The satan of RUGA and the COZA debacle: A case of misplaced priority? (Opinion)

By Ugochimereze Chinedu Asuzu

Distinguished Readers;

As is our weekly tradition, we would bring to the fore the ranging issues in our polity which continually place a question mark on our humanity and our corporate existence as a nation. More than any other issue, the twin discourse on the Ruga settlement plans by the Federal Government and the alleged rape scandal involving the Coza Church General Overseer has eaten up the media space and of course generated wide attention in the past week. Suffice it to say that Nigerians are a highly emotional and sentimental people. Good enough, we share opinions which may be divergent even at the extremes, and almost always allow the most constructive of criticisms have the final say. Is that not the whole tenet of freedom of expression as given statutory imprimatur by our Constitution? As seems the norm since the advent of our nascent democracy, no week passes by without an occurrence, most political, which gives the media and citizenry a punchline to discuss, and share opinions. One will be more quick to agree with me that the past week has been most interesting. Assumably, these events will most likely spillover to this new week.

Caught almost unawares like the biblical Moses and the voice from the burning bush, we were inundated, and sadly so, with the news of the RUGA settlement as championed by the Buhari led federal government, through the federal ministry of agriculture. As if playing a script, the rape allegations levelled against the COZA church general overseer reared its head and has almost overshadowed the former in discourse, so much so that some groups deemed it wise in their estimation to embark on a protest march to the headquarters of the church, while one is not in support of any societal vices, rape inclusive, it would’ve been better that those aggrieved should approach the court for redress, and not necessarily attacking and disrupting church activities the manner they did, over an allegation against a particular pastor of the church and not the entire pastors and members of the COZA church.

Just like the two sides of the same coin, the RUGA settlements saga for which a contract is said to have been awarded through the Procurement department of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture is fast brewing tensions. While we can readily say that rape and other related cases are serious issues and require the attention of both the media and the reading and listening public, much attention should and must be accorded the planned imposition of RUGA settlements throughout the country. In cognizance of the aforesaid it will be veritable to our nation and posterity due to the urgent necessities of the moment to put a comma on the rape scandal and advice that legal actions and ecclesiastical sanctions should be resorted to if the allegations seem plausible or the commission of the act is admitted. In a word, without mincing words, rape is inhuman and should not be associated with any gentleman and never with the person of a preacher of the gospel of our good Lord, Jesus Christ. But a word of warning is this: media trial is not the best way to go. The need to step down the unfolding scandal engulfing COZA owes largely to the even greater danger the RUGA settlements issue poses to the corporate existence of our country, Nigeria.

In a letter signed by one Dr. Hussaini Adamu (Director Procurement) on behalf of the then Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Audu Ogbeh, detailing a certain company in the letter which has reference number FMA/PROC/RD/SIP/5499/1 dated 21st May, 2019 addressed to The Managing Director, MAS Prudent Limited, Suit D16, Danziyal Plaza, Central Business District, Abuja. To commence work in Taraba state for the purpose of erecting 8(eight) RUGA settlements in the state, though we are yet to fully verify the extent of work so far as regards the directive, which was issued out via a letter dated 28/05/2019. In the said letter it was clearly stated that the contract was being awarded pursuant to the resolution of the Federal Executive Council meeting held on the 8th day of May 2019, which also gave the necessary approval for the award of the contract for the construction of 8 RUGA infrastructures in Taraba state, valued at #166,336,380,00 (one hundred and sixty six million, three hundred and thirty three thousands, three hundred and eight hundred naira only) inclusive of VAT. This document which has since gone viral on social media, if authenticated and affirmed to be true then clears the doubt as concerns whether or not the federal government is going ahead with the RUGA initiatives, by so doing it’s obvious that the government is in implementation stage of the program, which the pilot project which allegedly the contract has been awarded is meant to cover a minimum of twelve states, among which included but not limited to Taraba, Benue, Adamawa, Plateau, Zamfara, Kano, Kaduna and others.

It’s said that after the pilot project in those listed twelve states, the project will continue to the other states in the federation. Cumulatively, as opined by reasoned public opinion and as discerned from the letters of the documents emanating from the government, the RUGA settlements will be cited in the entire thirty six states of the country, all in the bid to pacify the Fulani herdsmen, as ably represented by the clannish Miyetti Allah, some of which are foreigners, thus granting them the status of a nationally recognized ethnic group with uninterrupted indigenous status in each of the states in the Nigeria federation, quite unprecedented.

