Soyinka, Mad Cows

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Toyin Falola

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Feb 11, 2021, 6:33:18 PM2/11/21
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Mad cows and even madder narratives

By Wole Soyinka

The most distressful aspect of my recent interaction with cows and herders is that it has created a most unwanted distraction from the ongoing life and death Nigerian narrative. One has to take time off to deal with distortions and Fake versions, while students are being reportedly waylaid and killed and/or kidnapped in Ondo and farmers are being slaughtered in my own state. In short, the killings continue even as panels are being launched to enquire into immediate past human violations.

For those who truly seek details of the Ijegba incident, I hereby affirm that I was never physically attacked, neither did I attack any cows. The cows and herders did however attack my property – and not for the first time.

The police need to be very, very careful, learn to be straightforward with public information. Failure to adhere to that obvious, basic form of conduct means that the public will lose total confidence in security agencies and constantly bypass them in times of civic unrest, no matter how trivial or deadly. How on earth could the police claim that my property was not invaded by cattle? It was. My groundsmen knew the drill and commenced the process of expelling them. Fortunately, I was then driving out and was able to lend a hand by vehicle maneuvering. Both cattle and herdsmen were flushed out of my property.

Once they were outside the gates, I came down from the vehicle and beckoned the herdsmen to come over. At first, they pretended not to understand, then, as I approached, fled into the bush. We thereupon “arrested” the cows, confining them to the roadside, while I sent my groundsman, Taiye, to the police to come and take over. Since they took rather long in responding, I summoned a replacement and proceeded to the police station. On the way, we met a detachment, turned round, and together we returned to the scene of crime. The police wanted to commence combing the bush for the fugitives but I stopped them – what was the point? Keep the cows, I advised, and the owner will show up. Of course, that owner eventually did.

I thoroughly resent the police version which suggests that the cows never invaded my home: home is not just a building; it includes its grounds. And it was not a stray cow, or two or three. It was a herd – we have photos, so why the lie? It is so unnecessary, unprofessional and suspiciously compromised. The police suggest that I have nothing better to do than to go accosting cows on the public road – to what end? If the police demand proof, the next time such an invasion takes place, I warn that there will be no lack for cadaver affirmation and the police will be officially invited to join in the ensuing suya feast. So please, let us get serious!

Getting serious means seeking with a sense of urgency, ways of terminating mayhem, impunity, and the homicidal culture being imposed on us through some near cultic business minority who just happen to trade in cattle. It means not giving up on peaceful solutions, but also being prepared for the worst. Those of my line of thought have been working on various ways of sensitizing the nation to the very real and imminent danger issuing from this cattle aberration. The menace, I repeat, challenges us as a cohesive entity and as communities of free individuals, committed to the dignity of existence. Cattle imperialism under any guise is an obscenity to humanity. So let me serve notice that we are about to commence a process of public sensitization; we hope even the police will join hands with the agenda as it progresses.

A special practical plea: now that the railways are being resurrected, let us make cattle wagons a priority. I grew up with the regular sight of those practical conveyances. It is time to bring them back.

Prof SOYINKA writes from Kemta Housing Estate, Abeokuta, Ogun State


Sent from my iPhone

Salimonu Kadiri

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Feb 12, 2021, 3:38:17 PM2/12/21
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​It is not the cows that are mad but the narratives about them. News first broke out on Tuesday, 9 February 2021, that Wole Soyinka fled to Lagos after attack on his residence at Abeokuta by Fulani herdsmen with their cows. ​https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2021/02/10/breaking-fulani-herdsmen-attack-soyinkas-home-in-abeokuta/  The same day, the first son of Wole Soyinka, Dr Olaokun Soyinka, debunked the news of the attack on Soyinka's residence, according to many Nigerian online media, including PM News Nigeria.  https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2021/02/10/herdsmen-did-not-attack-soyinka-they-only-violated-his-compound/ 


The account given by Soyinka below indicates that the herdsmen fled into the bush, leaving their cows behind, when Soyinka wanted to accost them. Thereafter, he called the Police. "On arrival," Soyinka said, "the police wanted to comb the bush in search of the fugitives (herders) but I stopped them - what was the point? Keep the cows, I advised, and the owner will show up. OF COURSE, THAT OWNER EVENTUALLY DID (SHOWED UP)." Who was the owner of the cows that Soyinka claimed eventually showed up? Soyinka would appear to have deliberately omitted the ethnic identity of the actual owner of the cows that showed up in order to keep alive the myth of Fulani people as the owner of all the cows ravaging bushes and farms in Nigeria. Luckily the huge balloon of myth was deflated by Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, who revealed the following, "The cows are owned by a gentleman by the name KAZEEM SORINOLA who is a Yoruba chap, and that is the joy of everything. He, KAZEEM SORIOLA, PLACED THE COWS IN CHARGE OF A FULANI CHAP. SO, THE COWS ARE NOT OWNED BY ANY FULANI, BUT THE PERSON IN CHARGE OF THE COWS IS A YOUNG FULANI MAN." ​https://punchng.com/cows-at-soyinkas-compound-owned-by-yoruba-man-not-fulani-say-police/  ​There are many Kazeem Sorinola in Southern Nigeria owning cows who only employ Fulani people to herd them. It is time to expose all the Igbo, Yoruba, Ijaw and Ibibio in Southern Nigeria who are the real Miyetti Allah cattle breeders who employ Fulani to help them herd their cattle in Southern Nigeria through nomadic pastoralism.
S. Kadiri 

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Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Soyinka, Mad Cows
 
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segun ogungbemi

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Feb 13, 2021, 7:02:51 AM2/13/21
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Kadiri,
Do you believe the story of the police? Wole Soyinka said that the police had lied and you have refused to acknowledge that fact. 
You may not judge someone to be a Yoruba by name. We have many people in Nigeria who bear Yoruba names and they are not Yoruba. 
The truth of the matter, as l understand it, is that the cattle trespassed into Wole Soyinka property. 
Given, the nature of insecurity in Nigeria and what the Fulani herdsmen are capable of doing in terms of wrecking havoc in any community, what happened to Wole Soyinka should not be taking lightly. 
Segun Ogungbemi. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/HE1P193MB0076E7C4A75E0AEB82FA9331AE8B9%40HE1P193MB0076.EURP193.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM.

