The Gospel According To Fulani Herdsmen

Literally gospel according to the Concise English Dictionary means the teaching or the revelation of Christ or the record of Christ’s life and teaching in the first four books of the New Testament. 

There is also the gospel truth; something that is absolutely true. So it does not often come as a surprise that when the phrase ‘the gospel according to’ is used in a sentence, a biblical discernible person will quickly averts his or her mind to the aforementioned gospel of the opening books of the New Testament. 

However, good as that is with the different books, the gospel according to Fulani herdsmen has a rather complicated network of different books and chapters that leaves all who have been at the centre of their nefarious activities with bouts of snafu-ish nightmare, and that is for those who have been lucky enough to survive their menace. 

They have become a pest that has continually defiled pesticide. From the greenery of Benue to the plains of Taraba, and the forest reserves and farms of Edo, they kill, rape and destroy farm lands with impunity like a set of outlaws that are laws unto themselves.

For this, the gospel according to Fulani herdsmen takes the shape of the following volume of five books here.

            

            The Destruction of Farmlands

Fulani herdsmen are nomads that move around with their cattles, and this movement is common place in the dry season when the vegetation in the North is low which inevitably results in movement to the south which has more vegetation for their cattle, but these cattles do not just feed on vegetation by the road side, rather they end up in people’s farms destructing cash and commercial crops without regard for the efforts that these farmers have put into planting these crops. 

In January this year, hundreds of such cattles invaded a forest reserve and farm settlement in Uhunmwonde Local government Area of Edo State, these cattles destroyed plantains, ate all the yams that were harvested and left at some farm huts in these farms, and they practically destroyed what they met on their path. 

These led to the premature harvest of some of these crops from the few the farmers could savage. A common trend amongst these Fulani herdsmen is that they leave these cattles to wander around people’s farms while they disappear from site. Any attempt to inquire from them for these acts of agricultural sabotage is most times met with aggression which often leads to dead. 

All over the country especially in some of the North Central states, Fulani herdsmen destroys farm lands, and when they are challenged in return, they end up burning houses and driving away people from their homes. After their act of destruction, they suddenly disappear from site.

·        Possession of Firearms and dangerous weapons.

A common trend with Fulani herdsmen is that they always bear knifes and arrows. What is even strange is not the fact that they do this openly, but the fact that those that defend this, often claim that their possession of these weapons is part of their culture of dressing. 

However, culture of dressing all not, it’s the fact that they have used these weapons to send persons to their untimely grave just because, they had the temerity to ask them to leave their farms.

However, bearing of knifes is and has gradually become rather archaic. They now bear sophisticated firearms that some of Nigeria’s security agents cannot boast off.  

On February 7, 2016, a group of vigilante accosted two Fulani herdsmen in the Ikpoba Hill axis of Benin City, there were not with any cattle, but in their possession were two double barrel guns. Their defence was that they use it for hunting.

In a country where possession of firearms is to be illegal without the necessary permits, it should beat anybody hollow that some group of persons could openly bear firearms as if we are in a society without laws. 

And that is practically what plays out all over the place. You see a Fulani herdsman with his herd of cattle in front, with a gun and knife, and you begin to wonder, whether this is not a scene from 18^th Century Wild West.  And it is the same firearms and weapons they use in killing and maiming unsuspecting members of the society.

Which begs the question, how do they come about these weapons? In a country where there are so many questions where you cannot find direct answers, such inquiry is better left to the realm of imaginations, because it always a case of seeing less, whenever you try to look more as far as certain questions begging for answers in Nigeria is concerned.

·         

     Killings, Kidnappings, Robbery and Rape

The number of persons that have died from the activities of Fulani herdsmen cannot be quantified, especially when you consider the fact that the death of persons here is treated like a set of numbers rather than a genuine feel that a life or lives have been lost. 

Throughout the farm settlements of Ovia North East and Ovia South West Local Government Areas of Edo State and many other places throughout the country, women have been continually raped in their farms. 

