Review…Why Buhari’s shocking IGP revelation raises fundamental leadership questions

On Monday, March 13, 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari, compelled by massive public outcry, reluctantly embarked on a long-awaited visit to Benue State which had been plagued by unrestrained killing by cattle herdsmen of the Fulani ethnic stock. The face-saving visit was the first by the president to the state since he was elected in 2015.

During the visit, President Buhari had a stakeholders meeting with leaders of Benue State at the Government House Makurdi. The meeting afforded leaders of the state opportunity to pour out their minds to the Nigerian leader over the spate of killings and destruction of farmlands, crops and homes orchestrated by herdsmen.

From his account, Governor of Benue State, Mr. Samuel Ortom, reckoned that more than 1,878 indigenes of the state had been killed by the armed herdsmen. He also highlighted positions freely expressed by the leadership of Miyetti Allah Hotore and Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, essentially promising more bloodshed in the state if a law, promulgated by the Benue State House of Assembly, which prohibited open grazing of cattle was not abrogated.

Voices of Nigerians became loudest when in January 2018, the state held a mass burial for 74 of its citizens who were murdered in cold blood by the Fulani herdsmen. The mass burial, though a state function, did not elicit the sympathy of the Buhari-led administration. No official of the administration was present at the sad event.

Many reckon that this was the height of disregard and insensitivity. How can a people rendered helpless by their government and left exposed to naked horror and brutal killings be condemned for yielding to the natural impulse of not only mourning their irrevocable loss but also crying out for rescue from a still-active terror?

To make matters worse, something the Buhari administration has shown a strange penchant for, Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, who spoke on behalf of the Federal Government, essentially blamed the Benue State government for the killings. He said the herdsmen were provoked to pick up arms against private and defenseless citizens because the anti-open grazing law was offensive to them, and called for the law to be rescinded.

The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, also speaking at an event and in his capacity as Head of Nigeria’s Police, also asked the Benue State government to abrogate the law if it wanted an end to the killings.

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The pronouncements were provocative, no, reprehensible! They shocked the consciousness of Nigerians but undoubtedly not as much as the disclosure by President Buhari, two months after, that he was unaware that the IGP ignored his instructions to him to relocate to Benue State until killings and destruction of lives and property stopped.

Indeed, the relocation of the IGP to Benue State was well publicized in the Nigerian mass media. However, it took the visit of President Buhari to Benue State for him to learn that the IGP spent less than 24 hours in Benue State, or so he claimed.

For a president surrounded by countless officials, including a near-unprecedented number of media aides, and one of whom Nigerians have been made to understand is a dedicated reader of daily newspapers, it is beyond shocking that the news could have escaped Buhari.

News reports aside, the president is privy to regular classified security briefing; was that development never captured in any of the reports? And how does a president issue an instruction without any regular follow-up to ensure implementation?

There can be no defence for this dereliction of duty for it amounts to callous and costly incompetence. The latest shocker underscores what many close watchers of the administration have long-concluded that the president has not only lost control of his government, but the leadership of Nigeria.

A major implication of the president’s disclosure in Benue is the deducible fact that there are other powers within his government, aka ‘the cabal’, discharging the functions of his office, though unelected. It also means that so many other developments take place within his office without his knowledge. This is dangerous for the country.

Also, if truly the president was unaware, denying the president access to information about the IGP’s conduct is indicative of the fact that the president is denied knowledge of events around him and his office. Again, this is a development that threatens the security of Nigeria.

It is now a real possibility that the Nigerian state may be at the mercy of those shielding the president from vital state information and also wielding power in his name.

It is therefore absolutely imperative for a thorough investigation to be undertaken by the National Assembly to determine what actually happened around developments regarding the IGP, and also determine whether or not the president is truly in charge of the security pf the country, a central function of his office.

It is only fair to demand that this process be initiated forthwith and that for once, party considerations and other interests be completely discarded so that national interest can prevail. Nigeria cannot afford the continued loss of lives on account of a broken security system sustained by dysfunctional leadership.

By Femi Qudus….

 

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