Ololade Bamidele

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Feb 13, 2021, 7:03:19 AM2/13/21
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I can't see anywhere in the Soyinka article in which he played the ethnic game of accusing any nationality for the violation he suffered! He simply spoke about "cattle imperialism", "cows" and "herders", and that his property was actually breached unlike the narrative of the Police that his property was not touched.

Why drag the old man into a 'Fulani' narrative he was apparently being very careful about or avoiding, as obvious from the very careful way in which the article was written?



Femi Segun

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Feb 13, 2021, 7:03:59 AM2/13/21
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Alagba Salimonu Kadiri,
So because Yoruba or Igbo own cows, that gives a license to the Fulani herders to terrorise and kill people?  Abi? At least in this instance, the identity of the herders was not in question. You have forever stridently argued that the allegation against the Fulani herders who kill and maim are speculative. Now when they are caught red-handed, the argument has shifted. No one is surprised at the cold feet and muted tongues of our political leaders and traditional rulers. who on account of their stakes in this business and the elusive dream of presidency in 2023 have remained indifferent to the plight of the people they claim to be representing. It is so shameful. The point remains that Bororo people have been carrying out their grazing in the Southwest for as long as I  have known. related with them on friendly terms when I was growing up. They rarely eat up crops, and when they did, they apologised. What we are against at this point is the brazen arrogance, callousness and savagery, which is manifested in killing, wanton  destruction of lives,  crops and livelihood, the worst being the claim that all lands in Africa belong to the Fulanis. What insolence! I even read today that a sitting Governor in Bauchi state made such nonsensical claims. This help to validate the argument that there is a Fulanisation agenda that people like you simply refuse to accept. I mean, if a Governor can make such claim, what do you expect people who dont have any education to say. Is that not a tacit political support for rte. carnage that is currently going on in the Southern part of the country?  Did you read that they the herders opened fire on Amotekun yesterday and not a word from Shehu Garba or his Principal? Did you read that the same people burnt up an Amotekun vehicle today and yet you are justifying such aggression? Please let's think about the implications of these in the long run. We may be safe where we are but not many people have that privilege. 

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Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Feb 13, 2021, 7:04:28 AM2/13/21
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I see the claim that Southerners own those cows as unlikely to be true.

It looks more like another whitewashing narrative.

A story being told by the police, part of the security agencies that either hardly ever apprehend the Fulani Herdsmen terrorists and their Miyetti Allah patrons, being allies of the Buhari govt or work actively with the terrorists.

How come Miyetti Allah and their allies in the Presidency don't ever call upon these Southern co-travellers in cattle nomadism as compatriots in the nation wide bloodletting by Fulani herdsmen and the desperation to empower them using the nation's resources?

It would make a powerful argument for the pan-Nigerian Fulani cattle routes and Fulani Herdsmen Ressetlement Initiative, the true identity of the RUGA and Cattle Colonies plans and the nation wide campaign of terror, to argue that Fulani herdsmen represent a pan-Nigerian labour force in working for cattle owners from various Nigerian ethnicities, and even publish the names of these cattle owners.

Instead, what we read are unsubstantiated whispers and the name of this shadowy Yoruba man claimed as cattle owner and employer of Fulani Herdsmen.

Please, we are tired.

We don't want your beef, since it comes with slaughter, rape and extortion.

Please keep your cows in your Northern homes and those who want will come and buy from you.

Please.

Thanks

Toyin


Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Feb 13, 2021, 7:05:29 PM2/13/21
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On Soyinka's Political Correctness


May Soyinka, bcs of the incendiary potential of his prominence,  be forgiven for being politically correct in not naming the ethnicity that is the only one that has cattle nomadism as a culture in Nigeria, and which, openly supported by an ethnic association led by the most elite members of that ethnicity, protected and sustained by the policies and pronouncements of a govt run by a member of that ethnicity, is terrorising the entire nation?

Who are these cattle herdsmen and their militia?

Are they Igbo, Yoruba or Tiv herrdsmen and militia?

Is their ethnic identity insignificant?

On whose behalf does Miyetti Allah speak in justifying massacres by herrdsmen?

Are they protecting a  pan-Nigerian alliance of Herdsmen?

How many non-Fulani, if any, are in Miyetti Allah, talk less it's membership?

Being intellectual does not mean refusal to analyze the scope of a subject, an approach with is actually anti-intellectual.

So, all the reports of Fulani Herdsmen and Fulani militia atrocities across the years, all the declarations from Fulani Herdsmen justifying the massacres they have committed are all a game, as a respondent is suggesting.

Lord, have mercy.

Toyin 


OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Feb 13, 2021, 7:05:36 PM2/13/21
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Its preposterous to suggest the identity of the owner of the cow is not Yoruba.

Yoruba people have been hiring Fulani maigadi since time immemorial.  Whats to stop them from hiring Fulani livestock herdsmen?

Yes, the herd trespassed on Soyinka's property.  Thats a different issue from saying the cattle owner bearing Yoruba name is Fulani.

Its similar to a claim by the Miyetti Allah leader in the run up to the 2019 elections, published by the Punch, claiming that Atiku Abubakar is not a  Fulani and that he looks more Bantu than Sudanese unlike Buhari.  He added that the fact Atiku speaks Fulfulde does not make him Fulani.  This claim about the ownership of the trespassing herd not being Yoruba is equally preposterous, all in the attempt to make Fulani the only owners of herds in Nigeria!

In fact its the trespass laws that need to be strictly enforced against owners of nomadic cattle herds to accelerate movement towards ranching.

This is a golden opportunity  for Prof. Soyinka to  go to court to set a precedent in this particular case against owners of cattle herds across the country.

Please, Prof Soyinka, head for the courts!


OAA



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



-------- Original message --------
From: segun ogungbemi <segun...@gmail.com>
Date: 13/02/2021 12:09 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Soyinka, Mad Cows

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Kadiri,
Do you believe the story of the police? Wole Soyinka said that the police had lied and you have refused to acknowledge that fact. 
You may not judge someone to be a Yoruba by name. We have many people in Nigeria who bear Yoruba names and they are not Yoruba. 
The truth of the matter, as l understand it, is that the cattle trespassed into Wole Soyinka property. 
Given, the nature of insecurity in Nigeria and what the Fulani herdsmen are capable of doing in terms of wrecking havoc in any community, what happened to Wole Soyinka should not be taking lightly. 
Segun Ogungbemi. 

