By Kayode Emola
If there’s any indication that Nigeria is not a united country, the recent trip by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Turkey clearly highlighted it. Not only did this trip show that Nigeria has no foreign policy, but it also clearly indicated that the only thing that matters in Nigeria’s political climate is the vested interest of the Fulani people.
For the many who are shouting “One Nigeria”, I’m not sure they understand what “One Nigeria” mean. If they truly understand what it means, maybe they might begin to change their tune. Many Nigerians behave as though the country is united, yet every day, decisions show that it is meant for one tribe, “the Fulani people”.
The mere fact that we talk about Northern and Southern Presidents shows that nothing on earth can unite this very disunited country. If not, why are we not more concerned about competence and what better unites us rather than focusing on the region where the president hails from?
First stop, President Tinubu inherited a very bad country to govern. The country was already financially and morally bankrupt in many aspects. Therefore, trying to resuscitate an already dying country is no easy task. The question then should be, are Nigerians genuinely looking for a united country? One that works for everyone and not just a select few. The simple answer to the ordinary man is Yes, but the real answer to the Fulani is No.
The Fulani, who are less than 5 per cent of Nigeria’s population, believe they are born to rule Nigeria because the British manipulated the entire country’s governance structure in their favour. The entire 12-core Northern states of Nigeria are governed by the Fulani tribesmen despite not holding the majority population of those states.
This goes to show that in a free and fair election system that is characterised by real votes, the Fulani stand no chance of election victory. However, because all the Emirs and traditional institutions in Northern Nigeria are dominated by the Fulani people, despite a diverse population cutting across over 50 ethnic nationalities. They have the opportunity through their feudal system to manipulate election results.
The “One Nigeria” hypothesis is just a mirage when it comes to governance in Nigeria. What better illustrates that Nigeria is “One Fulani Nigeria” rather than “One Nigeria” is when it comes to governance, it is about the Fulani and others. If you doubt me, let’s do a run through the Presidents of Nigeria since the fourth republic began in 1999 to see the pattern of leadership. This is also even though the Fulani have been ruling Nigeria since independence in 1960, when the British handed over the country to them when they were leaving.
From 1999 to 2007, President Obasanjo was brought in to placate the Yoruba people after the daylight robbery of the June 1993 election that was annulled by Babangida. Even though empirical evidence now shows that Obasanjo’s father is an Igbo man. From 2007 to 2010, the late President Musa Yar’Adua took office, and he was a Fulani man whose tenure was cut short by his untimely death. President Goodluck Jonathan, his vice, took over Yar’Adua’s remaining tenure till 2011 and used the power of incumbency to win the 2011 election and run Nigeria until 2015, until he was removed by the Fulani political machine.
After that, late President Buhari, another Fulani man, became president from 2015 to 2023, following which President Bola Tinubu, a Yoruba man, became President. If Tinubu were to complete an 8-year term like most of his predecessors, it is most certain that another Fulani man will become the President of Nigeria by 2031. This is not because the Fulani are the most qualified to rule Nigeria. It is just a sheer born-to-rule mentality that the colonial master Britain ingrained in them that has made them think of themselves as the most superior race in Nigeria, despite being the least populated people in Nigeria.
Therefore, we see that Nigeria does not have an internal or external policy that puts the welfare of its citizens at the heart of governance. It only has a policy geared towards the satisfaction of the Fulani tribe, no matter whose ox is gored. This lie of a nation can, on the face of it, be allowed to continue for a time, but it definitely cannot endure the true test of time, when the real patriots of the country demand justice.
Nigeria was not built on a foundation of justice; it was built on lies by the British to deceive the population. Whoever is the President of Nigeria must listen to what the Fulani people have to say, even though their opinion may be rubbish and detrimental to the larger population. This is the foundation of the President’s visit to Turkey, because, for all that matters, if he refuses to go to Turkey, then he is damned by the Fulani political machinery that controls the governance structure of Nigeria.
In analysing the President’s visit to Turkey, more people are more concerned about his wobbly feet, when what they should be worrying about is his wobbly decision. Turkey, through its Senior Military General in 2014, enacted a foreign policy that none of its weapons must be used to kill a Muslim. It went further to state that any country that kills Islamist fundamentalists should be treated as a terrorist government. It then begs the question as to what the President of Nigeria was doing in Turkey. When it is an open secret that 90 per cent of the weapons in the hands of the terrorist groups in Nigeria like Boko Haram, Fulani militia, Lakurawa, ISWAP and other jihadi groups, are being supplied by Turkish defence contractor SADAT International Defence Consultancy.
Despite the military support already promised and being delivered by the US government, which is beginning to yield positive results. The President of Nigeria is listening to the likes of Islamist fundamentalists like Sheikh Ahmad Gumi to look to Turkey for help in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria. This goes to show that the Fulani position is not to fight terrorism in Nigeria but to quell any dissenting voices that may stand to oppose their hegemonic rule.
However, I have a message for people like them. The time for gentlemanly diplomacy, our parents played with the Fulani North, is over. This era is that of confrontation, where we must do the needful to confront their lies with hard facts that cannot be denied. Nigeria does not belong to the Fulani, and it’s high time we called their bluff and decided our future once and for all. We can no longer live in a country where it must be a Northern President vs Southern President, even though the person who eventually emerges has nothing to offer to the country other than the protection of the Fulani hegemonic advantage.
It is time for us, the Yoruba and other indigenous nationalities, to take a stand to put this corrupt system to an end. This cannot be done on the pages of a newspaper, but by sheer resistance and dismantling of the demonic system that the British imposed on us.
The time has come for all of us to do our bits in taking the message to our people in every corner of the Yoruba land and other parts of Nigeria, that what they claim to be “One Nigeria” is nothing other than “One Fulani Nigeria”. This is because Britain, which bought Nigeria for £865,000 from the Royal Niger Company in 1899, is not ready to let go.
The only way to break the chains of Britain from our necks and bring real development to our people is to completely dissolve the country of Nigeria. This will mean that every indigenous nationality in Nigeria can go its separate way to build great nations for itself with its own unique identity for its own people. If not, we will continue in this illusion called “One Nigeria” thinking it holds any true meaning for us other than death and destruction through conquest.
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