President Muhammadu Buhari’s Aide Social Media Lauretta Onochie has declared it is evil to generalize that all people of the Fulani ethnic group are criminals.
Onochie declared this in a tweet thread on Monday, with advice for those who want to change the government to wait till 2023. According to her, the ballot box is usually the best way to do so.
Onochie was reacting to a statement by Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, who said that all kidnapping stories are traced to Fulani herdsmen.
The governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, gave a seven-day ultimatum to Fulani herdsmen to quit government’s forest reserves, saying the herdsmen had converted the areas to kidnappers’ dens. The ultimatum has expired.
A similar quit order was given in Oyo State by an activist, Sunday Igboho, who asked the herdsmen to quite his part of the state, accusing them of being the brains behind the series of kidnappings taking place in the area.
The Inspector-General of Police, Abubakar Adamu, issued an arrest order on him. The order is yet to be carried out.
“If Emeka, Chijioke and Adanma commit crimes in any state, Emeka, Chijioke, and Adanma alone are arrested and charged. Not Ndigbo. “If Adeleke, Ayodele, and Iyabo commit crimes in any state, Adeleke, Ayodele and Iyabo alone would usually be arrested and charged. Not the Yoruba nation,” Onochie tweeted.
“However, when the criminal is Musa, Aliyu, or Ibrahim, the whole Fulani nation is guilty. Sometimes, Fulanis who have lived in the area for decades, are made to suffer the consequences of crimes committed by others. Why is this? They are Fulanis, Pres Buhari’s ethnic group.”
“If there’s an ethnic or community clash where lives and properties are lost, we pick and choose which to attribute to the community clash & which to lay on the doorsteps of the Fulanis, President Buhari’s ethnic group in order to satisfy the craving for more bitterness & hatred towards President Buhari. “There’s no tribe that is free of bad eggs. But criminalising an ethnic group because you don’t like President Buhari’s face, is nothing short of evil and fishing for trouble,” Onochie said.
Onochie painted a picture of Nigerians’ lack of appreciation of whatever Buhari may have achieved since he assumed office in 2015 with a second term in 2019.
“After restructuring, they moved to Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram.
According to her, an international “ombudsman” organisation, released statistics showing that in spite of security challenges, Nigeria is safer under this government than the previous one.
“They then moved to the economy. Most of their criticisms were false. With the pandemic and a downturn in the world economy, the IMF announced that Nigeria had moved from the 46th to the 25th best economy, globally while still maintaining her 1st spot in Africa. This angered them.
“They didn’t give it a mention. It was not what they wanted for Nigeria and Nigerians. They wallowed in a mud of disappointment. They are now back to restructuring and Fulani herdsmen. They decided that the two topics wailed together, would make more impact. “Although they have refused to take their liberty, local government councils, state houses of assembly and state judiciaries have been granted autonomy through executive orders signed by Mr. President. What more can he do! Drop? #BabaNoDeyDrop #CrimeHasNoTribe #StopTheHatred.
Her advice to Nigerians with regards to the nation’s political leadership:
“Those threatening mayhem must calm down, take a deep breath and remember that this is the only nation we can truly call, “ours”. The ballot box is usually, the best way to change a government. That’s in 2023″