With the aforestated information, and judging by the suspicion and rumors making the rounds of full Islamization agenda in the offing, coupled with the volatile cum restive nature of these Fulani herdsmen, as is occasioned by the tales of woes that accompany their movement and residency in the communities they’ve had cause to settle in prior in Nigeria, and the fact that most state governments and indigenous ethnic nationalities have since spoken against such intended moves by the government, for which obviously as it seems they are giving deaf ears to, and intends carrying on with the project even against the contrary opinions held by the majority of Nigerians opposed to such move.

Any southerner or Christian who is unperturbed and strangely unmoved by this mood changing development must be a patient of cognitive malfunction, which requires urgent rectification to put such person back to normalcy. One may inquire further to know, what exactly is the driving motive behind this move that had the propensity of breeding simultaneous crisis in and around the country? If the federal government is not compelled by superior reasons to halt this program, which is already brewing bad blood throughout the country, then four of the already pointed five fingers must be pointing to it. Just the other day the Afenifere, a social cultural group of the Yoruba ethnic group has come out forcefully to condemn and reject the move, even as their Ohaneze counterpart of the Igbo ethnic nationality has risen against same, with the support of the entire governors of the five states irrespective of their political party affiliations; though according to the information available to us, no South/South or South/Eastern states has so far been earmarked for the project, however fillers available has it that the program is planned to cover the entire states in the country, that it’s a gradual process and it’ll get to every states. For the now though it goes in the said initiatives for which certain states have been earmarked for the pilot programme.

The RUGA issue must be conclusively and decisively dealt with and should not be kept in the shadows. While the writer is not against protests by the so-called celebrities over Busola’s trending rape issue, what is not desirable is for it to drown the voices of those speaking out against the systematic imposition of Fulani Cattle Colonies on us through the backdoor of RUGA initiatives by the Buhari/Osibanjo led federal government.

A situation whereby the private matter of a certain clan is given the full attention of the federal government of Nigeria to the detriment of those of other ethnic groups, even against the safety and security of other ethnic nationalities, should be a thing of worry to any discerning mind and those not totally bereft of common sense.

The Fulani Cattle rearers, like other ethnic merchants are on their private businesses of cattle rearing all over the country, the profits from the business which they corner to themselves privately, same manners other ethnic business owners go about their various businesses with the attendant bottlenecks, which in their individual capabilities they try to resolve amicably with their host communities, and don’t resort to asking government to grant them preferential treatment as is the case with the RUGA initiative.

Now government direct interference in the affairs of the indigenous communities that the Fulani herdsmen do their private businesses, in the bid to use state power and finances to coerce natives into releasing their ancestral lands to foreigners for the sake of their private business interests, is to me not only repugnant to laws of natural justice, but also antithetical to healthy cohabitation, because such is never been done for/to any other ethnic groups anywhere else in the country.

Now should we say that it’s because of the violent nature of the Fulani herdsmen? Or their whimsical killing tendency unleashed with reckless abandon on their hosts in various parts of the country that necessitated this kind of redress? If such is the reason, then I can tell us for free that it’s tantamount to setting a very dangerous precedent, such that the notion that only violent ethnic groups are quickly attended to and their aspirations easily met by the government would spell doom for the country.

On this premise I make bold to state that no single ethnic groups in Nigeria has the monopoly of violent behavior or restive tendencies, such that the entire country could be turned into one massive volatile enclave overnight by the ethnic nationalities, in order for their various debilitating plights to be brought to the front burner of public discourse and attention, same manner this is being addressed, simply for their being violent to their hosts. The truth is that we can’t seek to mitigate a small problem by creating a much bigger one.

If common sense would prevail, then it must be accepted that the Fulani Cattle rearers must not migrate from one location to another; they could be domiciled at a particular location in the country, preferably in the northern part, which shares almost same culture and perceptions with them, by so doing Sambisa forest with its huge landmass could be partitioned in measures and such cattle colonies or ranches, as the case maybe built over there to accommodate the herdsmen both local and foreign amongst them, and modern amenities put in place for them as proposed in the RUGA initiatives, why on earth must it be scattered throughout the 36 states as intended?

On the other hand, on the case of the COZA debacle, which we learnt the pastor in question has since stepped down to allow for an unhindered investigation, it behoove those accusers to follow due process by approaching the courts and less of taking laws into their hands. Therefore, those protesters that are so moved by empathy to embark on protests against the alleged rape case, should in like manners team up to protest against RUGA too, failing which it’s possible that in the near future we might not be talking about man raping woman, it’s possible to be that cows where forced to rape women in various locations in the country, God forbid. A word is enough for the wise, even as a stitch in time saves nine!

Shalom!