Rabiu Kwankwaso: Where Nigeria ends and the north begins

By Joseph Rotimi . . .
Former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano state, while speaking at an event in Ibadan recently, took exception to the call by Yoruba leaders [Afenifere] for the expulsion of Fulani herdsmen from their southwestern bases. Yoruba leaders were reacting to the incessant and rather ruthless ravaging of their communities by Fulani cattlemen, including the recent Olu Falae fiasco. The ex governor countered the threat to expel the herdsmen with an animated but disjointed, illogical and patronizing statements that amounted to looking at the collective face of Afenifere and boldly spitting on it – in Ibadan, of all places. There were no apologies or sympathies expressed for victims of Fulani terrorism in Kwankwaso’s statements which dripped with unabashed arrogance. His position was simple; “that is the way it is, live with it!”

The former governor appears to relish playing the role of spokesman for the northern political establishment without pulling any punches. On previous occasions, Kwankwaso called for the removal of a sitting federal minister who expressed misgivings about Nigeria’s ‘accepted’ census figures and curiously, the minister was eventually sacked. He promised PMB more than two million votes during the last ‘free and fair’ presidential elections by openly boasting of using street urchins as voters – he got what he wanted. He declared the less than stellar 1999 constitution “immutable” mostly because it guarantees, in perpetuity, the dominance of the north over the rest of the country by cherry-picking and enforcing what was amenable to northern interests. Kwankwaso was also one of the arrowheads of rebellious politicians within the People’s Democratic Party that eventually formed the APC.

In the present case, Kwankwaso suggested that the ‘unity’ of the country would be under threat if Fulanis were expelled from the southwest. He boasted that anywhere a man finds himself in the country should be his ‘home’ while forgetting that in the north, other tribes live a segregated life in Sabon Garis [so-called ‘new settlements’]. He further buttressed his suggestions by declaring most of the African continent as ‘home’ for the Fulani, since they are found ‘all over’.
His argument next centered on the fact that the Fulani herdsmen were uneducated – hence their predilection for a nomadic existence. He therefore called for government to ‘educate’ the Fulanis and asked the southwest to show ‘understanding’ of the situation. But all these arguments fall down lifeless, if you consider the fact that most of the areas troubled by Fulani herdsmen are predominantly non-Moslem or outside of the ‘core north’. You hardly hear of Fulani herdsmen destroying crops and killing people in northern Moslem areas of the country. They confine their atrocities to north central states, including the ‘middle belt’ and the Christian areas of southern Kaduna. And they are now making forays into the southeast and southwest with galling effrontery. The Fulanis may be ‘uneducated’, but their selective, deliberate and ruthless activities suggests they understand what they are doing.

Read also: The Impudence of Rabiu Kwakwanso and his Fulani brothers

The so-called uneducated Fulani knows precisely whom to attack without repercussions and understands the need for political domination where he succeeds in eliminating the indigenous population. Ethnic cleansing is still an on-going reality in parts of Plateau and Benue states because Fulani herdsmen are known to employ mercenaries, in dealing with indigenous populations that resist them. The case of Olu Falae became a serious issue because of the stature of the person involved. Thousands have died under similar circumstances but remain unsung. Falae escaped with his life because he had the resources to bail himself out, others were not as lucky; their lives were taken and their land possessed. In a separate and unequal society such as Nigeria, the underdog suffers. And the question is, “Who fights for the so-called minorities”?

For most of Nigeria’s beleaguered history, only the north [in cahoots with its military wing] appears to have been in government and in power at the same time. The north therefore shares the major blame for not educating its itinerant population and bringing them into the mainstream. For all intents and purposes, governments headed by non-Hausa/Fulani leaders have been aberrations.

The arrogance and reckless utterances of northern apologists is probably because the northern political establishment has never sought integration with others, based on mutual respect and justice. They have always maintained the attitude that Nigeria is the estate of Hausa/Fulani. When the Hausa/Fulani talk about unity, Nigeria, government or make ‘nationalistic’ noises, it should be understood that Nigeria ends where the north begins and Kwankwaso [and his ilk] seemed to understand this.

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