BY AKINWALE ABOLUWADE, IBADAN
he Federal Government has been advised to be open a window of dialogue with leaders of the self-determination groups in the country rather than toeing the path of war.
The call by the experts came on the heels of the rendition of the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, and his forced return to Nigeria by the Fedeeal Government almost three years after jumping bail.
The recommendation also followed the deadly raid on the Ibadan, Oyo State residence of Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, a.k.a. Sunday Igboho.
A Professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies, with bias for Conflict and Security Studies, Femi Olufunmilade, and a Sociologist from the University of Ibadan, Dr. Tade Oludayo, held that drawing the battle line with the agitators may create more problems for the country.
Olufunmilade said, “One is not part of those who can take decisions for the administration but one should be able to intervene with pieces of advice when it is most needed. I want us not to see the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, as a thing to gloat or rejoice over. As an authority in conflict management and conflict resolution, Kanu who was taken into custody and later jumped bail and then lately got arrested, is not the same Nnamdi Kanu of old.
“Right now, Kanu is one who embodies the hopes and aspirations of thousands, if not millions of Igbo youths who are ready to follow him to any length. We have seen how he is able to entice them to himself.
“Whether you believe the cause he is advocating for or not, the fact remains that he enjoys a huge followership that is consequential as far as peace and harmony, particularly in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria, is concerned. So, I will plead with the authorities to be magnanimous in victory and to see how a window can be opened for dialogue so that whatever the grievances of his followers, they would be resolved amicably.
“I will plead with the authorities to be magnanimous in victory and to see how a window can be opened for dialogue”
“If you stand on the ground that they are terrorists and should be treated with an iron hand, I am not sure we are going to see an end to this anytime soon because the crowd he attracts is magnetic.”
For his part, Oludayo faulted calls for the arrest and trial of the leaders of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, bandits and a controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, saying that they should not be placed on the same scale as Kanu and Igboho.
The lecturer said, “All I know is that the cases are different and offenders are treated differently based on the different offences committed. Miyetti Allah is the name of an organisation not a human being. What is the offence of Gumi in our constitution? Fulani herders are not the problem; it is the criminal herders and the complicity of the state that are to blame.
“The state defines who a criminal is and who has violated its laws and who to punish. They make the laws, but their application is dependent on the pleasure of who holds the levers of power. The state determines who is corrupt and who is uttering hate speech even though they accommodate the corrupt in their parties.
“The state uses many strategies and ideological state apparatus like the security agencies to silence dissent. But, the solution is not in arresting Kanu or Igboho. The solution is in addressing the fundamental factors of injustice which threw up the likes of Igboho and Kanu ,mong others. Without that, many more will come.”
