Two years after the gory attacks by Boko Haram insurgents on unarmed students of Buni Yadi Unity School, the Federal, state and local governments as well as the school authorities are yet to compile a credible list of all the hapless victims. On the one hand, it shows how much officialdom cares about the lives and welfare of its followers. On the other, it reflects a deliberate attempt by the school officials in cahoot with the governments to falsify and downplay the gory statistics of the death of innocent students which outraged the civilised world. Or maybe, it reflects outright disdain for the grieving families, friends and acquaintances of the dead young ones studying for a better future for themselves and their country.
Then we refuse to accept the possibility that the officials have forgotten about the tragedy because it was one too many. But such an omission is unacceptable. Indeed, in any civilised society, such forgetfulness leads to sack of those whose duty it is to compile the full victims’ list. For, the authentic list will provide the indispensable path for sympathy and condolence visits by official delegations from all tiers of government, foreign dignitaries, aid agencies, among others, to the families and relations with kind words which soothe frayed nerves.
As it was widely reported, which sparked outrage locally and internationally, on February 25, 2014, at about midnight, the Boko Haram insurgents drove into Government Secondary School, Buni Yadi, Gujba Local Government of Yobe State. They separated the male students from the females in the co-educational school and allowed the latter to leave. Then for the next four hours, they slaughtered the male students to death, razed and burnt classrooms, dormitories and staff quarters. No gunfire which might alert the security agencies. On completion of their bloody massacre, they slipped back into their base in the Gujba forest, leaving the murderous scene of 59 students dead, which horrified all.
But between then and now, two years later, BringBackOurGirls movement, commemorating the second anniversary of the innocent dead last Wednesday, published only 29 names released to them by the school. Hardly did anyone believe the list of names. Consequently, suspicion remains high that somebody, somewhere is rewriting the history to downplay the disaster which confronted the young students. Worse still, the Federal and Yobe State governments are yet to clean up, rehabilitate the razed and burnt school infrastructure and re-open it to students.
Needless to say, Buni Yadi massacre was no isolated security breach of citizens. Insecurity currently stalks the land. The Boko Haram insurgency still blows hot intermittently in the Northeast, the increasing successes of the military notwithstanding. Incessant armed clashes in communal and ethno-religious conflicts spark off in communities leaving the dead, injured and the maimed with pain and grief.
Now, the most widespread are the violent clashes between crop farmers and nomadic Fulani cattle herdsmen over the destruction of crops by grazing cattle. The recurrence of the clashes and subsequent reprisal attacks have become a huge national embarrassment and the deaths associated with them are too tragic to allow to continue.
For instance, penultimate week, at least 300 Idoma citizens from Okokolo, Akwu, Ocholonya, Adagbo, Ugboku and Aila communities in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State were massacred by suspected Fulani herdsmen. The call for urgent drastic action to end the senseless and wanton killings by the herdsmen locked in a zero-sum game with the farmers are still deafening.
The herdsmen must feed their cattle. Equally, the farmers toiled to plant and nurture their crops for sustenance, especially subsistence farmers. Should grazing animals eat and destroy the economic crops, the theatre for war is set up agaisnt armed but lone herdsmen. If an amicable dispute resolution mechanism is not set up fast, acceptable compensation for the farmers paid, the spectre of conflict and armed confrontation looms.
The Federal Government’s plan is to create over the next two years, grazing estates for domesticating the animals to enable the itinerant herdsmen raise their families and their children to attend schools. Simultaneously, experts recommend conserving the grazing areas with irrigation so that the Fulani herdsmen live in their natural environments in the reserves, build schools and hospitals and graze the animals? The government may even pay the local farmers for the land.
However, Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom is not impressed. With Nigeria’s population ballooning from 60 million to 170 million in half-century at present, hardly can adequate land be found. The solution is therefore the modern best practice all over the world: Create ranches to enclose the animals.
While the debate rages, Agatu Local government citizens sent An SOS message to President Muhammadu Buhari to deploy soldiers as buffer to the communities to end the carnage.
We hope Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) would step in to register all their members nationwide as the first step. Then they should start educating their herdsmen about the need for domesticating the animal husbandry before the government completes creating the grazing areas with green grass fodder grown anywhere in the country and oases of water from dams. Then they would abandon their traditional nomadic lifestyle. Recommendations include registering them in identifiable groups whose leaders would settle disputes rapidly to compensate farmers whose crops were destroyed by stray animals trudging crops in farms.
Moreover, Customs and other security agencies must intensify efforts to minimise the inflow of illegal arms into the country especially sophisticated assault rifles into civilians hands. Enough of senseless killing of innocent compatriots in avoidable conflicts nationwide. But above all, good governance to enhance citizens’ welfare and better their future outlook will minimise some of the frictional heat flaring into shootings and ensure more social cohesion among Nigerians in general.
Until then, we endorse BBOG group’s recommendations and extend its call for monuments to be erected on all the school compounds especially in the Northeast epicentre of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.Such statues will honour the memory of the heroes of unarmed, defenceless students massacred by insurgents. Such monuments, will be constant reminders that good education minimises the horrors perpetrated on the campuses anywhere by the insurgents.