There was a case of a woman, whose husband was hacked to death in their farm by some of group of Fulani herdsmen, while they also raped the woman there. 

Just in January, 2016, two brothers in Ovia North East went to farm, one of them left the other to go home, unfortunately for the other one, he met some Fulani herdsmen who had just kidnapped somebody and they were moving to their hideout in the bush. They shot him, and left him for death, he bled for two hours before his brother returned. In his dying declaration, he told his brother what happened. That man was in tears when he spoke live on radio. 

That was a Nigerian living a peaceable life by farming and tending to himself, yet his life was cut short by these agents of destruction. Throughout most of the farm settlements in Edo South, there is now a palpable fear from farmers especially women, who would rather stay at home than go to farm.

A person known to this writer, narrated how his neighbour went to his farm in the last quarter of 2015, and he saw group of Fulani herdsmen bearing AK 47 rifles. That man has not gone to that farm ever since, and he confessed that it was God that saved him. 

You have to ask yourself sometimes, what is wrong? Farms in Forest reserves used to be some of the most pristine places for farmers to hide away from the society while they tend to their crops, but many of these places have become so dangerous because of the activities of Fulani herdsmen.

There were times during 2014 and 2015 when a gang of Fulani herdsmen continually robbed passengers along the Benin-Auchi Highway by Ehor. They would abandon their cattles, and at certain time of the day, would rob several passengers traveling in buses to the Northern part of the State or country. When they were eventually caught after police set up surveillance, they were all Fulani herdsmen.

·        Environmental Nuisance

It is common place for these herdsmen to move with their cattles at night. But these cattle leave in their trail all manner of environmental nuisance with the faeces they defecate all over the place. 

At times, it can be so bad that you would be looking for a spot to put your foot when walking pass certain places. 

Besides that, these herdsmen sometimes leave their herd of cattle in the compound of individuals. 

A couple of years ago in the Uselu quarters of Benin at Medical Stores Road, a man suddenly woke up to sounds and lights of moving objects in his compound, a spiraling compound measuring 100 feet by 200 feet, when he got out from his house, he discovered several number of cattles ravaging the compound of eight flats, it is a fenced house, with gates, yet they found their way in. they messed up the entire place. 

And yet despite the fact that the cattles where in the compound, the Fulani herdsmen were nowhere to be found. 

They eventually showed up, and the 

inhabitants of the compound woke up that night, immediately the herdsmen saw them, they took their heels, and the cattle as if working on a remote followed their master in running out of the compound. 

Unknown to those in the compound, there were six other cattles somewhere in the compound that did not run out, it was little surprise therefore that some group of persons showed up in the morning to ask for these cattles. These are the principals of these Fulani herdsmen.  

Although, these cattles were eventually released to them, it was on the condition that they were never to bring the animals to those parts any longer.

The list of experience is endless for many that have been at the receiving end of these activities. All over the place, it is a signature of cattle faeces when you walk through your neighbourhood and in major roads during the dry season.

·      

            They Are Above The Law?

Many of these Fulani herdsmen that have been caught and arrested end up being released. And police officers will sometimes confide off the record that their hands are tied most times when it comes to dealing with the menace of these Fulani herdsmen. 

Except few that have met their death at the hands of security personnel, they are often left off the hook. In short, there are times; police do not like taking reports concerning the activities of Fulani herdsmen, because to them, their efforts most times end in futility in trying to investigate such matters. 

This is why there is a reticence on the part of the police to treat these matters with the seriousness it deserves.

Do this people operate within their own set of rules? The situation is such that what is applicable to other members of the society seem not to be applicable to them. 

These Fulani herdsmen are not direct owners of these cattles; rather they are agents to an affluent principal somewhere. It is this principal that pulls all the stunts to see that they are released whenever they are arrested for a crime.  Though there are admittedly bad eggs amongst them who embark on a frolic of their own.

Nigeria should practically be the only country in the world where herdsmen are allowed to wander about with cattles in the open across people’s farmlands, neighbourhood and build up areas at night and so on. 

