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These characters are neither the issue nor our focus. Where we fix our gaze is far larger, farther than them. Put together. They couldn’t have matched our thought process. Nor being our cynosure. That too is not intended. Not at all.
Their role here is strictly as messengers. Tiding bearers. Nothing better than that. And it ends there. But their messages are the nexuses we need to navigate this perilous time. And the reason we can’t ignore their utterances: The good, the bad, the ugly.
The three are parts of the strong pillars. That supposedly hold up the North. And they do it firmly. The threesome is of deep Fulani descent. And they cherish their heritage with uncommon relish. They’re the North’s top-notch. They flaunt it in arrogant display. Though, it irritates. It disgusts.
They care less. That’s the arrogant stuff they’re thickly made of. Together and separately. They’re the faces of the North. And they proudly pride themselves to be so called.
But the Oriire rescue changed the narratives. It deflated them like a badly used tyre. It rattled the troika. And dragged them out of their comfort shells. To the starkest reality of our time. It made a wonder of them. The triad was bewildered, overwhelmed. Oriire showcased the best. And the worst out of them. Crystal clear to us all.
Here. The trio addressed the North’s varying challenges squarely but differently. Separately and at varied times. But the same issues ran through their thoughts. Great minds, you would want to say. Hold your peace. Wait until you hear them out. One after the other: Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi; Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai and Sheikh Ahmad Gumi in that order.
It’s deliberate. Sanusi spoke to the North’s predicament. As is his element. He was truthful to himself. And it came from the very bottom of his heart. He’s the good.
el-Rufai wasn’t. The exact opposite of what Emir Sanusi represented in this context. He took the matter too personal. A display of hate and hatred. He’s the bad.
Gumi spoiled the show. He wrecked it. Made a complete mess of it. Nothing could be taken out of his outpouring. He’s the ugly.
Sanusi is 14th Emir of Kano. He’s solidly rooted in the Fulani Sullubawa clan. And Khalifa, Tijjaniya group in Nigeria. He was the first of the triune to reach out to us. Sure, he can’t be exonerated from our collective predicaments.
He’s a chief donor. He generously contributed his quotas to our plight. And did it over a period of time. He’s a shareholder in what befalls us today. He played his own role creditably to our detriment. We can’t sweep that away. Not even under the dirty carpet of our stinking, ugly history.
But let’s briefly take good exceptions to this. Perhaps, it’s a “changed, repentant Sanusi” on the rostrum. Sermonising, preaching a new gospel. So, allow him a space. Let him breathe his breath. Hear him out. And interrogate his message thereafter. The post has gone viral:
“After the release of these victims (Oriire abductees), I think, I can conclude that my assertion that the northern elite are the problem of the insecurity ravaging their people and the region has been vindicated by this operation of our security agencies in the South.” Remorseful? Watch his lips:
“The same week the Oriire abduction took place, children were also abducted in Borno State.” You would detest what Sanusi claimed happened: “But everything was going as if nothing happened in the North.
“The Yoruba trooped out in masses, took over the streets. Even Davido had to make the situation known so the world could see.” Surprised that this happened the way it happened? You shouldn’t. This is why:
Our value system is never the same. Besides, we’re differently wired. That’s the factual fact! And that’s the strength of our consistent clamour for restructuring. We must stop living and wallowing in glaring deceit. And grand deception.
The emir was unrelenting but sad. He lamented on: “However, in the North, everyone saw the same abduction as a normal thing. The governor, emirs and the people never talked about it. The serenity was so much that it emboldened the terrorists to kill more northerners.”
This is where he was going: “Let me say, the northerners must learn from how the South West responded to perceived threat. You must see extremism as an abomination and not a political leverage. Human lives should be more valuable than political power in the North.” Huge kudos to the “people’s emir.”
His startling revelation: “Some certain powerful individuals (in the North) are using insecurity to build political power. Unfortunately, the poor that will be used as scapegoats are the ones defending the people that put them in shackles.” Great pity!
