Perhaps the most insightful and
concise contribution that I have read about the history of the Fulani and their
inordinate ambition and insatiable thirst for domination and conquest was
provided by Mr. Gbonkas Ebiri.
His research and analysis of this
topic is as historically accurate as it is outstanding. Permit me to share his
words.
“Kingdoms that accommodated
Fulani herdsmen in the past were eventually overthrown by the Fulani. In all
situations, these herdsmen took up arms and fought for a Fulani leader to
overthrow the kingdoms that accommodated them and their cattle. Examples in
history:
The first Fulani Jihad was at
Futa Jallon. Fulani pastoralists migrated here in large numbers from North
Africa in the 1600’s (they migrated in smaller factions earlier).
Futa Jallon was a mountainous
rich agricultural land. Shortly after the Pastoralist migrations, Fulani
clerics migrated as well. they were called Ulamas.
In 1726, the Fulani community
elected one of their own by the name Ibrahim Musa as their leader and gave him
the title of Al – Imam (Leader of the Muslim community). Shortly after his election
he proclaimed a jihad against the local rulers of the region and enlisted the
herdsmen as soldiers in his Jihad.
His successor after his death and
new Al- Iman, Ibrahim Sori completed the Jihad in 1776. The new Fulani
aristocracy drove out many of the natives. Those they did not drive out, they
enslaved.
Slave trade thrived in the region
after the Jihad, this was when the slave castle at Goree Island (Point of no
return) was built. They captured mostly the people of the Mandika tribe (this
was the tribe of Kunta Kinte).
Another region not far from Futa
Jallon was Futa Toro. It was rich in Agriculture and the stretch of the Senegal
river passed through it. By the banks of this river was fertile farmlands.
This region was of great
important to the Fulani pastoralists who migrated to the region around the same
time they migrated to Futa Jallon. They could have the cattle feed and drink by
the banks of the river. Shortly after the herdsmen arrived, clerics migrated as
well.
They formed the majority of the
Torobde clerics. A Fulani cleric called Sulayman Bal was nominated by the
clerics as the spiritual leader. in the year 1776, Sulayman Bal launched a
Jihad against the Denyanke dynasty and enlisted herdsmen into his army of the
faithful.
They were overthrown and replaced
with a new aristocracy of Fulani leaders. He died while trying to expand the
empire to the regions of Trarzas. His successor, Abd al- Qadir completed the
expansion and expanded the empire Southeast.
In our own Nigeria, the Fulani migrated
as herdsmen and lived in communities. As at the time Dan Fodio arrived, they
had Fulani leaders in almost all the Hausa City states with a large
concentration in Katsina and Kano.
These leaders included Moyijo at
Kebbi, Mohammadu Namoda at Zamfara, Salihu and Mohamadu Dabo of Kano. Very much
like the previous Jihads, Dan Fodio was recognized as the leading cleric and
given the title of ‘Sarkin Musulmi.’ (Leader of the Faithful).
He formed a community after his
confrontation with the authorities at Gobir and called on the faithfuls to join
him, from the community he lauched his Jihad.
Majority of his soldiers were
herdsmen and another faction natives that fell for his charismatic leadership.
Dan Fodio would eventually give flags of leadership to the Fulani leaders of
the various Hausa cities.
By far, the Dan Fodio’s Jihad was
the most successful and all Fulani Jihads in West Africa. He would also replace
the Hausa kings with Fulani aristocrats, and like the previous Fulbe leaders,
the new empire was hostile to the natives.
Their lands were taken from them
and they were relegated to second class citizens in their ancestral homeland.
Many of them were forced into slavery under an oppressive feudal system and
others sold to Arab slave traders.
At Ilorin, the shortsighted rebel
Afonja made it so easy for the Fulani to get rid of him. Unlike the other
kingdoms where they migrated on their free will and chose their spiritual
leader, Afonja personally wooed the Fulani to his kingdom and appointed Alimi
as the cleric of the province.
