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I have heard and read so much about the Fulani. How the Fulani did this or that. Strangely, the more terrible things I hear or read about the Fulani, the more respect I seem to have for them. That is not to say that I support what they do; I don’t.
These Fulani are very few, yet they swallowed the Hausa and subsumed their identity. At best you hear about the Hausa-Fulani, a misnomer, which in reality does not exist because the Hausa seem extinct, and they are ‘happy’ with their loss.
The tenacity with which the Fulani pursue their agenda is amazing. It’s like a drop of kerosene seeping into the soil and spreading gradually. Indeed, the Fulani are like a little whiff of combustible gas, circulating in the air and then, whoosh, all goes kaput. Nevertheless, at the end of the holocaust they ignite, the Fulani still manage to survive and dominate.
The scaremongering is that the Fulani want to take over Nigeria and make it a homeland for their people worldwide. There is hysteria everywhere.
We have actually witnessed the encirclement of Southern Nigeria in particular by these people. Of course, there is reason to fear, if it is tenable, especially considering their bellicose attitude and disregard for order or value for life, any life, including theirs.
We see them inside trucks, hiding under the belly of cows, and being shipped to the South with their several motorbikes. We see them riding their bikes with daredevil bravado, quite ignorant or seemingly so, of the safety of lives. Hit them and you would be incinerated right before the eyes of law enforcement agents, enforcing nothing. You can only argue with them at your own peril because nobody would speak for you.
The Fulani have taken over the levers of power and muscled out the other tribes. The security apparatchik of the country has become their personal estate wherein none else is welcome except, perhaps, at the periphery. Yet, they decide our fate whether we like it or not.
The Fulani is for his brother Fulani. Unlike others, they do not betray one another; that is their strength. The shrewd Fulani use their prey, who slavishly labours to conquer their own people and then get gobbled in the end.
However, let us tell ourselves the gospel truth. Each of the over 200 tribes in Nigeria would gladly love to be in control of affairs in this country. That is what drives the agitation for a rotational presidency or power shift. So, why is it a problem if the Fulani have similar desires and exhibited mastery over others whom they have outsmarted and converted to willing, happy slaves?
Christians would also gladly love to see every Nigerian become a Christian. Why is it a problem then if the Muslim desires to see every Nigerian converted to Islam? There is an interplay of selfishness on our altars, whether Christian or Islamic.
Why do we fear the Fulani so much despite knowing their strongest weakness, which is unity? Why cannot we beat them at their own game? Why is it difficult to break through their flanks or get as united on our own?
It goes beyond acquiring AK 47 rifles to counter the attacks of menacing bandits or Fulani invaders. It takes much more than prayer too. Yes, we have heard that nothing can beat prayer but I beg to disagree. Prayer can be ineffectual when the heart is not pure and connected to the power grid of the Most High. Prayer can fail when the power of the Holy Ghost is not ignited. But we have become weak and powerless because we are now hermaphrodite believers about to be spewed out, being neither hot nor cold (Rev. 3:16). We have surrendered our altars to showmen, who have soaked them in garnished messages, lacking punch.
I am all for self-defence as being canvassed in some quarters. Self-defence is desirable but even if we acquire nuclear power to defend ourselves, it could be counterproductive without the know-how.
The oppressive Egyptians are ever in hot pursuit but God still says “Fear ye not…for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever” Exodus 14:13; that is if we remain on the Lord’s side.
Frankly, I don’t really believe in all this noise about Islamising or Fulanising Nigeria. Of course, the idea is there. However, how about us Christianising Nigeria? That is the core of our message and call, isn’t it? Why do we leave our responsibility towards dying humanity and blame others, who are doing theirs?
The truth is that there is nothing wrong with what the Fulani are doing. It is a self-surviving world out there. The Fulani are struggling to survive in their own crude way. If they don’t, they will die. However, they have not and cannot stop others from doing the same. How is it the Fulani business if the Igbo or Yoruba and others fail to struggle to survive in their own way? How is it the problem of Islamists if Christians fail to spread the gospel of Christ in their own way and draw men out of darkness to light?
Of course, the fear of the Fulani has become the beginning of our foolishness. The power of Christianity lies in its grit to overcome persecution; ask the apostles of old and the forerunners of what we now think is bread and butter. What is all this hysterical noise, and panic; has God changed? Ponder awhile, when Daniel refused to eat the king’s meat and fed to the lions, what happened? When the three Hebrew slaves refused to worship the God of Persia and Nebuchadnezzar, and were thrown into the fiery furnace, what happened? Did not Daniel turn the lion’s mane into a plaything? Did not the Fourth man appear? The problem is with us, not God or the Fulani or Muslims. 2 Chronicles 7:14. Let us do our bit; there’s no way God will fail in doing His.
If the native Hausa did not buy Uthman Dan Fodio’s purported holy wars, would they have lost their heritage? If Afonja had not leagued with Alimi, a Fulani, against his own people and Alaafin, would the Yoruba have lost Ilorin? And today, where is the Afonja if not an abhorrent, woebegone relic of history shot to death by arrows of those he trusted?
The same scenario is about to happen in the East where Brother Christian is gradually turning to Alhaji Okoro by no force of arms. The subtlety with which Satan destroyed the serenity of the garden of Eden is still very much active. Now adorned in greed, the Igbo are following the trail of money like Judas Iscariot. Ask yourself, where did the Igbo votes go during the just concluded ‘dollargates’ conventions of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP? Did the Igbo vote for their brothers? No; they sold their votes but would blame the Fulani tomorrow for their ills. Remember, however, even Judas could not eat the thirty pieces of silver he sold his master for.
Abeg, hate or love the Fulani, leave them alone and deal with your own issues. Nothing but the truth.
