Wase’s comment on Diaspora and matters arising

BY SHARON FALIYA CHAM

A simple error of legislative procedure on the presentation of petitions, which the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase rightly observed and pointed out to Hon. Mark Gbillah at a sitting of the House on March 10, 2021, has generated some unfortunate avoidable arguments within our polity. The observation made by the Deputy Speaker while presiding over that session has been deliberately twisted and mischaracterized by people who appear to be conflict profiteers to paint Hon. Wase in bad light, especially to project him as a hater of the Tiv people on whose behalf Hon. Gbillah wanted to present the petition which he said was written by their Diaspora.

In a manner of distorting facts and issues to suit certain distorted narratives, most probably to batter the integrity of the Deputy Speaker, some people who appear to be merchants of mischief carefully edited the video of that particular legislative session, especially the part that carried the interactive dialogue between Hon. Wase and Hon. Gbillah when the latter was presenting the petition said to be written by the Mutual Union of Tivs in America (MUTA). They also projected the Deputy Speaker as a hater of the Nigerian Diaspora, which even misled the global body of our Diaspora – Nigerians in Diaspora Organization Continental Bodies – to issue a 14-day ultimatum to the House (requesting an apology) over what they erroneously described as the Deputy Speaker’s derogatory statement against them. Not only that, they also threatened to stop financial remittances to Nigeria, their home country; which will be an unfortunate decision. Such decision, if taken, will be unfortunate.

Anyone familiar with the history of the House of Representatives, as well as the history of the legislative activities of a seasoned lawmaker like Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase, who has been in the House since 2007, will quickly remember that he was among the pioneering members of the House that worked for the creation of the House Committee on the Diaspora and subsequently the National Commission for the Diaspora, which is currently being led by Hon. Abike Dabiri. So, for such a man to stake his legislative hours to see to the creation of such a committee and commission, and then be accused as a hater of the Diaspora looks and sounds ridiculous. In fact, it simply proves the indiscretion of his accusers. And not done with the accusation that he hated the Diasporans, they went on to ascribe Fulani ethnicity to him – which he isn’t – just to hoodwink the undiscerning that he objected to the petition because it was against what they called Fulani occupation of Tiv lands and communities in Benue State. They also claimed that the Tiv IDPs have been neglected by the federal government, and that the petition was meant to address this.

While every objective observer of events in Nigeria already knows that the issue of Fulani Herdsmen is often twisted, at times to give them (the herdsmen) the toga of ethno-religious bigots, that is not necessarily the case. In fact, such ethnic and religious colouration of the herdsmen phenomenon appears to have been turned into a tool of excuses and distraction for certain failed state governors. Hon. Gbillah ought to have known that he has made several motions in the past in the same House on this same matter, with the House acceding to his requests and the federal government consequently acting on the requests of the House.

This, for me, will be sufficient grounds for the Deputy Speaker, who was presiding over that particular legislative session, to probe the actual source and identity of the Diasporans in question, and remind Hon. Gbillah to follow the proper procedure of tabling matters from the Diaspora.

On this matter, if Rt. Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase, the Deputy Speaker, could be faulted at all, it will be just on the tone of voice he used in this legislative interaction with Hon. Gbillah. He sounded rather brash than diplomatic, as would be expected between colleagues in such a setting. But then, one can even excuse his brashness in the sense that the issue being brought by Hon. Gbillah and his Tiv Diaspora is now largely viewed by objective and discernible Nigerians as more of propaganda against a particular ethnic group in the country than substance. This will appear so because, one can hardly tell between victims of Fulani Herdsmen and those of the terrorist activities of Benue State’s terror machine under Terwase Akwaza, popularly known as “Gana”, who was killed sometimes ago by soldiers. I say this considering the kind of violence, killings and destructions done by the outlaw and his gang before, and even after his death.

Most discernible Nigerians have come to believe that the late Gana and his terrorist organization have been moonlighting as Fulani Herdsmen, even across to Taraba State where the Tiv and Jukun have been locked in an intractable war for decades with lots of IDPs on both sides of the war till today. In the light of this, one will expect that if Hon. Gbillah and the Tiv Diaspora will want to present a new motion over any security matter in Benue State, it should be a motion or petition asking the relevant National Assembly committees and the federal government to do a forensic investigation of the attacks in Benue, Taraba and other Middle Belt states. Such investigation will be to find out whether the attacks were perpetrated by terrorists like Gana and were ascribed to Fulani Herdsmen for political and religious propaganda or whether the attacks were actually by Fulani Herdsmen. Or shouldn’t this investigation happen to prove all truths and lies?

At the moment, Hon. Wase is in their crosshairs. Propagandists are trying to have a feast of distractions ostensibly to assassinate his character. But then, while they enjoy their brief moments of hay in their sunshine of lies and mischief, the nobility, patriotism and intellectual capacity of refined gentlemen like Hon. Wase to ask critical questions that easily smoke out mischief will always pour rain on their parade of delusions.

Sharon Faliya Cham is a public affairs analyst based in Abuja.