The North under the #NorthIsBleeding movement is protesting and speaking out against the insecurity taking place in the north. It took the gruesome burning of 23 travelers in Sokoto to wake the north up to the carnage that has been ongoing in the region and by extension the whole country.
What has been happening in Nigeria over the years and in particular under the Buhari Administration is nothing but eye drenching. The countless slaughter of human beings and countless communities sacked and people subjected as internally displaced persons and are in IDP camps. Across the country, almost every state has witnessed the carnage. It was becoming a normal occurrence as almost on a daily basis, reports had several numbers of dead human beings and were counted across the news channels to the chagrin of the public. It was becoming a new normal and so long it did not affect the immediate region at the time, people did not want to care. After all, every region has their insecurity to bear.
The insecurity has been going around in different forms and with different names – bandits, terrorists, killer herdsmen, Fulani herdsmen, gunmen, and unknown gunmen among other names.
In the Daily Trust editorial of December 12, the publication, with no charitable words, discussed the mayhem happening in the north and the handling of it by the Buhari Administration. They decried how life lost its value under Buhari’s Administration. They wrote, “welcome to northern Nigeria, in 2021 where life has seemingly lost its value.” Many northerners are waking up to the bleeding north that has been going on. Yet,
The North has been bleeding alongside other parts of Nigeria for a long time. Those who spoke out about the handling of the Buhari Administration on insecurity and the bloodletting were seen as opposing the government. During the protests by Nigerians of different groups against insecurity, the North felt all was well for them. Had they joined in speaking out as they forcefully do currently over the carnage in Agatu, Nimbo, Plateau, and other places, maybe President Buhari would have listened and woken up to his responsibility. They stood aloof as Nigeria boiled.
Why did the North just wake up to the carnage if I may ask? Does this outcry have anything to do with the 2023 elections?
For a very long time, deaths have occurred almost daily in Benue, Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger, Katsina and other states but the North did not feel it was bleeding. Is the North bleeding because the state of the Sultan is now affected?
When the people of Benue cried, the president asked them “in the name of God to accommodate your countrymen.” The North did not frown at such aloofness even when the perpetrators are yet to face justice but they just noticed that while the north bleeds, Buhari went to a book lunch in Lagos.
As the country suffered from the terror of the Boko Haram, the North felt that any action to contain them is against the north. In fact, Lt. Gen. Ihejirika was threatened by The Northern Elders Forum to be taken to the International Criminal Court for what they termed “extra-judicial killings.” Former Governor Murtala Nyako said in a memo that an act of genocide was carried out against the North.
When other Nigerians cried out against the mayhem and the invasion of the Fulani herdsmen on farms and communities, some northern politicians gave them moral support. Bauchi state governor Bala Mohammed made a case in their favour.
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Other parts of the country have long seen the lackluster handling of the security situations by the Buhari’s government which is very abysmal and have been speaking out but it now occurs to the north to speak out. Many politicians from the north now see it convenient to speak out.
As the south protested against the brutality of the police and insecurity with #EndSars, the North felt it did not concern them. You can’t blame the South for being aloof as the North bleeds.
For a long while, farmers and schools have been the focus of the bandits. While they abduct the children for ransom and tax the farmers before harvest or even for going to their farms, the North did not seem to bat much of an eyelid. Why was there no protest on these accounts?
There are so many instances of how the North handled the insecurity in the region and how they reacted about insecurity in other regions.
When the Benue state governor Samuel Ortom cried out and also took the president to task over the ceaseless killings of Nigerians under his leadership, he was attacked by the bandits and the presidency in a statement urged him to stop spreading fears against the president.
The North is in control of the federal executive, legislative and judiciary Arms of government. They are in control of the security architecture of the country. They have the intelligence to root out those committing terror across the country. So, why will the north bleed?
The North is practically in control of the country and instead of bleeding, they should contain the insecurity. Countless women and children have suffered from the carnage as well.
The human lives lost are not going to resurrect but it is a call for all parts of the country to tackle any form of insecurity frontally and as a nation. It is not only the north that is bleeding, the country is bleeding and that should worry all.