Mr. President, this ethnic war will be on you

If today were the last day of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, what exactly would the president’s legacy look like? Take a minute, ponder. How would the general who became the self-acclaimed reformed democrat be remembered in history books?

I was a child when Abacha ruled Nigeria as a dictator. It was in one of those years that I first heard the phrase “Black Maria”. I did not fully grasp what it meant, but anytime those words were uttered, it had an accompanying fear to it. Black maria to us meant pain, prison, and penalty — the death penalty.

Also in those early years, there were instances where clashes occurred between the Yoruba and Hausa ethnic groups. It often resulted in deaths and destruction of property. But for a child like me, it meant staying at home for an extended period of time because no one could go out to play.

When tensions were finally back to normal, we would ride on bikes or taxis to school with green leaves attached to them to signify that we come in peace. I may not have fully understood it, but these three images of my childhood Nigeria is back!

In the course of the past week, we saw peaceful , unarmed protesters in Lagos arrested and bundled into black marias for doing nothing other than speaking up against what they believe is injustice. To make the matters worse, Lekki Concession Company (LCC) had its own black maria, which was also used to ‘arrest’ peaceful protesters. Absurd gets absurd in Nigeria. This was image one.

On the same Saturday, ethnic clash broke out in Ibadan, leading to deaths on both sides of the divide and destruction of property which serve as the lifeblood of these people’s existence. As a digital verification expert, bosses, friends, and colleagues sent me videos from Shasha, asking that I verify how recent the videos were and if they truly show what those sharing them say they do.

When I get videos like this, I am quick to review and debunk, but this time, this was not the case. I checked the videos over and over again, wishing they were fakes, wishing they were from my childhood — a time Nigeria was relatively volatile. Alas, the videos were from February 2021. It was with a heavy heart I replied to all those who sent me videos. “Sir, this is actually true. The video was taken yesterday. The video is recent.” As I sent those messages out, I felt fear and despair, I asked myself if it was time to leave Nigeria.

The stability Nigeria had enjoyed hitherto is gradually becoming a mirage — and this is under the watchful eyes of the army general who promised security.

Mr. President, the ethnic war will be on you

A lot of commentaries has gone into how President Buhari assigns more key roles in his government to people from his side of the country. Much of the writer’s ink has also been dedicated to how he often fails to correct and condemn killer herdsmen who are from his tribe and region of the country.

In fact, there was a debate on Twitter only some hours ago that members of the Buhari Media Campaign (BMC) from the north were enjoying, flying private and presidential jets, while BMC soldiers in the south are living in poverty. The divide gets petty.

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo, who I refer to as the best and worst president Nigeria has ever had, lectured Buhari on what must be done to make Nigerians believe he is really committed to security.

“When you have a situation where your own tribe is being accused of something, you must be able to look into it and make it transparently clear that the accusation is unfounded or if it is founded, you deal with it,” Obasanjo advised.

“There have been herdsmen and farmers’ clashes. Now, herdsmen are mainly Fulani. Nothing had been done. Rather than doing something about it, what we are having is that we will create colonies – cattle colonies.

“Where will you create colonies in Nigeria? Is it in my own part of the country that you will now make a colony? Who will give you land to create a colony within his state? So, these are specifics and I can go on and on.

“There are many things that should have been done and that are not being done and there are many things that should not have been done but that are being done; that would have helped in the area of management.”

Mr. President, you may not like Obasanjo, but what he has said is what many of us feel. When you are asked to condemn killings by herdsmen believed to be from your tribe, you issue statements to say “we will not allow any ethnic or religious group to stoke hatred and violence”. This is a case of the people saying “Black Lives Matter”, but in response, you say “All Lives Matter”. No, sir. You are not pointedly addressing the people who need to be addressed. Shasha may not be herdsmen related, but the sentiment has remained the same.

Never in my knowledge of Nigeria has the country been as divided as it is today; every region is floating a security outfit, Yorubas are getting more suspicious of the Hausas, Hausas now feel unsafe in Yorubaland. Drums of war are being beaten left, right and centre. People are now feeling less Nigerian and more Igbo or Fulani. We now pledge to our ethnic groups rather than the country.

This is not the Nigeria we want. And if this is the Nigeria you leave for your successor, then this will be your legacy. This will be how we would remember you. We would write on your political tombstone, that “here lies the president who divided Nigeria like none before him, and hopefully none after him”.

Again, I ask — if today were Buhari’s last day in office, what would have been his legacy?