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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Feb 13, 2021, 7:05:46 PM2/13/21
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If the Yoruba say the WHOLE WORLD was created in Ile- Ife or the Rabbi wrote that the WHOLE WORLD started from the Garden of Eden or some Igbo says its the destiny of the Igbo to rule the whole of Africa, are such claims the basis for which you hate either the Jews or the Yoruba or the Igbo?



It is known that the  population of Fulani in the WHOLE WORLD is not more than FIFTEEN MILLION. More than 90% of this is in West Africa.  How can any knowledgeable person take seriously the claim that the Fulani own the whole of Africa?

Most people have myths of origin.  They are written in aporetic codes to galvanise them to limitless achievements.  They cannot be scientifically proven.  The Fulani are no different.  No learned person takes them too seriously.


OAA



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



-------- Original message --------
From: Femi Segun <solor...@gmail.com>
Date: 13/02/2021 12:09 (GMT+00:00)
To: 'Chika Onyeani' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Soyinka, Mad Cows

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Alagba Salimonu Kadiri,
So because Yoruba or Igbo own cows, that gives a license to the Fulani herders to terrorise and kill people?  Abi? At least in this instance, the identity of the herders was not in question. You have forever stridently argued that the allegation against the Fulani herders who kill and maim are speculative. Now when they are caught red-handed, the argument has shifted. No one is surprised at the cold feet and muted tongues of our political leaders and traditional rulers. who on account of their stakes in this business and the elusive dream of presidency in 2023 have remained indifferent to the plight of the people they claim to be representing. It is so shameful. The point remains that Bororo people have been carrying out their grazing in the Southwest for as long as I  have known. related with them on friendly terms when I was growing up. They rarely eat up crops, and when they did, they apologised. What we are against at this point is the brazen arrogance, callousness and savagery, which is manifested in killing, wanton  destruction of lives,  crops and livelihood, the worst being the claim that all lands in Africa belong to the Fulanis. What insolence! I even read today that a sitting Governor in Bauchi state made such nonsensical claims. This help to validate the argument that there is a Fulanisation agenda that people like you simply refuse to accept. I mean, if a Governor can make such claim, what do you expect people who dont have any education to say. Is that not a tacit political support for rte. carnage that is currently going on in the Southern part of the country?  Did you read that they the herders opened fire on Amotekun yesterday and not a word from Shehu Garba or his Principal? Did you read that the same people burnt up an Amotekun vehicle today and yet you are justifying such aggression? Please let's think about the implications of these in the long run. We may be safe where we are but not many people have that privilege. 

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Salimonu Kadiri

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Feb 13, 2021, 7:05:56 PM2/13/21
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​Femi Segun,
The original story was that the home of Soyinka was invaded by Fulani herdsmen just some few days after the respected Nobel Laurate had warned that the activities of Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria might lead to civil war. We were told he was chased out of his home and he fled to Lagos. Now according to Soyinka's account and that of his son, the herders that trespassed into his compound with cows never attacked him but escaped into the bush when he tried to accost them. The Fulani herders who trespassed on the compound of Wole Soyinka (caught red-handed as you observed) were unarmed and nonviolent. The sense of remorse in the Fulani herders for trespassing on the property of Soyinka made them to abandon the cows they were herding to flee into the forest. I am inclined to believe that most Fulani herders, especially in Southern Nigeria, are like the Fulani herders that Soyinka encountered. In 99% of cases of murders, armed robberies, kidnap for ransom and rapes in Nigeria, we have been told that suspected Fulani herdsmen committed the crimes but the expression, suspected in law represents speculation or unverified rumour. We are lucky now to know that the real MIYETTI ALLAH that owned the cows that trespassed into Soyinka's compound, is a YORUBA man named KAZEEM SORINOLA. As Olayinka Aigbetuyi beautifully expressed it, "Pastoral nomadism is the cause of the problem irrespective of who practises it. Remove the cause and you remove the problem." By the way, are you aware of the fact that all private security guards in Southern Nigeria employed by the wealthy class are Hausa/Fulani popularly referred to as MAI-GARDI? The southern wealthy class say that from their experience, when fellow southerners are employed as gatemen (security guards) they usually collide with robbers to come and rob them, whereas the Hausa/Fulani gatekeepers would honestly guard the property of his employer against any intruder.
 S. Kadiri

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Femi Segun <solor...@gmail.com>
Sent: 12 February 2021 23:13

To: 'Chika Onyeani' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Soyinka, Mad Cows
 

Femi Segun

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Feb 13, 2021, 7:06:10 PM2/13/21
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Alagba Salimonu Kadiri,
Please read below. If this is not internal colonization or even slavery, I don;t know what it is. I am waiting to read your response in defense of this barbarism. And I also waiting to read from your when an Igbo or Yoruba person living in the Northern part of the country had the effrontery to destroy people's livelihood, and when they complain, they get hacked to dead. I am waiting to read from people who are asking the forests to be opened up for grazing to explain to us why this series of killing wont lead to unintended consequences. 




On Fri, Feb 12, 2021 at 3:38 PM Salimonu Kadiri <ogunl...@hotmail.com> wrote:
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Salimonu Kadiri

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Feb 13, 2021, 7:06:22 PM2/13/21
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​Ogungbemi, 

Yes, I believe the story of the police because it is corroborated by Wole Soyinka himself. Soyinka claimed, "Both cattle and herdsmen were flushed out of my property. Once they were outside the gates, I came down from the vehicle and beckoned to the herdsmen to come over."  The herdsmen absconded into the forest, whereby Soyinka arrested the cows pending the arrival of the police. When the police arrived, they wanted to comb the forest for the herds' deserters to which Soyinka counselled against since the capture of the cows by the police would eventually force the real owner of the cows to surface. By Soyinka's admission the owner of the cows showed up but he, Soyinka,  for reasons best known to him, did not disclose the name of the owner of the cows that he met personally.
Take note that when the police arrived at the home of Soyinka, the cows were not in the compound of his home where fleeing herdsmen had deserted them. Contrary to the media reports that Soyinka's home had been broken into by marauding Fulani herdsmen with their cows, the police found his home intact. Consequently, the Police issued a rebuttal that Soyinka's home was never invaded by herdsmen and cows. In law, the police statement was correct but Soyinka would appear to be very sentimental whereby he stated, "I thoroughly resent the police version which suggests that the cows never invaded my home : home is not just a building, it includes its grounds."  Since the Police never met the cows inside the building grounds (compounds) it should be correct to say that Soyinka's home was not invaded as witnessed by the Police who met the cows outside the gates where they had been flushed by Soyinka.

