Fulani and the Struggle for Sovereignty in Africa: Stories from the Central African Republic

[Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju]

I tried to post on the USAAfrica Dialogues Google group some weeks ago a detailed narration and analysis of what the writer described as the unfolding in Nigeria of a war initiated by Fulani imperialists similar to the carnage he says they unleashed in the Central African Republic.

The moderator did not approve my post, most likely because he saw it as incendiary, a form of extreme ethnic profiling.

How accurate, if at all, was that report I tried to post?

Motivated by the report, in trying to better understand the rationale for the collaboration in Nigeria between the Fulani elite led Miyetti Allah, Nigeria's Fulani led fed govt and terrorism by  Fulani herdsmen, I am exploring the role of Fulani in the ongoing civil war in the Central African Republic.

The conflict in CAR seems quite complex but at its core may there not be seen a struggle between pastoralists, often Muslims,  and non-pastoralists, often Christians, comparable to the divide in Nigeria?

I am still trying to understand.

A number of parallels between the CAR civil war and the unfolding Nigerian situation are not difficult to observe. They seem to fit very well the pattern of escalating chaos ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo warned could emerge if Nigeria's President Buhari does not respond to what many in Nigeria see as a colonization plan by such elite Fulani as himself.

A selection of Google hits from searching "Fulani Civil War Central African Republic"

1. The Central African Republic’s Hidden Conflict [ International Crisis Group 2014]

2. Rebels Targeted Ethnic Fulanis in Central African Republic Town [Reuters 2016] 

3. Displaced and Without their cows: the Fulani in CAR [ Al-Jazeera 2017] 

4. Militia Kills Dozens in Central African Republic Despite Peace Deal, UN says [ France 24]

5. Passing the Torch: Fulani Warlords in the Central African Republic [ Abberfoyle International Security] 

Overview : Central African Republic Civil War ( 2012 to Present)  [ Wikipedia]

[Emeagwali, Gloria (History)]

So your ethnic cleansing rhetoric has now gone trans- regional, and continental. The moderator will have
much to account for should he allow you to simplify a complicated Central African situation into a genocidal rant.

We have made the point that at the heart of the conflict is desertification,
and the  perennial problem between sedentary farming and nomadic
pastoralism. You must have followed the conflict in Darfur. There are many similarities. I didn’t think the Janjaweed were Fulanis.
Such cases usually take a turn for the worst when opportunistic politicians and haters such as Sudan’s Bashir and yourself, use rhetoric and opportunism to heighten a crisis rather than to resolve it. The moderator will have himself to blame if he posted
vitriolic hate speech, that undermines the Pan Africanism that martyrs like Thomas Sankara died for.


GE

Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net;  vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished  Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association

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From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com>
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Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fulani and the Struggle for Sovereignty in Africa: Stories from the Central African Republic

 

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[Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju]

"You must have followed the conflict in Darfur. There are many similarities. I didn’t think the Janjaweed were Fulanis."

 

The Fulani herdsmen militia are playing a role similar to that of the janjaweed in that conflict, with Buhari the equivalent of Bashir in this context, using a private militia in trying to reconfigure power balance in a nation.

The synergy between Miyetti Allah, the Fulani herdsmen militia and the Buhari govt also demonstrates some relationship with the integration of terrorist groups into legitimate governments, as Herzbollah has become with the Lebanese govt, though the parallels are not exact. 

Miyetti Allah, which justifies massacres by Fulani herdsmen and remains unchallenged by the fed govt,  is a terrorist group and it is practically identical with the Buhari govt.

With international terrorist watch agencies describing Fulani militia  as one of the world's deadliest terrorist groups, is this characterization not simplistic?- " the  perennial   problem between sedentary farming and nomadic pastoralism." 

Is this convenient focus on a non-human element while avoiding human agency enough to explain the grip of terror Fulani herdsmen and their Miyetti Allah and fed govt enablers have plunged Nigeria into?-   "We have made the point that at the heart of the conflict is desertification."

Sadly, these characterizations directed by you at Adepoju-'genocidal rant', 'haters', 'vitriolic hate speech' ' ethnic cleansing rhetoric' ',opportunistic politicians' are increasingly delegitimized   by the Fulani terrorists themselves, so that what people like Toyin Adepju  have been declaring since 2015 is now being declared by an increasing chorus of victims and observers in Nigeria and beyond- such as T. Y. Danjuma describing what Fulani terrorists are doing in the Middle Belt as genocide and the Alaafin of Oyo, describing Fulani terrorism as a scourge in the SW. 

In the light of the escalating scope of evidence of terrorist activity, as different from the claim of people made victims by circumstance, should you not move from your mono-casual, victims-of-circumstance  perspective and examine the role of organised destructive and colonizing activity in this crisis?

The role of people who have chosen to address their own aspirations  by killing, intimidating  and displacing others and taking over their land?

thanks

toyin

   

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[Emeagwali, Gloria (History)]

I am not minimizing or denying the destruction and  culpability of
Miyetti and his supporters. My point is that the crisis initially started as an environmentally derived one. Now it has taken on lethal proportions due to govt
inaction and the emergence of opportunistic actors, some armed with
AK47 weapons and much more.The situation has become explosive and
my prediction is that an alliance between Boko Haram and the armed
Herdsmen and their allies is to be expected.The situation is dangerous and volatile but
throwing petrol into a fire is not a credible way to extinguish it.

Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net;  vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished  Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association

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From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com>

Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2019 11:45:46 AM
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fulani and the Struggle for Sovereignty in Africa: Stories from the Central African Republic

 

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