By Ayodele Fagbohun

|

It is high time President Mohammadu Buhari relieved Garba Shehu of his post as Senior Special Adviser on Media in the Presidency for his unguarded and reckless utterances of misinforming the general public, blatant distortion of history which culminates into outright historical fallacies and banality on contemporary issues of nationhood.
His demeanor to suborn, arouse ethnic prejudice jingoism and mayhem amongst the gullible “almajiris,” the talakawa in the North likened to the Roman plebeians to cause disaffection and take arms against the innocent country men and women eking out their legitimate means of livelihood across the country especially in the North. This unpleasant scenario should be deplored and deprecated by patriotic Nigerians who believe in, both the practice and principle of peaceful co-existence, harmonious relations and unity of the country.
The thoughtless and hazy submission of Shehu on the illegal occupation of Ondo State’s government forest by the Funlani marauders eloquently portrays Shehu Garba, in spite of his career in journalism, as unfit to be in the presidency let alone of in the media outfit of any government at all.
Since his excessive jaundical and parochial contribution to state matters could easily heat the fragile polity and rock the boat in the ultimate. God forbids.
How dare Garba Shehu for assuming air of arrogance superciliousness and insolence allegedly not to have clarified from his boss, Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media to President Mohammadu Buhari; and fouled the air with obscene statements with impunity.
It is nauseating and absolutely reprehensible that Shehu Garba unilaterally stirred the hornests’ nest in flagrant disobedience to the tenets of Federal Constitution to which Nigeria as a sovereign nation subscribes.
Come to think about it all, Are we not a federation of 36 states where the states are supposed to be autonomous federating units statutorily obliged to legislate on specific cardinal subjects which are in the concurrent and residual lists as expressly enshrined in the Federal Constitution. Chief amongst these subject in land which ipso facto, governor of each state should hold in trust for the people of the state.
It stands to reason to infer that any responsible governor either elected or appointed should jealously guard the land from being encroached upon an whatsoever on the land under his area of jurisdiction and sphere of influence should be preserved and accounted for in his stewardship. More significantly the forest region that holds the treasure and ultimately the purse-string of the state government.
I make bold to say that no ethinic group in Nigeria no mater the privileged position it currently occupy in the political rulership and leadership of the country which is tinsel and ephemeral, should ever contemplate and essay to hold the entire nation to ransom on account of holding on to political power sine die.
For power, according to a famous statesman, does not flow from the barrel of the gun. It belongs to the people. And the latter will certainly entrust that power to whom they choose to elect in a free, fair and credible polls. Any governments that relies on brute force, duress and cajolery and thinks out of presumption to perpetuate its hegemony on barefaced rigging of the peoples’ votes and other electoral malpractice does so at its own peril sooner than later.
Nigeria comprising about 250 identified ethnic or at best tribal nationalities, autonomous has a unique and interesting socio-cultural and political history that are well known to every right thinking Nigerian except the lazy ones who chose to rewrite and pervert the course of Nigerian history for self interest, myopic unedifying and calamitous political ends.
Like what the likes of Garba Shehu try to exhibit and champion having held to ephemeral political office. Their intrigues and pettifoggery shall definitely crumble to the dust.
Virtually all the ethnic groups in Nigeria most especially the Fulani who are in minority are all immigrants, product of migratory theory, in history. Due to Islamic education and the effects of 1804 Jihad revolution, the Hausa/Filani have been totally assimilated, no line of distinction and become one political entity.
There was a wave of Fulani immigrants from Futa-toro area of sene-gambia, West Africa sub-region, who found their abode in the Northern part of Nigeria. It was the pastime of Fulani herdsmen whose cattle were damaging the land and destroying crops of farmers in their host communities, however, the resident farmers demanded a payment from the Fulani herdsmen.
Although, the Fulani migrated and settled in the present day Norther Nigeria, from Futa-toro in the sene-gambia. Having supplanted the leadership of the Hausa who were in majority, there was a truce and mutual understanding that eventually united Hausa/Fulani as a nation, thanks to the Islamic education introduced through Fulanis’ incursion on the socio-cultural and political background of the north.
What I am trying to emphasise is that we all struggled and won political independence on the same and equal partner that did not connote from the stretch of sane imagination that one ethnic group is superior to any other groups in the country.
Awo (Yoruba) introduced free education and public enlightenment via well utilisation of cocoa beans and West became a pacesetter in development to lead the rest of the country.
Ahmadu Bello (Fulani) built the economy of the North on groundnut “pyramids” and established agro based industries that were non-pareil. Whilst Azikiwe, Zik of Africa (of Igbo ethnic stock) deploy proceeds from palm-oil to transform the economy of the East.
This was the golden era and peak of development that was unequalled in the annals of history after or even before, the exit of colonial administration in Nigeria.
These aforementioned gentlemen, Awo, Bello and Zik did not carry their ethnic backgrounds on their foreheads as they made humble contribution to better the lots of common man and uplifted their country.
It is left for Malam Garba Shehu, the loquacious, garulous media aide and the stormy petrel of Fulani politics and his ilk to have a rethink less they write their own testimonial in the hall of infamy in unconscionable fashion to undo the spirited efforts and glowing feat of their forbears viz. Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa, the first and last prime minister of Nigeria, alongside Awo, Zik and others who built modern Nigeria from the scrap head of colonialism.
President Buhari who hired Garba Shehu should fire him with immediate for constituting social irritant and incumbrance and sheer amorphous nebulous racial bigotry to hamper the ideological stand of All Progressives’ administration on the path of social welfarism sans religious and racial discrimination.