About some people bearing Yoruba name without being a Yoruba in respect of the owner of the cows that allegedly trespassed into the compound of Soyinka's residence, I think the benefit of doubt is in favour of the Police that identified the man, Kazeem Soriola, as the owner of the cows. As long as Soyinka himself is silent over this important evidence of which he was a direct witness, I believe the identity of the cows' owner as presented by the Police is true.
S. Kadiri 
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of segun ogungbemi <segun...@gmail.com>
Sent: 13 February 2021 01:46
To: dialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Soyinka, Mad Cows
 

Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Feb 14, 2021, 10:38:07 AM2/14/21
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OAA,

Why do you like to argue as if there is no historical or political context to the issues you are addressing, as if they are asocial, purely intellectual abstractions?

Dis your kind of intellectualism is deeply disturbing.

Ife is the spiritual centre of the world, where the world began and through which all souls pass in their journey to the beyond, as is claimed in Yoruba mythology.

Yet, has any group of Yoruba people used this ethnic supremacist myth as an ideology of imperial conquest, or terrorism, as is being done by Miyetti Allah in pursuing an internal colonisation strategy in Nigeria as they consistently articulate a Fulani supremacist ideology dramatised in recurrent justification of massacres of peaceful Nigerians?

If OPC were to try that impossibility, impossible beceause it is unthinkabke in the Yoruba ethos, as refflected in the supremely accommodationist culture of Yorubaland in the peaceful co-existence of Islam, ATR, Christianity and other religions, do you expect support for such an abomination from Afenifere or any Yoruba correlate of Miyetti Allah headed by Nigeria's most elite Fulani such as the Sultan of Sokoto and the former Emir of Kano and former CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi?

Would the chorus of condemnation s from Yoruba intelligentsia not be deafening?

What is the level of response of Muslim Northerners and Fulani, your fellow scholars and academics, on this group, for example, to this crisis?

What is the general scope of response of this demographic, such as the urbane Sanusi, to this crisis?

We all know the answer.

What are the implications of the answer?

Germany was taken into war by the racial supremacist theories of Adolf Hitler at the heart of the Nazi party.

As Nazism evolved, some Germans spoke up and were vilified.

Some died in the process.

Most were silent, even as the massacre of 6 million Jews was in process.

The eventual war is known as instigated by Germany and it's allies against the world, a responsibility not localised to the Nazi party.

We have a Fulani leadership, composed of a civil society pressure group led by Nigeria's most elite Fulani, backed by such prominent Fulani as Professor Lambdo who claims Benue belongs to the Fulani by right of conquest and the Fulani President of Nigeria employing Fulani herdsmen and militia in a terrorist internal colonisation scheme and most Fulani and their  Northern Muslim  brethren are pretending not to notice, are claiming there is no ethically orchestrated military initiative to this brigandage, or are openly siding the killers.

We can't ignore this reality even if we differ on the scope of terrorist intentionality.

The Fulani leadership need to move from Usman Dan Fodio fantasies and move from a jihad mentality to the equitable existence represented by healthy human civilisation.

The Fulani majority need to cry out against those making the Fulani name anathema across Nigeria.

Those who claim to represent you can't be ravaging what is mine while you pretend it's not happening.

Thanks

Toyin 


Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Feb 14, 2021, 10:38:15 AM2/14/21
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Edited

OAA,

Why do you like to argue at times as if there is no historical or political context to the issues you are addressing, as if they are asocial, purely intellectual abstractions?

That kind of intellectualism is deeply disturbing.

Ife is the spiritual centre of the world, where the world began and through which all souls pass in their journey to the beyond, as is claimed in Yoruba mythology.

Yet, has any group of Yoruba people used this ethnic supremacist myth as an ideology of imperial conquest, or terrorism, as is being done by Miyetti Allah in pursuing an internal colonisation strategy in Nigeria as they consistently articulate a Fulani supremacist ideology dramatised in recurrent justification of massacres of peaceful Nigerians?

If the formerly militant, OPC, Odua Peoples Congress, were to try that impossibility, impossible beceause it is unthinkabke in the Yoruba ethos, as reflected in the  accommodationist culture of Yorubaland in the peaceful co-existence of Islam, ATR, Christianity and other religions, do you expect support for such an abomination from Afenifere or any Yoruba correlate of Miyetti Allah headed by Nigeria's most elite Fulani such as the Sultan of Sokoto and the former Emir of Kano and former CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi?

Would the chorus of condemnation  from Yoruba intelligentsia not be deafening?

What is the level of response of Muslim Northerners and Fulani, on this group, for example, your fellow scholars and academics, to this crisis?

What is the general scope of response of this demographic, such as the urbane Sanusi, to this crisis?

We all know the answer.

What are the implications of the answer?

Germany was taken into war by the racial supremacist theories of Adolf Hitler at the heart of the Nazi party.

As Nazism evolved, some Germans spoke up and were vilified, such as the priest Martin Niemuller.

Some died in the process, such as the priest Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Most were silent, even as the Nazi massacre of 6 million Jews was in process.

Some supported the Nazis, such as the famous philosopher Martin Heidegger.

The eventual war is known as instigated by Germany and it's allies against the world, a responsibility not localised to the Nazi party.

We have a Fulani leadership, composed of a civil society pressure group led by Nigeria's most elite Fulani, backed by such prominent Fulani as Professor Lambdo who claims Benue belongs to the Fulani by right of conquest and the Fulani President of Nigeria and his cabinet, most from his ethno-religious demographic ,  the latter operating through public pronouncements, policy intiatives and the use of the Nigerian armed forces, led by this same demographic,  as instruments of protection and assistance to the terrorists,  employing Fulani herdsmen and militia in a terrorist internal colonisation scheme and most Fulani and their  Northern Muslim  brethren are pretending not to notice, are claiming there is no ethically orchestrated military initiative to this brigandage, or are openly siding the killers.

