NIGERIANS, FED UP WITH INTERNAL COLONISERS –Col Tony Nyiam

Security strategist and one of the survivors of the 1990  military  coup, Col Tony Nyiam (rtd) has warned against the dangers of “fulanisation” of Nigeria and the deliberate imposition of the will of one ethnic group over others, stressing that Nigerians were fed up with internal colonisers in the country.

In a  chat with Sunday Telegraph, Nyiam took a swipe at the Federal Government over its inability to curtail the excesses of the  Fulani herdsmen,  terrorising various parts of Nigeria.

The herdsmen, who operate under the auspices of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN)  and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, have in recent years transformed from their original status as cattle rearers to a formidable security threat, particularly in the Middle Belt and Southern regions of the country.  Their latest tactics is the forceful occupation of the ancestral lands of other communities and ethnic groups under the guise of grazing their cattle.

Nyiam attributed the increasing audacity of the herdsmen  on the failure of President Muhammadu  Buhari to rise above nepotism and conflict of interest in the management of the security apparatus of the country. He accused the administration  of failing to provide political leadership and lacking the sincerity of purpose and political will to do justice to every citizen of Nigeria irrespective of their  ethnic, political and religious affiliations.

According to him, it was that hopeless scenario that forced  a former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma to advocate the right of the indigenous tribes of Nigeria to self defence and the current move by some  states to establish regional regional outfits to secure lives and property of their people.

“There are pent -up social-political grievances caused by the tribalistic monopoly of the hold onto political power by a minority tribe. This started long ago, first in Hausa-land and thereafter the rest of Northern Nigeria. Now there is a going for the broke in their attempt to covet the more lucrative land of Southern Nigeria. The Nigerian people are fed up with these internal colonizers.

“President Muhammadu Buhari’s nepotistic approaches to the appointments of armed forces, and other national security services, chiefs has created a lot of tensions.

This is  evident in the extremely mutual distrust between the far Northern Nigerian rulers, on the one side; and the leaders of the Middle Belt, South West, South-South and South East, on the other side. The distrust remains a wide-open door through which those who do not wish Nigeria well, might enter and cause harm to the generality of Nigerians,” he said.

Nyiam argued that the current security challenges facing Nigeria cannot be effectively understood without unveiling of the hidden thoughts and motives of those in power, who incidentally come from a particular region of the country. In the last five years, he said, Buhari   had relied heavily upon the views and influences of the so called “cabal” in taking major decisions affecting the whole of the country.

“True one cannot read the minds of the influencers of Buhari’s thinking, but one can identify clearly the actions which are a consequence of the cabal’s collective mindset. President Buhari has never been able to correct the impression that he and his native people are more concerned about the pursuit of their ethnic national interest. It’s this descent into or chaos of colliding interest that is engendering the confusion we are experiencing in the management of our national security.

“A good evidence of the regime’s lack of sincerity of purpose is, in their treatment of AK-47  wielding  armed transnational Fulani herdsmen as sacred cows. When these  transnational tribesmen are not attacking the innocent people of the Hausa, Middle Belt, South-South and South East, they are forming alliances with other North African nomadic tribesmen, so as to resort to banditry attacks on the Hausa, and the Middle Belt, people of the North-West region and Niger State in the North-central region of Nigeria. evidence is that over 80% of the national security services chiefs have been appointed in a nepotistic way,” he said.

Nyiam raised questions about Buhari’s consistent refusal to sack the military service chiefs in spite of the numerous national security failures with respect to the fight against the Boko Haram insurgents in the North East region. He described the current crop of service chiefs as a “non-winning team” which has failed to deliver on the promise of the administration to wipe out the insurgents in 2015.

“The continuous retention of the armed forces chiefs stagnates the careers of the other senior officers and junior officers who need to grow up in the profession. This is a major cause of low morale.  The President has been prevented from doing what is necessary by those who are financially benefitting from the attendant scam. The COVID-19 induced lockdown has further cut him away from knowing actually what is going on, on the floors below.

“Lest we forget, most of the service chiefs’ tenures have far exceeded their services run out dates (ROD) which is the mandatory 35 years of military service, and the additional discretionary extensions which are generally time bound,” Nyiam said.