Herdsmen Insurgency And The Politics Of Benue State
Every 4 years, the unfortunate, destructive, dehumanising nay inhumane herdsmen onslaught on the Benue valley, is used as a campaign tool at the State level, as a tool for endorsement or for badmouthing.
Some of us who were (are?) soldiers in the struggle along different platforms such as; MAFO, VATIM, MUTA, 1-Idoma initiative et al, may have diverse perceptions and perspectives to comprehension of the problem and the solution thereto. Unfortunately, we have decided to be either partisan or mute due to the overwhelming debasing of the discourse.
Other write-ups on herdsmen killings that might interest you:
- Herdsmen Killings
- Why I Paid Fulani Herdsmen N10m – Gov Ortom
- “Stop The Killings In Benue By Herdsmen And Their Hired Mercenaries” – VATIM
I dare say a handful of us may agree that the solution is beyond the capacities and capabilities of any State Governor alone, as we have now seen the issue poised to get to the era of a 3rd elected Governor in the state.
There is a typical Tiv saying thus: “Ukpen m ese u ishôm, u paa u kua mule!” We, indeed, seem to be carried away by our localised perception of our sharp guber machetes and monopoly to deploy the same.
At this juncture, it behoves us to speak out, to dis-abuse our minds, to open the eyes of the people to see that a Governor who has no control over the Armed Forces and Police in his State, who can indeed set up a Vigilante Force or Community Volunteer Guard but cannot legally or adequately arm them with weapons to fight off the insurgents, who is not even in charge of the police in his state, who has limited resources from IGR and overwhelming demand over supply of funds, cannot be expected to sustainably fight off the insurgents!
We have consistently run away from asking the hard questions and seeking answers, and that is perhaps why we make our elected officers at the State level daydream the possibilities of ending the onslaught, to our eventual disappointment and feigned displeasure.
As it stands, the States can only – alone – do alleviation, but can not do 1% eradication. I stand to be corrected.
We have premised the solutions to our current scourge on the wrong presumptions, and that’s why sustainable solutions evade our grasp.
We have experimented with several solutions but the growth of population and sizes of IDP camps and killings have not abated. We only feel we are trying simply because we have refused to scientifically assess the wins and losses with our various approaches! What exactly is wrong with attempting to think outside the box of localised self-help?!
There is a typical Tiv saying thus: “Ukpen m ese u ishôm, u paa u kua mule!” We, indeed, seem to be carried away by our localised perception of our sharp guber machetes and monopoly to deploy the same.
We must wake up, go low low low, then we may be able to Buga! She stoops to conquer was a good read back then in secondary school!
Those who have ears.