The way out. Tell them: “Northern leaders should prioritise the lives of the common northerners. Enough of the killings in the name of retaining power within a few oligarchies, build inclusivity. The North will grow again when the Fulani hegemony employs inclusivity, else the North is on the verge of collapsing.”
To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Sanusi’s post would set any rational mind thinking and excited. el-Rufai’s pompous vomit is the exact opposite. Disgusting and uncouth. Kindly oblige me this indulgence. Permit me to reproduce this. It’s what was written in this column two weeks today. A reminder extract:
“Nasir el-Rufai must not be missing on the radar of this notoriety and immense magnitude. He didn’t disappoint. Nor did he fail to occupy his space. And play his role. He told us to our face, point blank on July 2, 2021: ‘Federal Government is not against bandits because they are doing business not secession like Nnamdi Kanu.’
“He is not done yet. More on his sleeve: ‘Banditry is a business in the northern part of the country.’ See why we are in this deepest shit: ‘Bandits are just collections of independent criminals. It is a business for them. It is not a case of Nigeria must break up.’
“That’s the exact thought process in the North: ‘Government has not swiftly moved against bandits because they are not demanding secession like Nnamdi Kanu, detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is doing.’ El-Rufai spoke as governor of Kaduna State then. Figure out their collective mindset!”
Only an unrepentant ethnic bigot would reason like manner. And rave, rage the loathsome way he did. Though he poured out in July 2011. Long before Oriire happened to us. But we came out victorious. Against all odds. He, nevertheless, spoke into the future. As if he was expecting Oriire years before it came.
All the same. His narrative doesn’t alter the trajectory a bit. We don’t know what he may want to say now. But we do know what he said before. The circumstances in which he said it. And how he said it in utter disdain and carelessness. Caring only for his tiny Fulani tribe. That’s greed in its ugly, despicable, worst form. We hold him accountable for every word that proceeds from his mouth. Past, present and future.
Sheikh Ahmad Gumi is also rooted in Fulani ancestry. He is traceable to Gumi, Zamfara State. The ever-controversial Islamic cleric, rudely sauntered into our space. He seized the stage to cap it all. And for the wrong reason.
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His heart always goes out to the terrorists and their terror. His body soul and spirit align with them. He has dined and wined with them several times over. Deep inside their enclaves, covens and dens. In the innermost parts of our thickest forests and bushes.
He put up a failed fight. And raised “serious” objections. He abhors armed bandits being christened terrorists. He couldn’t restrain himself, nor control his pent-up anger. He exploded: “We don’t want to push them into terror beyond what they are doing now because it can get worse.”
His warped reason: “They have shown us their willingness to negotiate. People that are ready to negotiate, why are you rushing to declare them bandits so that you can use whatever weapons you bought?”
He obviously asked to the thin air. And we shut back at him: To negotiate what? How to share our inheritance and bastardise our heritage? Or how to divide or take over our ancestral lands? Which is what? And what is which?
Yet undaunted, Gumi surges on ranting: “Before they used to catch Boko Haram and present them to the authorities in Zamfara, but now they are all terrorists.
Now his eternal regrets: “The only door that is remaining is for us clergy to go in and negotiate with them, that is closed permanently.” What a loss! Who cares! Dis Gumi self!
His haughtiness is in leaps and bounds. It defiles all boundaries. He over sharpens himself to his own sole detriment. What joy does he actually drive in all these shenanigans? That the “luxury” door of “negotiations” with terrorists is shut against us? Simply because we tag them terrorists? To everlasting hell with that nauseating door.
Yoruba adage will ask pointedly: “Èwo ni èfà nínú èje?” Straight interpretation: “Which is the sixth among the seven?” It’s like saying: “What’s the difference?” or “Which one stands out?”
Bandits and terrorists flock together in their inherent wickedness. They’re birds of the same monstrous feathers. In this our peculiar and precarious case. Stop deodorising evil. Terrorists and bandits are intently evil. They all come, rape, maim, steal, kill and destroy.
