I have not heard an order given that
any cattle herder caught with sophisticated firearms be instantly disarmed,
arrested, placed on trial, and his cattle confiscated… Let me repeat, and of
course I only ask to be corrected if wrong: I have yet to encounter a terse, rigorous,
soldierly and uncompromising language from this leadership, one that threatens
a response to this unconscionable blood-letting that would make even Boko Haram
repudiate its founding clerics.
Herdsmen, let us appreciate, are
perhaps humanity’s earliest known tourists. They must be taught however that
there is a culture of settlement, and learn to seek accommodation with settled
hosts wherever encountered. The leadership of any society cannot stand idly and
offer solutions that implicitly deem the massacres of innocents mere incidents
on the way to that learning school.
Culture
is closely intertwined with tourism – the former, in fact, often drives the
latter. The destination uppermost in the minds of most tourists we know is –
Culture. This means that both share friends and – enemies. Of the principal
enemies, seeing that we find ourselves within the precincts of governance, I
intend to engage your attention in this brief address to just one: Insecurity.
That inability of any vacationist to let go completely, relax, submit oneself
completely to the offerings of a new environment – the sounds, sights, smells,
textures and taste. Of Culture itself, in and or out of the touristic intent,
there is no ambiguity in the mind of its enemies. They make no bones about
their detestation – call them Taliban, Daesh or ISIS, al Shabbab or Boko Haram.
Their hatred is pathological and impassioned to a degree that goes beyond the
pale, beyond insanity and sadly beyond cure. The duty of governance towards
such retrogressive outbreaks remains unambiguous.
After
Boko Haram, what next? In fact, at this moment, Boko Haram has no ‘after’ since
it is by no means ended, no matter what technical expressions such as
“militarily degraded’ means. But let us assume indeed that we are already in
the past of Boko Ha-ram. It is now clear that the succession is already
decided, the ‘vacated’ space is already conceded, and that the new territorial
aspirants are already securely positioned. The entire nation appears to be
theirs without a struggle, and the continuity of an established Nigerian
necropolis north to south and east to west is being consolidated.
Some
necropoles are actually architecturally fascinating. They attract visitors from
distant places, but those are works of veneration, artistry and dedication.
They are visual feasts, among whose structures the visitors actually picnic,
leave flowers and symbolic gifts to hovering ancestors. Latin America is full
of them. The Nigerian widening necropoles leave only the taste of bile in the
mouth, the corrosion of hate, stench and rage.
When
I read a short while ago, the Presidential assurance to this nation that the
current homicidal escalation between the cattle prowlers and farming
communities would soon be over, I felt mortified. He had the solution, he said.
Cattle ranches were being set up, and in another 18 months, rustlings,
destruction of livelihood and killings from herdsmen would be ‘a thing of the
past’. Eighteen months, he assured the nation. I believe his Minister of Agriculture
echoed that later, but with a less dispiriting time schema. Neither, however,
could be considered a message of solace and reassurance for the ordinary
Nigerian farmer and the lengthening cast of victims, much less to an intending
tourist to the Forest Retreat of Tinana in the Rivers, the Ikogosi Springs or
the moslem architectural heritage of the ancient city of Kano. In any case, the
external tourists have less hazardous options.
Recently however, I returned from a
trip outside the country about to find that my home ground had been invaded,
and a brand-new “Appian way” sliced through my sanctuary… In over two decades
of living in that ecological preserve, no such intrusion had ever occurred. I
have no idea whether they were Fulani or Futa Jalon herdsmen but, they were
cattle herders, and they had cut a crude swathe through my private grounds.
However there is also internal tourism, to be considered a premium asset – both
economically and in spirit of nation building and personal edification. This was
an exercise I indulged in in the early sixties as by-product of other
engagements, such as research. A lot however was simply under curiosity. I can
claim modestly claim to be among the top twenty-five percent internally
traveled Nigerians, acquainted with the smells, textures and tastes of their
geographical habitation. I wish the late Segun Olusola were around to testify
to the sudden bouts of tourist explorations we made in his Volkswagen Beetle in
the pre-war sixties.