Both vital foundations for a
fulani takeover was given on a platter of gold by warlord. very much as in all
cases, the Fulani got rid of him and ensured the throne of Ilorin for their
kinsman.
So far they have not been able to
invade beyond Ilorin. The warriors at Ibadan fought them back as well as Benin
warriors. To conquer the south, it is important to have Fulani herdsmen and
clerics stationed in the land.
It is important to indoctrinate
natives who profess same religion with them to trade ther ancestry for a
religious theocracy of a divine cleric.
Among the Yoruba people, they
will succeed as they did in the old Ilorin emirates when many natives of old
Oyo empire enlisted in the army of Alimi’s descendants to invade villages under
Oyo and capture their fellow kinsmen as slaves to be sold to the Portuguese.
All observations of history prove
beyond doubt that giving colonies and settlements to Fulani people under the
guise of land for grazing is very dangerous.
The Fulani is obsessed to conquer
the South and take it from the ancestral owners like they did to the Hausas.
The South owns the Ports and oil. It owns the best companies and rainforests.
That is what they secretly want and not grazing land for cows.
With scattered Fulani settlements
in the south, they will bring their clerics and launch a new phase of Jihads
from our base…. Cattle colonies is a plan to conquer the South.
Herdsmen are foot soldiers of the
Fulani empire and the demand for lands in the South is a first step in future
to take over the ancestral lands of the Southern people”. (CONCLUDED).
I commend Mr. Ebiri for his
courageous submission and I wholeheartedly concur with his conclusions and
findings. He has said it all and there is very little left to say.
It is left for the Nigerian
people to either resist the attempt to Fulanise their entire nation by learning
from the lessons of history, increasing their depth of knowledge, creating
awareness about the formidable challenges with which they are faced and rise to
the occassion or they can sit back, act as if there is no danger or threat and
be indoctrinated, stripped of all they have and all they are, conquered,
dehumanised, enslaved and overwhelmed. The choice is ours.
And if anyone still doubts the
assertion that we are in mortal danger I would urge them to read the words of
Professor Ango Abdullahi, the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum and a
leading member of the Fulani cabal, in a recent interview with the Sunday
Vanguard Newspaper where he told us “why herdsmen must kill”, where he sought
to defend, justify and rationalise the bestial and barbaric acts of mass
murder, genocide and ethnic cleansing that the Fulani herdsmen and terrorists
have unleashed on the people of the south and the Middle Belt and where he
claimed that the British had “granted” what he described as “grazing routes” in
the Middle Belt and the south to the Fulani terrorists and herdsmen as far back
as 1914!
Never in the history of our
country, other than during the civil war, has mass murder, genocide, ethnic
cleansing, the slaughter of infants and babies, rape, destruction and the
burning and pillaging and violent occupation of other peooles lands and homes
been justified and defended in this way.
Professor Abdullahi has proved to
the world that we are a nation of bloodthirsty barbarians and sociopaths where
human life has no meaning and has no value.
His views reveal nothing but
madness in its most brazen form and the truth is that this reckless and
irresponsible elderly man is playing with fire and is courting nothing but
disaster for his Fulani people. Simply put he is begging for war.
I am disgusted and appauled by
his cold-blooded, blood-thirsty and blood-lusting mindset but I cannot say that
I am surprised. That is their way and these are their thoughts!
In addition to Abdullahi’s absurd
and provocative submissions the skeptics shoud also read Professor Umar
Muhammed Labdo’s insulting assertions about Fulani supremacy and the Fulani
being “born and destined to rule” over the whole of Nigeria.
If, after reading the
contributions of these two supposedly “learned” Fulani men, some still do not
understand what is going on or that we have a major challenge in this country,
then such persons are indeed part of the problem and are in dire need of help.
Permit me to end the concluding
part of this essay with the following.
To those who say that my words
are too blunt, plain and harsh and that suggest that I should be more
circumspect and temperate when discussing the powers that be in our country,
the state of our nation, the Fulani invasion and our ruling Caliph, I say the
following: I am the Servant of Truth and the Voice of the Voiceless.
