The President Need Not See Anything, But He’s Expected To Hear Everything
The Oasis Reporters
October 31, 2018
The epic film ” See No Evil, Hear No Evil ‘ staring Wally Karue (Richard Pryor) the blind man and Dave Lyon (Gene Wilder) the deaf man came yet alive in Kaduna at a meeting between the President of the Republic and community leaders in the State. The meeting was prompted by the wanton killings which took place in the State precisely in Kasuwan Magani almost two weeks ago. This gory slaughter of innocent people whose only offence was that they took their wares to the market to sell or to buy but many ended up not returning to their loved ones as the cold hands of death awaited.
It is still unclear what exactly sparked the slaughter of innocent people on that fateful day. What is almost certain is that the angels of death were prepared to execute their mission of death on that market day with a very clear intent of maximizing the number of casualties and they succeeded in doing just that. It is needless to repeat here that Kasuwan Magani over time has gained notoriety for communal violence as it were, the State government has failed abysmally to deal with the root causes of these recurring violence.
The State Commissioner of Police was earlier quoted in the Social media as saying that over 50 people were put to the sword while other sources have a much higher number. At the meeting with the Community leaders, the President again according to Social media sources was quoted to have mentioned a number of casualties hovering around 75 dead.
The chain of events in Kasuwan Magani also led to, I suppose, the violent kidnapping of the Agom Adara the paramount leader of the Adara nation after the slaughter of his police orderly and other personal aides.
In broad daylight the monarch and his wife were led into the bush. Reports have it that after collecting the ransom the kidnappers, went ahead to kill him and deposited his body somewhere around the village of Kateri along the Kaduna/Abuja highway. The entire Adara nation, the whole of Kaduna State as well as the country have since these very unfortunate events been in mourning.
It is to be expected that in a functional State, events such as took place in Kaduna State given their implications on national security needed to have been brought to the attention of the President by those deployed to him on such important issues as security. The President was down to earth when he confessed during the meeting that he was not informed about what happened.
The vital questions arising from this revelation are whose responsibility was it to have informed the President?
If there was such gross failure, what sanctions will be meted to those who should have reported?
Assuming that the failure to report can be explained away by those responsible should they not be appropriately sanctioned?
In the face of the enormity of the critical security infraction should the State’s Chief Security Officer not have personally briefed the President?
His failure to my mind has a much deeper meaning and is traceable to the very fact that he hates as well as harbours complete contempt for the people of Southern Kaduna to the extent that their security does not mean a thing to him.
The reader will recall the genocide that took place in Southern Kaduna early in the life of this thoroughly evil State government which we now have reasons to believe was not brought to the knowledge of the President that is if his confession yesterday, 30 October is to be believed. For God’s sake is that how to treat a segment of the society that looks up to you as a leader?
It is so appalling that the President’s security team will deliberately choose not to brief the President on a matter this serious yet it has been convenient for them to be briefing him on the murder in Istanbul, Turkey of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Is this not the very height of hypocrisy?
Prior to yesterday’s confession, ordinary Nigerians have been given to heaping blame on the President for neither seeing nor hearing anything that goes on in this country. We are now well informed as to where the blame should be directed. Surely, if you neither see nor hear, it will be absurd to expect measures to be put in place to stop these unnecessary killings. An issue as important as security ought be given the priority it deserves in the scheme of things.
Could it also be possible that the President may not also be aware of similar security infractions in neighbouring Zamfara and Plateau States lately? Should the answer be in the affirmative, it is clear evidence that the President’s aides constitute a bigger problem to the security of the nation in which case an urgent reshuffling of such staff will almost certainly be a viable recommendation.
No reporter cared to report on the demeanour of the impish dictator as the briefing yesterday progressed knowing that his actions or inaction in the manner he runs the affairs of the State could in a way have instigated the mayhem in Kasuwan Magani. I say this standing on firm grounds given the reckless manner he dismissed many traditional rulers in the State concomitant with his policy of reorganizing existing chiefoms in the State. The Kasuwan Magani episode had domino effect in some parts of Kaduna metropolis causing the loss of lives and property.
Adding insults to injury, the dictator has threatened to demolish Gonin Gora swearing by Allah unless young people stop blocking the Abuja/Kaduna highway whenever there was a crisis. The likes of Mallam Nasiru El Rufai constitute a grave danger to security not only within the State but the entire nation. Our nation is not in good health and as we inch nearer the elections coming up early next year, the security situation is likely to deteriorate even further. A committed leadership can take action to avoid similar calamities in the future.
Written by Col. Gora Dauda (rtd).
