The current trend of stigmatising a particular ethnic group through hate speech and also sentencing an entire tribe for crimes committed by an insignificant fraction of its assumed members is not only alien to Nigeria but a scheme being plotted to achieve some sinister motives by trouble-seeking elements in Nigeria. This attitude of sentencing an…
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The current trend of stigmatising a particular ethnic group through hate speech and also sentencing an entire tribe for crimes committed by an insignificant fraction of its assumed members is not only alien to Nigeria but a scheme being plotted to achieve some sinister motives by trouble-seeking elements in Nigeria. This attitude of sentencing an entire tribe for a crime by its assumed members really raises questions such as why are such hate speeches and labelings only directed against a particular group — the Fulani.
It is on record that several criminal activities such as robbery, vandalising oil installations, assassinations, economic and political terrorism, kidnappings, etc are being committed in the country but perpetrators are simply identified as either militants or ordinary criminals without recourse to their tribes so long they are not Fulani.
Prior to the emergence of the current political dispensation, such labeling/sitigmatisation was unknown. Why now? Has anyone even for a moment pondered as to why the nomads, a peace-loving people whose main preoccupation has been rearing animals and providing the nation’s demands of milk, meat, hides and skin, etc, should suddenly abandon their pastoral life and resort to criminal activities?
Does anyone really care to ponder as to whether the current regime of labeling in the print and social media is good for our collective development as a nation? Every tribe has its own share of bad eggs amongst its members, but does that call for undue generalisation when the bad eggs misbehave?
History is indeed meant to broaden one’s outlook and also situate same to learn from events for effective functioning in any setting. The Rwandan nasty and bloody experience of 1994 was indeed an outcome of hate speech conceived, designed and executed by a fraction of society with total and unconditional support by their media. Such propaganda set the major tribe of Hutu against the minority Tutsi, the results are there for everyone to see.
We do not in any way support or shield any criminal hiding under the umbrella of any tribe to perpetuate crimes, but rather we seek to highlight the danger of the identified scheme and also call on the perpetrators of the dangerous game to learn from history in order to desist and instead promote what will advance the peace and progress of the nation. The Federal Government should give the issue the needed attention in order to arrest the gradual drift towards genocide.
The post Stop Profiling Herdsmen appeared first on Nigerian News from Leadership News.