Abubakar Malami, an unlearned-learned Barrister -By Tife Owolabi

The Nigerian state is like a home where no two things fit according to Eshgue Adebayo. You have bread no butter; you have tea no sugar. Good land endowed by nature but no good leaders and it is obvious that the country has a leadership character deficit. This is due to many copious reasons. Achebe (1982) in the trouble with Nigeria. “the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air anything else. But we have leaders who haven’t rise above bigotry despite years of existence.

Though there are few exceptional ones but largely our leaders either religionist, tribalist or both. They hardly see beyond their propensity and that have continued to divide us rather than to unite us. They fan the ember of hatred, spur disharmony and appear before the public as nationalist. Whilst some are bold to show their bigotry others are mainly pretentious of their true identities but kudos to Abubakar Malami attorney-general of the federation, who showed that he is an enabler of disharmony and Balkanization. His comments on channels television on the Asaba accord gave much insight that the insecurity stemming from the herder-farmer clashes will leave us forever if such persons continue to remain in the saddle with a national task.

Tife Owolabi

One would have thought that the responsibility of governments at all tiers is to maintain law and order and secure the public good? Or Isn’t it the responsibility of an Attorney-General to give government advice on legal matters and to represent on litigations? Meaning that such a fellow will know his onions to serve the onus. But how does roaming about with wares equate to someone who pays for an apartment to display wares? How did he scaled through Law School and got to the pinnacle of his career sef? One will have thought that the function of education is to be broadminded and reason better but what is in the display is beyond ignoramus but calamitous, injurious and horrendous of a learned person.

How is open-gazing freedom of movement? If humans are guaranteed by the Constitution for the freedom movement, association, right to life and right to speak, does that includes animal? As Nigeria adopted animal rights bill? Is this fellow aware even in other climes that adopted animals rights that you can’t freely parade your animals /pets on the streets? Is the unlearned Barrister aware if you walk your pets on the streets unleashed and the pet defecate on the streets you must pick discharge faeces that it is a crime punishable under laws? Who does open grazing in a modern society if not a primitive society like ours that has refused to develop?

Malami in statement and comments didn’t just insult the intelligentsia of the majority of Nigerians but ridiculed the Buhari administration.

His statement read in parts : “It is about constitutionality within the context of the freedoms expressed in our constitution. Can you deny the rights of a Nigerian? For example, it is as good as saying, perhaps, maybe, the northern governors coming together to say they prohibit spare parts trading in the north.”

How does one fathom this? We can begin to understand why Buhari has failed so badly. This is the quality of advice Mr President receives. How was he able to become a SAN in the first place, probably through Federal Character principles? With this, it will be assumed that someone needs urgent psychiatric assistance because this situation has truly exposed his true self as an enabler of disharmony, unworthy of his title and position, a petty persona, parochial nature and a zealot. After all, the ban on open grazing by southern governors does not by any means inflict or trample on the rights and privileges of the herders of their freedom of movement and acquiring of landed property for the establishment of ranches in line with the provisions of sections 41 and 43 of the Constitution.

The attorney-general comments are misplacing and capable of igniting a fire in the already existing feud and by his comments, the herders will be more emboldened to perpetuate their horrendous activities if we don’t adopt a modern style of cattle-rearing or ranching as the current modes are archaic and obsolete which should be jettisoned and condemn to the dustbin of history.

Just current at the public hearing organised by the Senate on firearms act cap F17 (SB 549) Samuel Aruwan, commissioner, Internal Security and Some Affairs, Kaduna state gave a glooming picture of an alarming nature of security challenges across Nigeria which is widely documented. Northern Nigeria in particular, has seen an outbreak of violent conflicts and growing asymmetric threats in the last decade; from the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East to the more recent scourge of banditry in the North-West and some North-Central states. An excerpt from his presentation shows that “The activities of terrorists, armed bandits and kidnappers who currently ravage the rural landscape in most states of the North-West, killing thousands of citizens including women and children, and even attacking military formations, have been enabled in large part by the unchecked proliferation of arms in Nigeria. In recent years, the easy access to, and use of these arms has taken on an increasing level of sophistication, a fall-out of events in the sub-region and just beyond. Access to these devices – locally made and imported – enables these criminal groups and other non-state actors to inflict untold carnage, destruction, instability, pain and loss on the society.”

Mr Aruwan stated that “In 2020, 937 citizens died as a direct result of banditry and communal violence. Six hundred and seventeen (617) of these deaths, (two-thirds of the total) were within the Kaduna Central Senatorial District. The Kaduna South Senatorial District accounted for 286 deaths (about one-third of the total), due in large part to sporadic clashes, alongside banditry which triggered attacks and counter-attacks, especially between June and November 2020. Kaduna North Senatorial District recorded 34 fatalities from banditry and violence.
On another front, 1,972 people were kidnapped in 2020, with Kaduna Central Senatorial District accounting for 1,561 of these. Similarly, 7,195 heads of cattle were rustled across the state. Kaduna Central Senatorial District was also hardest hit with 5,557 animals stolen. Similarly, disturbing figures are set to be published in the coming days for the first quarter of 2021. These include quantities of munitions recovered by security forces, in line with vigorous investigations to dismantle gun-running networks and block arms routes into the state. The figures published show quite clearly the staggering human and economic losses suffered across Kaduna State due to the prevailing menace of armed banditry, alongside issues of communal violence. This is the picture of mayhem unleashed by criminals mainly because of the easy access to arms and ammunition, into which bandits invest significant portions of their loot.”

If these figures causalities and conflicts are not frightening enough and needed to be stopped with the banding on open gazing, what solution does Abubakar Malami attorney-general of the federation proposed as a solution as a learned lawyer whose duties is to advise the government on best practice on mitigation of grievances, contradictions and conflicts? and thus if he worth his salt and knows his onions he should withdraw his comments and apologise to Nigerians hence, he is undeserved of his title, calling and position.

Tife Owolabi
+2348064698045
Journalist
Niger Delta
@tifeowolabi
facebook.com/Tife Owolabi
“if it bleeds it leads”…