There have been continuous talk of setting up ranches as it is done in most advanced countries in the world, yet as is mostly the case about so much talk, nothing has been done to make it work. And as a result, the Fulani herdsmen continue to wreak havoc through their various gospels of destruction.

What Really is The Source of Happiness

WHAT REALLY IS THE SOURCE OF HAPPINESS

 by Eromose Ileso

Trying to rationalise what is the ultimate source of happiness could be an exercise in the pursuit of the mystic. Happiness itself stem from several factors that are intricately linked to life itself. These factors though obvious to all, could be said to play a huge role in what actually constitute happiness. This is not to say that these factors are the only utopia of what actually constitute happiness.

When considered against the backdrop of the absence of these factors, it is easy to see why they are intricately linked to what really constitute happiness. It goes without saying that when these factors are not available, what could have taken a form of merry, becomes dancing in a potter's grim.

These factors are a means to an end, and not the end that makes for happiness.

Already, these factors which are widely known includes good health, money, a steady job, shelter, a sound family, a catchments of friends that keep in touch, a society that embrace truth and justice, the presence of social amenities and others that are linked to the above. Although these factors could vary according to individual and societal choices.

Looking at these factors, the wisdom of not immediately currying for one as the ultimate to the exclusion of the other becomes clear when you beam some search light on it. 

For instance, the bible clarifies the importance of money when it says, money answers all things. This is absolutely true. But, you might ask, does having money constitute ultimate happiness? 

There are few who aren't wealthy but they are always happy. While others whose very name is a by-product of wealth, yet they are never happy. Money though can answer all things; however it’s not without exceptions. A politician can spend billions to bribe his way to electoral victory, but when the will of the people stands, the money spent which should have answered the call for electoral victory, ends up in the pocket of a few, while the other candidate is declared the winner. The politician that has spent billions cannot be happy for obvious reasons.

Then the issue of health comes into it. Medical tourism constitutes the highest source of capital flight in Nigeria. It runs into billions of dollars yearly. And while few who had funds raised for them to embark on such trips are there, there are the other few who are really that wealthy that they can meet the financial demands of such trips. 

It is such persons that are the focus here. They have the money aplenty, but due to ill health, the ultimate happiness is absent. In this sense, money cannot answer such a question especially when it’s an illness that is terminal.

Do not get me wrong, I am not debasing the importance of having money, the truth is without it, you are always in a state of ever roving in intentions, but never riding in actions.

Instances abound in the more comfortable climes of the Western world, where the social infrastructure and institutions are workable to protect truth and justice, which is in contrast to the developing world. 

Yet you still see people that are supposedly comfortable in life falling into depression and committing suicide, while some have died of overdose from taking anti-depressant drugs. 

Whereas, in the developing world like our clime, you still see people putting up a brave face in the wake of copious adversity, little of which have been encountered by many in the Western world.

Although, psychiatrist and therapist, are always quick to point out that depression does not know status, and it has led many to develop suicidal thoughts. While it’s a big thing in the West, it is seldom seen as an ailment here, yet it is becoming prevalent as societal dynamics changes especially with trauma occasioned by the sudden dead of a loved one in an attack by insurgents and other heart wrenching circumstances.

Yet, again it makes the availability of money to pale into shadow when depression attacks. Ask yourself, why would a person so wealthy that he or she can afford most things on earth contemplate suicide as the only way to rid themselves of a problem? 

Such feeling of hopelessness that push them to such tragic end, shows why even the bible's acclaim that money answers all things is not always on solid ground.

Then, when you turn the page on someone who does not have these factors that make life what it is, a homeless person who doesn't know when the next meal would come, and people who do not have the minutest of reason to keep on going in life. Yet they see hope in the face of hopelessness. 

Then there are others who have been ill for as long as they can remember, bed ridden, not able to walk, others in a wheel chair, and other variables of ill health, yet they still keep on going and living life one day at a time.

What make the persons in this category to see hope and not hopelessness? When all around them is the very antithesis of hope? When compared to those whose environment and all around them emits the ambience of hope, and what have you, yet they see hopelessness.