If I do not speak up and say what
others know but dare not say who will speak for the downtrodden, the enslaved,
the weak, the oppressed, the slaughtered and the silent majority?
It is a calling and I cannot but
do as I do and say as I say. I cannot but speak bluntly and plainly, calling a
spade a spade.
In any case bullies, tyrants,
conquering foreign hordes and alien invaders neither understand subtlety and
restraint nor do they appreciate its nuances.
Worse still they misconstrue
gentle words and a kind and generous disposition for weakness and this fuels and
feeds their appetite for bestial acts and tyranny and encourages their naked
aggression.
Unlike most I fear not the
heathan hordes that seek to conquer and enslave our people nor the bloody sword
or the mighty roar of the uncircumcised Philistines.
I fear not the armies of Rome nor
the occultic Egyptians with their satanic covenants, ancient spells and
powerful invocations.
And neither will I bow, quiver or
tremble before the Chaldeans or the Amalekites that rule our land with their
unelenting display of violence, barbarity and cruelty.
I am led by the Holy Spirit of
the Living God and I trust in Him for all. He is my strength, my shield, my
glory and the lifter of my head.
I am in the Lord’s power and
hands and not in that of my adversaries or the enemies of my people. Most
importantly I am persuaded that He will never leave me or forsake me.
I am also guided by the wise
counsel of our very own Nobel Laureate and celebrated bard, Professor Wole
Soyinka, who wrote the following historic and powerful words in his famous book
titled, ‘The Man Died’ many years ago.
He wrote, “the man died in him
who remained silent in the face of tyranny”.
Today I proclaim, may the man
never die in any of us.
Again I am inspired by the
compelling, beautiful and eternal words written by the great 19th century
author and English sage, Thomas Babington Macauly, in his famous poem titled
‘Lays Of Ancient Rome’. He wrote,
“Then out spake brave Horatius,
the Captain of the Gate: to every man upon this earth death cometh soon or
late.
And how can man die better than
facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers and the temples of his gods.
And for the tender mother who
dandled him to rest, And for the wife who nurses his baby at her breast.
And for the holy maidens who feed
the eternal flame, to save them from false Sextus that wrought the deed of
shame?
Haul down the bridge, Sir Consul,
with all the speed ye may; I, with two more to help me, will hold the foe in
play”.
Today I pray that we be like
brave Horatius and hold the foe in play.
Finally, I am strengthened and
encouraged by the words of King David in Psalm 27 when he said,”The Lord is my
light and my salvation, whom shall I fear”.
Sorry my brother you're a brave lone voice crying in the wilderness
ReplyDeleteWe have all witnessed the incessant destruction to life and property caused by the Nigerian Fulani heardsmen, which requires immediate attention by the Nigerian National Assembly to promulgate laws to deal with the issue. But nothing is been done and the issue has turned into political attacks from the two major parties, regional divisions and tribal wars between the North and the South. The Northaners do not see any reason to shift on this issue and the Southerners insist that a solution must be sort to address the menace.
ReplyDeleteThe solution appears to be simple on the premise that we are not living in the 16th century where laws about grazing of cattle’s are non existent but in the modern agricultural era where farmlands can be cultivated to accommodate grazing, carering and treatment of cows to eliminate various treathning diseases in this our present century. Why this simple view and knowledge cannot be seen by our President , the National Assembly representatives gives me a feeling of why Femi Kayode’s article might be a part of a larger plan to disorganize Nigeria. Freedom of religion in Nigeria where Christians and moslims can practice side by side will make it virtually impossible for one faction to assume total control of Nigeria. The Nigeria Biafrian war will be a child’s play compared to any group trying to overun Nigeria.What the 1966 Nigeria biafran war tells me is that the South are more than capable to defend themselves and even win a war easily with their creativeness, spiritual assistance and superb organizational preparedness.