This is an injunction from many Christian groups that met in Port Harcourt to all peace loving peoples of the world! It is as protest against blood-thirsty jihadist and expansionist slaughter by `Fulani Herdsmen’ of innocent Nigerian communities across Nigeria.
Good idea! I began avoiding beef years ago not for the above reason but doctors have been warning that beef is red meat which is not good for you. I want to remain reasonably healthy. Another good reason for the average citizen to avoid beef is that it is now too expensive. So no more suya, kilichi, ngwo ngwo, kanda! What a pity. But why worry? There are goats, sheep and chicken even though I have not heard of chicken suya, ngwo ngwo or kanda! But we are inventive and can think of alternatives.
But what bothers me is that these Fulani herdsmen are already here with their cattle living with us. Go to any nook and cranny of Igbo land in particular and you will see them in their shanties. The even occupy our once prestigious Presidential Hotel in Enugu! They are virtually part of us. And what will we be serving those dignitaries, friends and well-wishers whom we want to impress at funerals. After all, it seems that these days the success of a funeral is judged by the number of Fulani cattle slaughtered! Can you imagine how many funerals take place in Igbo land every week? If you travel by road on Thursdays or Fridays to the East whether from Lagos or Abuja you can imagine how many convoys you speed past all heading in that direction bearing caskets. And of course people die right there in the East. Even those who never contributed anything to the development of their home town must be carried there for burial. Imagine how many Fulani cows get bought and slaughtered at these burials, weddings and other ceremonies each week in the East.
So the big question is how do you get the Fulani cattle to disappear with their rearers? How do you get River Niger to flow upstream to the mountains from where it came? How do you get the Igbo man, in particular, to modify some of his habits? Please refer to my earlier post, The Igbo Man And His Cow. How do we persuade the Fulani to take their cattle to the federal government’s pet project, the grazing reserves and leave us in peace?
But if we all do not eat beef it will not stop Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram or foreigners or other assorted terrorists masquerading as herdsmen killing our people. After all, the Minister said our security agencies cannot control our borders and these so-called herdsmen could be foreign terrorists. Is the answer not for us to begin finding ways to defend ourselves in the face of the inadequacies of the security agencies? If vigilante and hunters can fight terrorists in Borno and Sambisa Forest why can our own vigilante and hunters not fight them in the South whether they are masquerading as herdsmen or not? Why can the Bakassi Boys not be resuscitated and put to better use for our safety? If we keep turning `the other cheeks’ these herdsmen, terrorists, or whoever they are, will be happy to keep cutting our heads off in the name of Allah! We must borrow a leaf from the Jews, `a tooth for a tooth’, or even, ten teeth for one tooth.