Tell Gumi to tell them. We won’t stop labelling them terrorists. Terror and terrorism are what they choose to do for a living. El-Rufai confirmed it’s a lucrative career in the North. Let their door of “negotiation” be closed. Let it be shut permanently. May it never, ever be reopened. Forever!
Gumi and his ilk can go to blazes. It’s a choice. Oriire rescue means a lot to us. In fact, it is our everything, our life. We adore its exploit with glee. We love telling that same story. And singing the same singsong many times over. We can never be tired. We can never be bored.
It’s our unfeigned “Ori ire.” Our good luck, good fortune. We can only be energised the more. Oriire is on our mind. It sits comfortably inside of us. Dwelling in our hearts. Forever on our lips. We mouth it with uncanny pride. We feel it with great affection. Who would not? Not us!
Oriire is the path to genuine restructuring. Unique in all intents and purposes. We proudly hold it in great esteem. It’s beautiful to behold. It’s pleasing to the eye. And sweet to ears. It’s a legacy. A heritage to preserve and guide jealously.
We have crossed our own Red Sea. That’s major. And a spectacular one for that matter. Oriire rescue did the magic. We are indebted to its heroes and heroines. The abductees of rare combination: Toddlers, schoolchildren, teachers, principal, et al.
Forty of them all. For 56 harrowing days and nights. They were in strange forest environments. Changing locations at the becks and calls. The wimps and caprices of the deadly terrorists. Roving aimlessly in thick bushes of the old Oyo National Parks.
The children of Israel did theirs thousands of years ago. For more than 430 dark years. They toiled and laboured. In slavery and bondage. Under the iron-fisted rule of Pharaoh. The Egyptian king who did not know Joseph.
They cried, sobbed and lamented. Suddenly, one day, one night! The Lord turned for them, their mourning into dancing. He put off their sack clothes. And girded them with gladness. Their tormentors became their benefactors. Gifting them gifts cheerfully and generously.
Then, their chief slave master, Pharaoh, literally drove them out of his country. They soon met a brick wall in the Red Sea. But God showed up for them in a way they never expected. And they were made to walk on the dry ground of the great sea.
However, Pharaoh and his host of chariots did not make it. They did walk on the same dry ground. But not to the other side. The Israelites watched them perish in the same sea that saved them. The Israelites couldn’t believe their eyes. But it did happen.
After that incident, there was no stopping them. They continued to have breakthroughs. And making exploits in extraordinary magnitude. The rest is biblical history. So, it was with us on July 10, 2026. It was as if we were dreaming. To God be all the glory and honour.
We should be clear in our inner minds by now. And without an iota of doubt. Oriire has proved and confirmed one thing. It’s a very strong fact we’ve been running away from. The earlier it sinks deep to our skulls. The better for us.
Our current fight against terrorism can’t yield any meaningful or appreciable result. Never. That is what Oriire rescue demonstrates in clear terms. You don’t fight insurgence the manner we are doing it. It will fail woefully as times and seasons have proved it.
We need spirited passion. Regionalise and localise the fight against terrorism. We can’t wait to have a functional and functioning state police service. That is the bedrock of resetting and retooling. To remain efficient and effective. It has to be adequately funded. This is exigent and expedient.
Oriire is rare. This golden opportunity mustn’t be allowed to pass us by. Another one may not surface in a lifetime. We shouldn’t be that careless. And reckless this time around. Let’s seize the opportunity in the jugular. And make the best and maximum use of it.
Now is the ripest time for restructuring. And Oriire has dropped the template on our fragile laps generously. What else do we need? The necessary convincing political will, of course. To strengthen and drive Oriire deeper, further. It’s the compass we desire.
And let it be inscribed in our hearts. And entrenched in us. The struggle has barely started. The journey is equally long. We ought to grab Oriire with all the strength in us. And run with it with the speed of light. This type doesn’t come cheaply. And Oriire did not either. Some heroes paid the supreme price for it. They shed their blood for us to live.
In Oriire rescue, there’s life, aspiration, expectation and ambition. Out of Oriire comes our restructuring, the ultimate!