We can't ignore this reality even if we differ on the scope of terrorist intentionality.

The Fulani leadership need to move from Usman Dan Fodio fantasies,  move from a jihad mentality to the equitable existence represented by healthy human civilization.

The Fulani majority need to cry out against those making the Fulani name anathema across Nigeria.

Those who claim to represent you can't be ravaging me and  mine while you pretend it's not happening or are tacitly or openly support the predators or falsely claiming this terrorist horror is a clash between my unarmed self and unarmed people and those who claim to represent you as they employ sophisticated weapons clearly bought by their ethnic supremacist Fulani backers running a private army, the Fulani militia.

We need to entre the 21st century of information technology, electric cars and space travel, not regress to this atavism.

We, Southern Kaduna, the Middle Belt and the South,  shall not accept Fulani supremacism in any form and will not be ceding  our land and freedom for any reason.

Build ranches in the Northern Muslim centres of your demographic and we shall come there to buy from you.

Fertilize those places as Israel and those in the Middle East do with their land.

Invest in technology and education rather than in the current focus on  AK47s and military training. 

Educate Fulani herdsmen on the need to modify the centuries old culture of cattle nomadism.

It has little or no place in the 21st century.

A painful truth, given the cultural wealth of this lifestyle but the stubborn insistence on nomadism or on having the lands of others for Fulani settlements in exchange for leaving nomadism  is looking increasingly bad for the Fulani.


thanks

toyin









Thanks

Toyin 

OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Feb 15, 2021, 6:31:31 AM2/15/21
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Toyin Adepoju


Your comparisons as usual are inadequate and as usual you lump too many issues together in your normal tirade.

The Nazis came from the German majority group ( this is my own graduate specialisation with adequate research work completed) and that was why they could oppress the minority Jewish victim group;  the Fulani constitute a minority group in Nigeria spread thinly across the country who are now in danger of being a victim of genocide orchestrated by both the Christian minority in the North and the Christian majorities in the South.

Only the Fulani sharing of the same faith, Islam with the majority in the North has prevented this genocide.  So the situation in Nigeria is more complicated than the German situation which you cite.

If Nigeria were made up of only the former southern protectorate, I have no doubt that a genocide against the Fulani would have occurred.

  In the event, the complexity of the Nigerian society is our collective armour.  It is in that, that our collective resolution lie against the criminals in our midst who will in the long run be brought to justice.

The Muslims on this listserv could not jump to the conclusions you jump to because there is inadequate evidence just as yours truly cannot?  Not all Fulani are equally intelligent as not all Edo or Yoruba are.  That some Fulani in position of influence make costly gaffes does not mean retribution should follow towards millions of innocent Fulani.  You cant force people to engage you if they feel your terms are heavily prejudiced.  

If evidence that there are Yoruba ( and other ethnicity 'Miyetti Allah') cattle owners is presented, your prejudice makes you ignore or reject the evidence


OAA



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



-------- Original message --------
From: Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com>
Date: 14/02/2021 15:42 (GMT+00:00)
To: usaafricadialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Soyinka, Mad Cows

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Edited

OAA,

Why do you like to argue at times as if there is no historical or political context to the issues you are addressing, as if they are asocial, purely intellectual abstractions?

That kind of intellectualism is deeply disturbing.

Ife is the spiritual centre of the world, where the world began and through which all souls pass in their journey to the beyond, as is claimed in Yoruba mythology.

Yet, has any group of Yoruba people used this ethnic supremacist myth as an ideology of imperial conquest, or terrorism, as is being done by Miyetti Allah in pursuing an internal colonisation strategy in Nigeria as they consistently articulate a Fulani supremacist ideology dramatised in recurrent justification of massacres of peaceful Nigerians?

If the formerly militant, OPC, Odua Peoples Congress, were to try that impossibility, impossible beceause it is unthinkabke in the Yoruba ethos, as reflected in the  accommodationist culture of Yorubaland in the peaceful co-existence of Islam, ATR, Christianity and other religions, do you expect support for such an abomination from Afenifere or any Yoruba correlate of Miyetti Allah headed by Nigeria's most elite Fulani such as the Sultan of Sokoto and the former Emir of Kano and former CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi?

Would the chorus of condemnation  from Yoruba intelligentsia not be deafening?

What is the level of response of Muslim Northerners and Fulani, on this group, for example, your fellow scholars and academics, to this crisis?

What is the general scope of response of this demographic, such as the urbane Sanusi, to this crisis?

We all know the answer.

What are the implications of the answer?

Germany was taken into war by the racial supremacist theories of Adolf Hitler at the heart of the Nazi party.

As Nazism evolved, some Germans spoke up and were vilified, such as the priest Martin Niemuller.

Some died in the process, such as the priest Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Most were silent, even as the Nazi massacre of 6 million Jews was in process.

Some supported the Nazis, such as the famous philosopher Martin Heidegger.

The eventual war is known as instigated by Germany and it's allies against the world, a responsibility not localised to the Nazi party.

We have a Fulani leadership, composed of a civil society pressure group led by Nigeria's most elite Fulani, backed by such prominent Fulani as Professor Lambdo who claims Benue belongs to the Fulani by right of conquest and the Fulani President of Nigeria and his cabinet, most from his ethno-religious demographic ,  the latter operating through public pronouncements, policy intiatives and the use of the Nigerian armed forces, led by this same demographic,  as instruments of protection and assistance to the terrorists,  employing Fulani herdsmen and militia in a terrorist internal colonisation scheme and most Fulani and their  Northern Muslim  brethren are pretending not to notice, are claiming there is no ethically orchestrated military initiative to this brigandage, or are openly siding the killers.

We can't ignore this reality even if we differ on the scope of terrorist intentionality.

The Fulani leadership need to move from Usman Dan Fodio fantasies,  move from a jihad mentality to the equitable existence represented by healthy human civilization.

The Fulani majority need to cry out against those making the Fulani name anathema across Nigeria.

Those who claim to represent you can't be ravaging me and  mine while you pretend it's not happening or are tacitly or openly support the predators or falsely claiming this terrorist horror is a clash between my unarmed self and unarmed people and those who claim to represent you as they employ sophisticated weapons clearly bought by their ethnic supremacist Fulani backers running a private army, the Fulani militia.

