out these wicked acts simply because they would brook no opposition to their eternal and natural need to feed their cattle no matter whose ox is gored. Their lack of respect for authority, lack of respect for human life and their outright wickedness is driven by their inordinate need to continue to exist via a viz the continuous well being of their cattle whose lives apparently to them is more important than the lives of the hapless farmer.

So to now ascribe this as an attack on Christianity is to say the least preposterous. These raids and killings have been going on forever even before most of us in this generation were born. We inherited this issue but we must find a lasting solution and to me the solution is not in inflammatory statements or an eye for an eye kind of tactics as preached by our Apostle and his fellow travelers.

This is not to encourage or support the herdsmen or to say that this issue be treated with kid gloves but to state very clearly that the tactics being presently vaunted by both sides will only lead to an escalation.

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We must seek a peaceful resolution to this century old problem. All sides of the divide and their leaders must come together to work together to solve this problem. It can be very nauseating when you see and hear reports of innocent people being mauled down simply because they too are trying to protect their own livelihoods. It can no where in the world be accepted and as such a more responsible approach to seeking a solution be sought after.

Tempers must be calm, frayed nerves must be soothed and then a lot of maturity be thrown into the equation with clean minds. This may sound pendatic or at best primal especially if you take into consideration the enormity of the situation but to me it is far far better off to ensure dialogue rather than beat the drums of violence which will do nobody any good.

The DSS should call a parley of all stakeholders to discuss this matter. The same invite sent to Apostle Sulaiman be extended to the leaders of the other side and if possible the leaders of the Fulani Herdsmen and the farmers to a dialogue to find peaceful lasting solutions to the matter.

Lastly, the issue of nomadic education comes out again. This policy was heavily derided when Professor Jubril Aminu championed it during the Babangida era. How do you keep a band of illeterates in check if you do not educate them and give them thrower of logical discernment. The herdsmen could be regulated, corralled and educated while continuing with their grazing activities. This would increase their level of discernment to understand the simple fact that just as their cows remain sacred to them, the farm produce also remains sacred to the Farmers.

The authorities must be seen to be impartial both in their statements and actions. This is not a Christian versus Muslim thing, this is just a band of illiterate herdsmen committing mayhem in their bid to survive. We must help them survive by constructively engaging them and showing them that violence is not the way.

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