But
now, would the young adventurous set out to visit the mystery caves of Anambra
and its alleged curative pools from mere interest? They would think twice about
it. It is not merely arbitrary violence that reigns across the nation but
total, undis-puted impunity. Impunity evolves and becomes integrated in conduct
when crime occurs and no legal, logical and moral response is offered. I have
yet to hear this government articulate a firm policy of non-tolerance for the
serial massacres have become the nation’s identification stamp. I have not
heard an order given that any cattle herder caught with sophisticated firearms
be instantly disarmed, arrested, placed on trial, and his cattle confiscated.
The nation is treated to an eighteen-month optimistic plan which, to make
matters worse, smacks of abject appeasement and encouragement of violence on
innocents. Let me repeat, and of course I only ask to be corrected if wrong: I
have yet to encounter a terse, rigorous, soldierly and uncompromising language
from this leadership, one that threatens a response to this unconscionable
blood-letting that would make even Boko Haram repudiate its founding clerics.
It
is now close to a year since I attempted to utilise the Open Forum platform of
the Centre for Culture and International Understanding, Oshogbo, to launch a
national debate on the topic – SACRED COWS OR SACRED RIGHTS? The signs
were already clear and the rampage of impunity was already manifesting a cultic
intensity of alarming proportions. For reasons which are too distasteful to go
into here, the forum did not take place. We were already agreed that General
Buhari be invited to give a keynote address, based on his long experience in
such matters as former head of state, and as a cattle rearer himself who might
be be able to penetrate the mentality of this ‘post-Boko Haram’ pestilence’.
That challenge remains open, but should now involve this gathering, which
surely includes tourist and educational agencies. They should join hands with
human rights organisations, the Ministry of Agriculture, Farming and local
Vigilante associations etc. It is a gauntlet thrown down to be picked up, and
urgently, by any of the affected or troubled sectors of society, or indeed any
capable and interested party at this conference. The CBCIU is prepared to
collaborate.
For every crime, there is a
punishment, for every violation, there must be restitution. The nomads of the
world cannot place themselves above the law of settled humanity.
Let me narrate a personal experience – just one among many – that was brought
home to me, right against my doorstep. Before that specific happening, I had
observed a change of quality in forest encounters with cattle herdsmen over the
years. These changes had become sufficiently alarming for me to arrange
meetings with a few governors and, later, with the late National Security
Adviser General Azazi. At the time, we thought that they were Boko Haram,
infiltrating into the South under guise of cattle herding. That was then, and
of course that surmise has never been firmly proven or disproved.
Recently
however, I returned from a trip outside the country about to find that my home
ground had been invaded, and a brand-new “Appian way” sliced through my
sanctuary. That ‘motorable’ path was made by the hoofed invaders. Both the
improvised entry and exit are now blocked, but interested journalists are
invited to visit. In over two decades of living in that ecological preserve, no
such intrusion had ever occurred. I have no idea whether they were Fulani or
Futa Jalon herdsmen but, they were cattle herders, and they had cut a crude
swathe through my private grounds. I made enquiries and sent alerts around,
including through the Baale of our neighborhood village. There has been no
repeat, and hopefully it will remain the first and last of such invasion. What
it portends however is for all thinking citizens to reflect upon, and take
concerted measures against.
Herdsmen,
let us appreciate, are perhaps humanity’s earliest known tourists. They must be
taught however that there is a culture of settlement, and learn to seek
accommodation with settled hosts wherever encountered. The leadership of any
society cannot stand idly and offer solutions that implicitly deem the massacres
of innocents mere incidents on the way to that learning school. For every
crime, there is a punishment, for every violation, there must be restitution.
The nomads of the world cannot place themselves above the law of settled
humanity.
Wole
Soyinka is the first Black Nobel Laureate in Literature.
This
was an address given to the National Conference on Culture and Tourism on April
28, 2016.