We need to entre the 21st century of information technology, electric cars and space travel, not regress to this atavism.

We, Southern Kaduna, the Middle Belt and the South,  shall not accept Fulani supremacism in any form and will not be ceding  our land and freedom for any reason.

Build ranches in the Northern Muslim centres of your demographic and we shall come there to buy from you.

Fertilize those places as Israel and those in the Middle East do with their land.

Invest in technology and education rather than in the current focus on  AK47s and military training. 

Educate Fulani herdsmen on the need to modify the centuries old culture of cattle nomadism.

It has little or no place in the 21st century.

A painful truth, given the cultural wealth of this lifestyle but the stubborn insistence on nomadism or on having the lands of others for Fulani settlements in exchange for leaving nomadism  is looking increasingly bad for the Fulani.


thanks

toyin









Thanks

Toyin 

On Sun, 14 Feb 2021 at 10:14, Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com> wrote:

tunde jaiyeoba

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Feb 15, 2021, 9:27:40 AM2/15/21
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Dear OAA Sir,

Your first statement here is not entirely true 

"The Nazis came from the German majority group ( this is my own graduate specialisation with adequate research work completed) and that was why they could oppress the minority Jewish victim group;  the Fulani constitute a minority group in Nigeria spread thinly across the country who are now in danger of being a victim of genocide orchestrated by both the Christian minority in the North and the Christian majorities in the South".

It is not true that it is the Christian minority and the Christian majorities in the South that is against land grabbing, destruction of farmland, kidnapping amongst other evils being perpetrated by i must say Fulani herdsmen so i am not pretending because we know!!! The Oke Ogun area of Oyo State where the evil is most prominent in Oyo State is populated by mostly moslems. Please let's stop giving religious colourations to this analysis. Other Nigerians are against the devilish tendencies of theses 'herders' who are no longer herdsmen but criminals that are seemingly above the law since even if they are arrested they get freed by unknown powerful and connected people. Yes, how many of them have been arrested and convicted?? Then the Federal Government is implicated by not deploying the full force of the armed forces to confront them and many State Governments being aware that our Federalism is the type with all resources aggregated at the centre also refuse to act appropriately to defend their people.

In Yorubaland where there is a balance of both Christians and Moslems nobody wants to get killed by people claiming to own your land for historical and ethnic superiority reasons. An elected governor- the governor of Bauchi State- who i imagine everyone will want to take seriously said that much. So why do we want to keep pretending??? This government had better wake up and start performing up to expectations !!! Honestly, they have lost ground even with ardent supporters whether Christian or otherwise !!!

Also, the Nigerian context is peculiar. You kept emphasising "Minority Fulani" yet they have dominated and continue to dominate wherever they have inhabited and continue to inhabit and continues to threaten about future domination by fire and by force. How do you think other Nigerians will feel irrespective of religious affiliation?

I think that this is actually the time for restructuring to take place if the Senators and the Representatives can be forced to present the wishes of the people they represent. The Executive Arm of government says the ball is now in the courts of the Legislature to restructure Nigerian. If the Representatives of the people in the South West, South East, South South, North East and the Middle belt actually represent their people, it will have been an open and close case. However, we know they only represent themselves !!! Among the political class there is no religion or ethnicity, they are united in enriching themselves and protecting personal and family interests. 

Please let us analyse the problems as Nigerians and proffer solutions with little or no bias.




Babatunde JAIYEOBA


















Prof. E. Babatunde JAIYEOBA PhD
Head, department of Architecture
Faculty of Environmental design and Management
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Feb 15, 2021, 12:47:38 PM2/15/21
to usaafricadialogue
We thank God for those who say it as it is.

In the name of being detribalised and intellectually refined, some people struggle to deny reality in the name of protecting ethnocentrists who simply keep on doing their thing.

I'm puzzled by this strange kind of reality denying politics, which is possible only among Southern Nigerian intelligentsia, proud of their education, yet using it against not only their own interests, but also contorting reality in the name of a mirage of multi-ethnic humanity while the perpetrators  on the other end have no regard for such fantasies.

God have mercy.

Toyin

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/227816343.742427.1613399113077%40mail.yahoo.com.

Salimonu Kadiri

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Feb 16, 2021, 10:32:16 AM2/16/21
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Femi Segun,

It is erroneous to insinuate that I am a defender of *barbarism* simply because I dissociate myself from the poisonous campaign of calumny against the entire Fulani people that risks corroding the basic foundation of Nigeria. I have read the link forwarded by you and I am going to cull some paragraphs from the article so that you and other members in the list serve, especially our respected criminologists, to evaluate the evidence placed before us to prove that Fulani herdsman are guilty of the murder of Dele Olowoniyi on February 8, 2021.

§1. Peeping through the curtains inside a small hut at a farm settlement located at Oha village in the Imeko-Afon Local Government area of Ogun State, 30-year-old Rashidat Olowoniyi watched in disbelief as herdsmen attacked and macheted her husband to death over a disagreement two months (ago, December 2020). My emphasis is in brackets.

§3. On February 8, 2021, Dele Olowoniyi, was reportedly murdered in his sleep. Olowoniyi's wife was said to have found him dead with machete cuts in his neck and other parts of his body. The underlined in the 3§ which is in contrast to §1, indicates that Rashidat did not know when her husband was attacked and murdered. She did not watch his mother, she found it.

§4. The PUNCH reported that the suspected Fulani herdsmen stormed the village in the night with guns and cutlass and killed Olowoniyi on the farm. Again, Fulani herdsmen were suspected of murdering Olwowoniyi because he had in December 2020 drawn the attention of herdsmen to the grazing of their cattle on his cassava farm to which the herders apologised and which Olowoniyi accepted. Thereafter, there was no reported acrimony between the herdsmen and Olowoniyi. 

§5. ....//.... Rashidat claimed that the suspected herdsmen were 18 and stormed the farm at 12am (midnight) on six motorcycles and started shooting indiscriminately. She added that some of the killer herdsmen REPORTEDLY attacked her husband in his sleep and macheted him to death. Who reported the herdsmen attack on Dele to the wife who, when she woke up to the sound of guns in the middle of the night, should, under normal reaction, have gone into hiding?

