The challenge that Amotekun, the newly established Western Nigeria Security Network, faces is the dilemma of the Yoruba race. It has been suggested that part of the information which led to its establishment is in a commissioned report which concluded that there are 1123 Fulani settlements existing in Yoruba land. Each cell, the report says, has upwards of 20 or more Fulanis, the size of a platoon in a regular army and each well structured, and well armed, under a defined leadership training daily in weapons handling and martial arts.
This means there are at least 180 Fulani cells in each Yoruba state, if equally distributed. Each is believed to be in communication with sponsors from the Northern part of the country.
The cells are, in the meantime, engaged in brigandage, highway robbery, kidnapping, extortion, murder and other criminal activities and adventures, but I believe they are foot soldiers for some future adventure.
Fast forward then to 30 or 50 years, when the population would have increased tremendously, the internal administration become more efficient, weapons handling skills improved, assumed domiciliary privileges, aka right of occupancy, and inter-cell communication more perfected, the Yoruba race will be a sitting duck for destabilization. That is against the back ground that our rate of procreation in Yoruba land is decreasing, while the Fulani does not limit the number of his children.
The lesson that history has taught us is that the capacity and readiness of outlaws to do evil only increase with growth in their converts and more maturity in their internal acculturation.
If decisive action is not taken now, and as a collective, the implication is that the Yoruba race is enjoying a dreamy sleep while her roof is on fire. In that situation, how do you regain the control of your land if you have to fight elusive and mobile guerilla terrorists on 1123 or more battle fronts? Even if only 50 cells are active in each Yoruba State, there will be 300 armed active brigand cells.
That will be one too many!
In future, if the Fulani terrorist platoons decide to launch a coordinated or simultaneous attack on their hosts, the Yorubas will be in disarray. History has lessons to teach.. The Mamluk was a caste of slaves and second rate immigrants to Egypt who, overtime, gained confidence and ascendancy. They overthrew and took over the government of ancient Egypt, claimed the Sultanate and ruled Egypt from 1250 to 1517 until they were overthrown by the Ottoman Empire. David Ayalon, the Israeli historian, dubbed their success as the “Mamluk Phenomenon”. I hope that the Yoruba race will not donate to history the “Fulani herdsmen phenomenon” because at the beginning of the Mamluks sojourn as slaves in Egypt, nobody saw them as a threat.
Beyond the fanfare that greeted the launch of Amotekun and the excitement across Yorubaland, there is need for sober reflection on the simple question: what should the Yoruba do?
The Yorubas must design a plan of concrete actions as response and identify actions, platforms, groups and persons, who have roles to play in that response and assign them accordingly.
The challenge which Amotekun faces and the dilemma of the Yoruba race is how to neutralise armed, reasonably weapon trained, compact, efficient and mobile terrorist cells littering the Yoruba landscape. The options are limited. The first is to get these cells and future additions to continue to live in Yorubaland in peace, and, the second, for the cells to leave Yoruba land in peace
The option of continuing occupation of Yoruba land, living in peace and in harmony with indigenous people assumes that the terrorist cells will disarm, either voluntarily or under supervision; the creation of a continuing motoring mechanism to ensure they do not re-arm; engage themselves in lawful occupations, accept the suzerainty of the various Yoruba Obas, Baales and communities in which they live and also live within the laws of the country. While these steps are all necessary, I do not see them being effected without resistance from the cells and possible bloodshed. Certainly, the Nigeria Police, the Nigerian security agencies and the Armed Forces cannot be trusted as faithful interventionists in that effort.
The other option is for the Fulani cells to vacate Yorubaland and relocate in peace. That is hardly imaginable. What will be the incentive for a people who have benefitted immensely from manifold criminalities which include murder, kidnapping for ransom, highway robbery, farmland devastation and other high crimes, without confrontation and bloodshed?
In the highly emotive, sensitive ethnic relations and highly provocative atmosphere in the country today, I guess that conflict will be inevitable.
The Yoruba race must manage its options carefully, avoid conflict, if possible, but embrace it, if inevitable. I am not conversant with the core weaponry and strengths of the Amotekun. That is, what the fighting arsenal of an Amotekun in practical terms looks like. I know that they will vary from person to person. My expectation is that it will be a combination of conventional and the unconventional arsenal. In my lifetime, I have witnessed feats considered impossible performed by Yoruba blacksmiths and hunters and of course, I am a descendant of that patriotic group of individuals. However, the proof of the efficacy of our native and cultural weapon defence systems against other weapons has to wait until engagement with the Fulani terrorist cells. When 36 cows perished in a lightning strike in Ijare, Ifelodun local government, Ondo State, for treading on forbidden ground, I rejoiced and said, “Aha a we still have it”. My hope and expectation is the cultural defence skills and weapons which I know are still in the armoury of our hunters and Amotekun.
The late Yoruba sage, Herbert Ogunde, in his sobering song “Yoruba Ronu” said that bad luck does not last for 20 years. If the Yorubas do not do the needful and the necessary, God forbid; bad luck can last forever.
The Yorubas must start from the premise that they cannot expect faithful support from the agencies of the federal government – police, armed forces and the like, which by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, are to guarantee safety of life and property and peace. The experience of the Yorubas and other non-Hausa – Fulani groups in Nigeria does not offer consolation
With Amotekun, we have taken our destiny in our hands; we must follow through and abide by what that destiny requires of us. Before the Fulani terrorists consolidate and completely become “imperia in imperio” in each of the six Yoruba states, indeed, Yoruba land, let us secure our lands and defend our patrimony. Our children and grand- children must inherit unencumbered farm lands, safe travels routes, safe cities and peaceful environment. That’s our debt to history and the Yoruba heritage.
We must pay it in full.
*Written By Femi Orebe
