Following the disclosure of a highly contentious policy
by President Muhammadu Buhari to invest public fund to set up ruga farming
settlements for herdsmen across 12 states, the government has been asked to opt
for fairness, equity and equality of rights for all ethno-religious
affiliations as a way to ensure restoration of peace and stability in Nigeria.
HURIWA said government needs to even appreciate the
import of the United Nations Vienna Declaration of 1993 which states thus: “all
human rights are universal, indivisible, inter-dependent and inter-dependent
and "democracy, development and respect for human rights are
interdependent and mutually re-enforcing". The Rights group reminded
President Muhammadu Buhari's administration of an outstanding case of
unambiguous unfairness and injustice meted out to the largely unarmed Igbo
speaking followers of the self-determination group known as Indigenous peoples
of Biafra (IPOB) proscribed by the government whereas the hierarchy of Miyetti Allah
cattle owners known as MACBAN which actively supports armed Fulani herdsmen is
an ally of the Presidency.
This was the conclusion of a leading civil rights
advocacy group – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) which
also criticized the Federal government over the opaque nature of working out a
highly discriminatory settlement policy to benefit only the Fulani speaking
ethnicity amidst ballooning poverty, crises of underdevelopment and lack of
economic opportunities which afflicts the over 350 ethno-tribal communities
that make up Nigeria.
The Rights group says it makes no sense for the Federal
government to embark on an adventure of deception and deceits as a way of
resolving the growing phenomenon of violence amongst the different ethnicities
just as the Rights group expressed doubts on the workability of the one sided
panacea of establishment of settlement for Fulani ethnicity whereas the real
victims of the widespread blood cuddling herders’ violence – the farming
communities all across the country are left to sulk their wounds
unsympathetically. "What is goose for the goose is good for the gander.
The unequal treatments of equals by the central government under Presidency of
the Fulani born Muhammadu Buhari is at the core of the different ramifications
of agitations threatening peace, security and stability of our nation state.
This fundamental injustice incubated and fertilized inside the Presidential
villa and publicized as state policy is intrinsically and inherently
unconstitutional".
“Fairness, equity and equality of rights as clearly
provided for in a plethora of constitutional provisions are the sine qua non
for finding lasting, sustainable and effective mutual and harmonious solutions
to the crises that have arisen due to the activities of suspected armed Fulani
herdsmen targeting farming communities in the country”. HURIWA blames
government at the center squarely for the breakdown of law and order characterized
by high crime rate and the widening spectre of armed kidnappings, banditry and
dare devilish atrocities unleashed by freelance armed hoodlums all across the
Country.
The Rights groups said the piecemeal approach adopted by
president Buhari whereby the government occasionally embarks on secretive
monologues with only representatives of Fulani ethnicity, cannot deliver the
positive and constructive results expected to restore normalcy in the flash
points of these incessant armed Fulani attacks.
HURIWA
has therefore asked president Buhari to adopt a much more holistic, transparent
and open mechanisms such as the convocation of a national security parley
whereby credible and transparently chosen leaders of the various communities in
Nigeria including the Fulani ethnicity and credible civil rights advocacy
groups will meet for at least two days to brainstorm on the most workable
panacea to the incessant attacks unleashed by suspected herders targeting
farmers just as government must as a matter of legality, must arrest, prosecute
and punish all the non-state actors responsible for these intermittent but
vicious violence.
“The
Federal government can’t continue with the divide-and-rule approach that it has
adopted but must open up to all the communities so a national funding platforms
are created to provide palliatives to all the communities affected by the
violence unleashed by armed herdsmen just as these flashpoints are located all
across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria”. HURIWA also faulted the
discriminatory policy of establishment of settlements for only one ethnic group
which offends both the constitution and the land use Act of 1978.
The Rights group said the development of private
businesses should be private sector-driven just as it asked that government
needs to approach banks and other funding agencies so credible stakeholders
needing bail out to set up farming settlements including herders and farmers
are assisted with soft loans repayable over a period of time and guaranteed by
the Nigerian State. This is a much more transparent form of providing funding
lifeline than the discriminatory allocation of tax payers money to one
ethnicity only because the President is Fulani by biological affinity.
“The drafters of the constitution were mindful of the
harmful effect of government adopting discriminatory policies which informs the
decision to insert section 42(1) into the constitution as follows: “A citizen
of Nigeria of a particular community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex,
religion or political opinion shall not, by reason only that he is such a
person:-
(a) Be subjected either expressly by, or in the
practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any executive or administrative
action of the government, to disabilities or restrictions to which citizens of
Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religions
or political opinions are not made subject; or
(b) Be accorded either expressly by, or in the practical
application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any such executive or
administrative action, any privilege or advantage that is not accorded to
citizens of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex,
religions or political opinions.”
HURIWA also charged the government to note that section
17(1) of the constitution is against the one sided policy of establishment of a
settlement for one ethnicity when it states thus: “(1) The State social order
is founded on ideals of Freedom, Equality and Justice.
(2) In furtherance of the social order-
(a) Every citizen shall have equality of rights,
obligations and opportunities before the law;
(b) The sanctity of the human person shall be recognized
and human dignity shall be maintained and enhanced;
(c)
Governmental actions shall be humane;”
The Rights group has also backed the governors of South
East of Nigeria for their legally and constitutionally supported position on
rejecting the setting up of Fulani settlements in the south East zone just as
the Rights group commended the Benue state government for doing same because
the Land Use Act of 1978 expressly gives ownership of all landed assets to the
people of each state of the federation as provided for in section 2(2) “There shall be established in
each State a body to be known as "the Land Use and Allocation
Committee" which shall have responsibility for:-(a) Advising the Governor
on any matter connected with the management of land to which paragraph (a) of
subsection (1) above relates; (b)
Advising the Governor on any matter connected with the resettlement of persons
affected by the revocation of rights of occupancy on the ground of overriding
public interest under this Act; and (c)
determining disputes as to the amount of compensation payable under this Act
for improvements on land even as section 1 vests ownership of Urban lands on
the State governor and the lands in the rural settings on the Local
administrative agencies.
No comments:
Post a Comment