You may want to ask yourself what is the difference between these categories of persons? If you have read this far, you could glean the angle I am coming from.

The answer lies in what ultimately constitute happiness, a question asked in the opening paragraph.

It is no other than your personal choice. You choose to be happy no matter the upheaval. 

The present or lack of the factors that constitute happiness can and cannot impart on happiness depending on the individual.

In hindsight, the former categories of persons made a choice to see hopelessness. Why the latter also made a choice to see hope.

You make a choice to be happy and joyful in life. In perspective, the ultimate source of happiness is simply a choice to be a happy.

Reconciling Survival with Salvation

RECONCILING SURVIVAL WITH SALVATION

by Eromose Ileso

The cliché that unfolds like a smoke from the chimney of many places is that the means justifies the end. Yet, the question remains whether a moral high ground should always be pursued when trying to evaluate what type of means leads to an end? 

To many the crave for survival from a difficult situation most times leads to a relegation of moral standards which in itself means many do not bother about salvation when it comes to the issue of survival. This has fostered a situation where many pursue a means that is not pure to achieve their desired end. That is one side of the coin. The other side of the coin is a situation where a person finds himself in a situation which he cannot explain, as the scenario below depicts.

A man gets both his limbs amputated as a result of an accident. When you approach him by saying, give your life to Christ and you would have the opportunity of walking with Jesus in heaven. For a man that just lost his limbs, telling him about walking seems fanciful at best at such a moment. 

The realist in the amputee, first and foremost is to survive and where possible put is life back on track, and most probably not a narrative on salvation. Though, the state of mind of such a person ultimately determines whether he would readily take the salvation narrative to heart. No doubt to a realist the first instinct is pursuing a course of survival, but one who has the graces to see beyond it would embrace salvation in spite of the complicated nature of such a situation.

Coming down to a more common appraisal in daily life is this: There are many in the society today who are jobless. And they find themselves in a forlorn situation. Most persons in such situation pursue a survival first instinct before salvation comes into play. To this extent they often pursue any road of survival whether or not it furthers the cause of moral insolvency. It is not unusual to see many engage in many nefarious activities all in a bid to survive thereby relegating salvation to the back burner.

Though, from the parlance of divinity, it is never a good thing to sacrifice salvation at the altar of survival. Yet, many in today's society do not care. All they concern themselves about is to irk out a living. 

Yet, this is not to say that there are no persons who do not see salvation as a first option no matter the situation.

Why there is never a justification for engaging in activities that is against morality and law when trying to survive, a question however springs to mind, would the society blame a person who steals to satisfy is hunger? 

Islamic Law provides a window of escape in such situation. It exempts a person who steals because of hunger from the prescribed punishment of stealing. Most people that steal for hunger are usually amoral; choosing instead to satisfy their belly before bearing what consequences awaits them. Yet stealing for whatever reason is immoral.

The cliché that the quickest way to a man's loyalty is through his belly hold sway. Which means many will prioritize their personal needs via trying to survive. This is were survival comes into it. The reality is that many people cannot attain stability in their lives if their very survival is threatened by a lack of the basic things of life.

When trying to a draw a line between salvation and survival, many in the society today, wants to survive first before they seek salvation.

In reality, you cannot blame such a person who assumes that position by being judgmental. Because in hindsight, it is difficult to say to a man who has not eaten anything for days, that he should give his life to Christ and that God will put food on his table. For such a man, at that moment, such narrative is illogical to him. It is survival first, and giving such a person food at the first instance eventually makes the salvation message to be readily acceptable. 

Jesus Christ recognized this while on earth through the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes after teaching the multitude that where gathered.

Without doubt the nature of a society vis-à-vis the standard of living determines how people approach these two issues. There will always be persons who will do anything to survive whether it defeats morals before they countenance salvation.

It takes the graces to seek salvation in a path of labyrinth.

Some will say salvation can be sought at anytime as survival is it first, even when the eyes might close and never opens by which time salvation becomes eternally impossible.