During the Nigerian Biafran civil war, the prosecutors seeing that the war was dragging on with the opposing side scoring some unique victories albeit few, decided to go on an overdrive by in their words, ‘‘to bring the conflict to a logical end’’. In the process the federal military government, sought for what would later be called the soft underbelly in the conflict, imposing a total food embargo on the territory of Biafra. When the dust of the embargo settled, the antagonist on the other side, of the Nigeria government emerged, with little or no impact on them but rather, the poor masses bore the brunt with a very debilitating effect, starvation. In wars the big guns are hardly touched and if they are, its usually at the very end of a long-drawn-out onslaught. Has Nigeria learnt from its civil war history, fifty years after?
Nigeria may have learnt from its past civil war, but such lessons would probably be few, very selective and far in between. If it did the slamming of another major food embargo on a section of the country, which is an act or declaration of war would not have been the best option to take. Before discussing the impracticality of such act, the precursor of events is worth sharing. From 2017 a group of social rufflers emerged on the murky scene of Nigeria’s dynamic socio-political theatre, they were tagged the killer herdsmen, of Fulani origin. Their first major attack was in Benue state with what could be described as their first significant strike, was the killings of over 80 people on the eve of the new year. This incident was interpreted as a land grab or ethnic cleansing, where farmlands were swamped with cattle and food crops eaten up or destroyed. In the process, farmers had their livelihoods destroyed and, in some cases, displaced from their homes.
Four years after, the killer herdsmen have moved further on, having flashpoints in most of the southern states, with other criminals taking advantage of their banner to carry out their own acts of criminality. The federal government that has the balance of terror stacked to its advantage failed woefully to act, by nipping in the bud the activities of the killer herdsmen. Logically or otherwise, interpretations are bound to be given to the federal government inept approach to managing the activities of the hydra headed monster, with the crown worn by the killer herdsmen.
While Nigerians cried out for solutions to the menace of the terrorists spreading the tentacles of fear, government’s political adversaries waited menacingly in the wings to take advantage of the melee. There is a school of thought which believes that government’s opponents jumped into the fray by instigating a self-help approach to embarrassing the authorities. The emergence of Sunday, the one from Igboho gave legitimacy to the concept of self-help, proclaiming to be fighting the cause of the people that had been left exposed by the lack of any concrete initiative to protect them. Sunday had a willing retinue of frustrated and mostly unemployed cohorts who felt like the oppressors had to be dealt decisively. Innocent traders and transporters in cows, goats and food crops became guilty by association and had their investments burnt, a sad reminder of the ‘‘wild west’’. Well, is the act of a few hundreds, the stamp of most people in the South West?
Sunday’s unconjoint twin brother in the north, the gaunt gentlemen that always wears a green muffler without consulting with anyone and jumping over the head of constituted authority, imposes a blanket food embargo on the south west of the country. The authorities were quiet. In the short term there is seemingly a groaning of the unavailability of beef by Lagosians who have taken the diet of beef, ponmo(cowhide) and roundabout (intestines et al) for granted. On the other hand, onion traders in kano have had to suddenly contend with the crash of the price of a bag of onions from N70k to less than N10k a bag, a direct impact of the embargo. Hundred of hours of efforts by small holding farmers across the north and traders have been laid to nought by the activities political minded actors parading as freedom fighters. The interdependency of all Nigerians cannot be clearer than the aftermath of the premature embargo. Farmers in the north have stood to the cause of doing what they know best by just tilling the land and making a modest living out of it, while they help with the concept of food security in Nigeria.
Playing politics with the lives of the most vulnerable in society is not what the average citizen would want to live with or either contemplate, but in the absence of effective governance such possibilities become real. In the core north where onion, ginger, peppers, tomatoes, and other vegetables cultivation thrives the most, the farmers are mostly small holding Hausas and other ethnic groups, whom are generally minorities. They have always been at the mercy of power plays in the country, even before it came to be known as Nigeria, between the south and the north and even with the northern political elites. The Fulani by virtue of their political dexterity, if that is what it can safely be attributed to, have been able to push their agenda along but for how long can the majority in the north continue to shoulder the burden of political competition and near hysteria?
The food embargo may have become a political statement aimed at inadvertently posturing some sort of supremacy. Its sustainability is however another issue altogether, as it involves the livelihood of millions of poor farmers primarily and thousands of the value chain. The void created by political validation groups, puts governments both federal and sub nationals to test more than ever before, to be more resolute with policy and decision making.
© Copyright, Olugbenga Adebanjo
Ojuriblog 