§6. We had slept that day, but my husband decided to sleep outside. If Dele Olowoniyi slept outside on the fateful night as claimed by the wife, the 18 motorcyclists were not aware of it and their indiscriminate shootings must have been intended to force him out to surrender. The sound of gun shots should have woken up Dele where he was sleeping and instinctively have tried to run into safety. In that process, he would practically have been shot dead while running to save his life instead of being macheted to death. 

§7. He was dragged on the floor. ....//... I watched as they took his phone, wallet tied to his waist and ransacked his pocket for money. They spoke Fulfulde. That is what made me know that they are Fulani.
The relationship between Dele and his wife, Rashidat ought to be investigated. Why would Dele take his telephone and tie his wallet to his waist while going to sleep outside the house in the night of his murder? Does Rashidat speak or understand Fulfulde? How near was he to the killers of Dele to hear the language of communication between the assailants?

§14. The father of Dele Olowoniyi is the 57-year-old Reverend Raphael Olowoniyi from Ekiti. He asserted that an autopsy was carried out to ascertain the cause of his son's death which revealed that the killers of Dele Olowoniyi removed his Adams's Apple (inside the neck) and took it away. Part of Ogun State where Dele Olowoniyi was murdered is indigenously inhabited by people of Yewa/Awori speaking kind of Yoruba dialect. Reverend Raphael Olowoniyi is from Ekiti State and even if his son, Dele was born in Yewa/Awori area of Ogun State, he is automatically in accordance with the Nigerian tradition and paternal origin, an Ekiti indigene. Dele, as it seemed was a successful hard-working farmer from Ekiti in Yewa/Awori land and that might have attracted some jealousy from the aborigines. In addition to that, Rashidat being a Yewa/Awori aborigine might even be complicit in the ritual murder of Dele Olowoniyi (ritual because his Adam's Apple was severed and taken away). All known ritual murders in Nigeria have been committed in the Middle Belt and Southern Nigeria.​ Some links to examples follow.
Eighteen-year old Akpobome Samuel, has confessed to killing his mother, Mrs. Gift Samuel, by strangulating her and also slept with her corpse for money making rituals, at Ologbo, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, South-South Nigeria.


Nomadic pastoralism in Nigeria is a national problem just as generating and distributing electricity or refining crude oil, etc. But whenever Nigeria's educated public officials fail to apply real knowledge in the field where they are employed and heavily remunerated, they cover up their incompetence by hiding under ethno-religious differences. My stand all the time is that most of the crimes in Nigeria are not committed by Fulani nomadic pastoralists but those who prefer lies, prevarication and obfuscation to the simple truth will always hold contrary view. Nevertheless, I will continue to insist that proofs beyond every reasonable doubt must be submitted for an alleged crime committed by any Nigerian, including the Fulani.
S. Kadiri


From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Femi Segun <solor...@gmail.com>
Sent: 13 February 2021 16:46

To: 'Chika Onyeani' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Soyinka, Mad Cows
 

DR SIKIRU ENIOLA

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Feb 17, 2021, 3:07:55 AM2/17/21
to USAAfrica Dialogue
I'm very happy to be here and learning more and more. This is typically intellectual. If Nigeria does not burn eventually according to most Nigerians who have become prophets of doom, efforts like those of Salimonu Kadiri, will be remembered to be largely responsible. It has almost become a nightmare to have a differing narrative without being stigmatised. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/HE1P193MB00765BA15ADDCFE9BEFC07ABAE889%40HE1P193MB0076.EURP193.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM.

OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Feb 17, 2021, 3:08:21 AM2/17/21
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Ojogbon Jiyeoba.

I am against land grabbing as you are.  When I spoke of Southern Christian majority and northern Christian minority I was only referring to the driving force of the argument just as the driving force for German antisemitism were the Nazis, but by no means the only catchment populace for antisemitism ( otherwise the Holocaust would not have happened.)

I have said several times on this forum that many Fulani who made incendiary statements about land ownership are either total illiterates or half literate about constitutional provisions.


They understand that all Nigerians have the right to live and work anywhere in the country but they dont understand the small letters and conditions attached to such constitutional provisions. This is why I stated that illiteracy is a disease.

If I wanted the Fulani to be grabbing lands, why would I be at the fore front of immediate commencement of ranching and stricter enforcement of tresspass laws against nomadic herders?

What no one has the right to say is that Fulani should be sent back to the North as Tioyin Adepoju seems to be consistently arguing using Fulani herdsmen and colonisation project as pretext. As reprisal, all southerners : Edo, Igbo and Yoruba inclusive would be sent back to their enclaves and thinly disguised separatists like him would have been assisted to achieve their ultimate goal.

I know you are saying Oke Ogun is part of affected areas but are you a Muslim yourself and is your contribution here as a result that you are Christian or Muslim? ( I am decidedly animist and that affects my take.)

Yes, it is obvious illiterate Fulani thinking that since one of them is in office as president means the government belongs to them ( and proceed to act accordingly- even voicing' born to rule')  But do they understand how many South West votes produced that presidency that had been denied the incumbent several times?  Do they understand how many South East votes put the president in power and not just their own minority votes?  This is why illiteracy is a disease.  Do they realise how they by actions and utterances are making the country ungovernable for their man?

I have highlighted the most important singular weakness of Muhammadu Buhari right from his first term.  Inability to communicate effectively and efficiently, ( including how to rein in the verbal and behavioural excesses of his ethnic kith and kin in a timely manner.)

As Chidi Amuta suggested, the states have the legal rights to commence litigation against the perceived criminality of herdsmen within their domain. Let us see how many of such litigation the federal government will attempt to step in and terminate and for what reasons.  Getting unduly emotional solves no problems.


OAA



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



-------- Original message --------
From: Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com>
Date: 15/02/2021 18:00 (GMT+00:00)
To: usaafricadialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Soyinka, Mad Cows

Boxbe This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (toyin....@gmail.com) Add cleanup rule | More info
We thank God for those who say it as it is.

In the name of being detribalised and intellectually refined, some people struggle to deny reality in the name of protecting ethnocentrists who simply keep on doing their thing.

I'm puzzled by this strange kind of reality denying politics, which is possible only among Southern Nigerian intelligentsia, proud of their education, yet using it against not only their own interests, but also contorting reality in the name of a mirage of multi-ethnic humanity while the perpetrators  on the other end have no regard for such fantasies.

God have mercy.

Toyin

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Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Feb 17, 2021, 9:49:42 AM2/17/21
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Na wa.

Are Miyetti Allah illiterate?

The Sultan of Sokoto and ex CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi are heads of Miyetti Allah.

Has anyone ever read these eminent people contrdicting or challenging the Fulani supremacist declarations of other Miyetti Allah leaders?

As Miyetti Allah justified massacre after massacre of Nigerians, these figures kept mute.

Same with Buhari, who only spoke up after a huge outcry and even then chastised the victims, with his security chiefs on another occasion blaming the victims in Benue for the massacre orchestrated by Miyetti Allah and Fulani herdsmen and their militia  against them.

The only time I know Sanusi to have responded to these horrors was to point to a claim on an anti-Fulani massacre elsewhere on the Middle Belt, an effort at equivalence of massacre which Middle Belt figures challenged decribing his story as non- factual. 

That is the current Nigerian reality, where the Buhari govt and people like Sanusi are extensions of Miyetti Allah.

Apologists like to keep silent on these factual observations. It does not fit their reality distorting narratives.

All Fulani herdsmen should return to their Northern enclaves.

All efforts to twist these realitues are a waste of time.

Nigerians are now fully awake.

Thanks

Toyin 


OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Feb 17, 2021, 10:39:55 AM2/17/21
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My dear Toyin Adepoju.

We cannot go on like this in circularity of arguments in claims and counterclaim for who said what as a result of what and how vendetta killings are justified on either sides.

If anybody feels violated in any state they should crank the wheels for justice through their state government even if the federal government would not act.  

Does the federal government control the machinery of government in Benue state?  So if the federal government did not censure perceived criminals in Benue state why would the state Director of Public Prosecution in the state not set the ball rolling?

And this is the beauty of democracy over and above dictatorships.  Media justice through sensationalisms cannot be a substitute!  We are not practising village democracy in Nigeria.


OAA



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



-------- Original message --------
From: Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com>
Date: 17/02/2021 15:01 (GMT+00:00)
To: usaafricadialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Soyinka, Mad Cows

Boxbe This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (toyin....@gmail.com) Add cleanup rule | More info
Na wa.

Are Miyetti Allah illiterate?

The Sultan of Sokoto and ex CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi are heads of Miyetti Allah.

Has anyone ever read these eminent people contrdicting or challenging the Fulani supremacist declarations of other Miyetti Allah leaders?

As Miyetti Allah justified massacre after massacre of Nigerians, these figures kept mute.

Same with Buhari, who only spoke up after a huge outcry and even then chastised the victims, with his security chiefs on another occasion blaming the victims in Benue for the massacre orchestrated by Miyetti Allah and Fulani herdsmen and their militia  against them.

The only time I know Sanusi to have responded to these horrors was to point to a claim on an anti-Fulani massacre elsewhere on the Middle Belt, an effort at equivalence of massacre which Middle Belt figures challenged decribing his story as non- factual. 

That is the current Nigerian reality, where the Buhari govt and people like Sanusi are extensions of Miyetti Allah.

Apologists like to keep silent on these factual observations. It does not fit their reality distorting narratives.

All Fulani herdsmen should return to their Northern enclaves.

All efforts to twist these realitues are a waste of time.

Nigerians are now fully awake.

Thanks

Toyin 


On Wed, Feb 17, 2021, 09:08 OLAYINKA AGBETUYI <yagb...@hotmail.com> wrote:

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Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Feb 17, 2021, 12:40:07 PM2/17/21
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Your govt says they support terrorism.

You are asking governors to fight the same govt through courts in the same country ?

A qs for you-

Gani Fawehimni was not as educated as yourself but he fought govt injustices single handed.

What prevents you, specifically, who believes so much in due process and rule of law helping us by doing same?

You might not be a lawyer like Gani but the Pound Sterling from your 
UK academic salary will go a long way in employing lawyers to help seek justice in Nigeria.

If Gani can do it, why not you, since you are asking others to legally challenge a terrorist govt?

As for justification of vendetta killings I was explaining, not justifying the recent killings of Northern origin people in the SW, a particularly terrible development beceause the Yoruba are normally very accommodating, suggesting issues are reaching or have reached a breaking point.

Thanks

Toyin


OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Feb 17, 2021, 5:52:49 PM2/17/21
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com, usaafricadialogue


Things have reached 'a breaking point' in Yoruba land thanks to the media wars and sensationalism on misunderstandings between erstwhile mutual accommodation across the board (confer the Shasha incident also.)

Let us not trivialise justice by saying that state governments in Nigeria need foreign aid from diasporan Nigerians to bring criminals to justice in their domains ( its not every problem that can be an excuse for donations).  Was Gani Fawehinmi asking for foreign aid to do his job as a lawyer?

That is another way of saying the state govts are not fit to rule!


OAA





Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



-------- Original message --------
From: Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com>
Date: 17/02/2021 17:48 (GMT+00:00)
To: usaafricadialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Soyinka, Mad Cows

Boxbe This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (toyin....@gmail.com) Add cleanup rule | More info
Your govt says they support terrorism.

You are asking governors to fight the same govt through courts in the same country ?

A qs for you-

Gani Fawehimni was not as educated as yourself but he fought govt injustices single handed.

What prevents you, specifically, who believes so much in due process and rule of law helping us by doing same?

You might not be a lawyer like Gani but the Pound Sterling from your 
UK academic salary will go a long way in employing lawyers to help seek justice in Nigeria.

If Gani can do it, why not you, since you are asking others to legally challenge a terrorist govt?

As for justification of vendetta killings I was explaining, not justifying the recent killings of Northern origin people in the SW, a particularly terrible development beceause the Yoruba are normally very accommodating, suggesting issues are reaching or have reached a breaking point.

Thanks

Toyin


On Wed, Feb 17, 2021, 16:39 OLAYINKA AGBETUYI <yagb...@hotmail.com> wrote:

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Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Feb 18, 2021, 6:11:17 AM2/18/21
to usaafricadialogue
We need all hands to help us.

We are almost overwhelmed.

Since you understand the situation so well you can help.

Did the Ayatolla Khomeini not organise the Iranian revolution from exile?

Thanks

Toyin

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