RANCH OR RUGA IS IT NOT A MATTER OF SEMANTICS?

Ruga: Can I hear you say, “never again?”

Opinion:
By Nkem Ossai

There are fears that every man must always and every time entertain and that is the fear of God, and the fear of any man whose actions show he does not have the fear of God.

Growing up as youngsters in my remote village with my siblings in the seventies, my parents would always tell us the families we must visit and those we must not visit even if we are being chased by a masquerade. Among those we must never visit are those of a thief, those who kill by poison and juju priests. As children, we are not expected to ask why. There may still be more but this three may likely be the heinous ones.

So, when we gather for a moonlight play, with other children, we ponder and talk about these things. We ask ourselves questions like, why should somebody think of taking another’s life, or steal another’s properties etc. We were not able to understand these things until later in our life’s journey.

Till date, we still recognize these families that we were warned to avoid and till date, we still remember the evils they committed and the evils that their children have come to represent in our subconscious – ‘Ndi negbu mmadụ’.

Two thousand and sixteen (2016) is already eight years ago but not too long a time for us to remember the evil meted to Nimbo people by the Fulani stock. Secondly, Nimbo sons and daughters who were then ten years and above and were lucky to escape the massacre are now adults. Can you for a moment imagine the trauma these young people will go through on learning that the herdsmen who murdered their fathers and mothers in their sleep a few years ago are being brought back to set up cattle ranch. Our policy makers, can you pause for a while and think, knowing that one day you will be divested of that your Olympian height and may be brought before the people or before God to answer for your actions and inaction.

Before the Fulani herders turned themselves into killing machines, band of robbers and kidnappers, we used to relate with them as they pass our villages with their herds. Sometimes they would enter the neighborhood and beg for drinking water which they would gladly be obliged. Today, the presence of a Fulani man in any village in Igbo land portends grave danger.

Evil deed against a people is never forgotten. And so Fulani has sown evil seed in Nimbo, Uzouwani which will forever remain indelible. Generations yet unborn will continue to remember this evil and those who committed it. Any politician who attempts a gamble with this evil will have anathema written after his name forever.

What is actually Ranch and how does it differ from RUGA? Ranch is said to be a farm, usually large, devoted to the breeding and raising of cattle, sheep, or horses on rangeland. Ranch farming, or ranching, originated in the imposition of European livestock-farming techniques onto the vast open grasslands of the New World, (Source Google).

In other words, RUGA was a policy of human settlement as was introduced by Buhari regime. It was believed then as a means of reducing to the minimum, the farmers-herders clashes nationwide. This has since been seen as a pretentious act designed by Fulani people aimed at grabbing indigenous lands.

Vanguard News of 2nd July 2019, said, “the true meaning of Ruga is an Hausa word that means COW SETTLEMENT.” RUGA ordinarily may be seen as an acronym for ‘rural grazing area’! When you take a closer look at the definitions, you will clearly discover that the difference is simply semantics and possibly size of the area of land. Both means large expanse of land for grazing of cattle.

Flash back to 2016, when the serene farming villagers of Nimbo woke up to a stench of there own fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters murdered in cold blood by no other people than those they have considered as neighbours and friends over the years.

How can we forget so soon?

“At about 5.15 am on April 25, 2016, the armed herdsmen numbering over 500 struck, killing 40 people. The following day, April 26, 2016, six more bodies were recovered and 14 victims were lying critically ill at Royal Cross Hospital, Nsukka, Nsukka District General Hospital and Bishop Shanahan Hospital, Nsukka.”

That was how it was reported. Now, without compensation, without apology and without any form of remorse, they are bent on returning back to this same people, to the same community they murdered, under the guise of economic development and now christened ‘Ranch’ a people whose insanity has crossed national boundaries. I think we should be thoroughly ashamed of ourselves to even be conceiving a thing like that.

It is very important that all the indigenous tribes understand that in making the choice to be a purveyor of endless violence, the Fulani has deliberately and forever accepted the part of dishonour. And so will remain loathsome before the indigenous Nigerians. The truth is, they have neither the fear of God nor man.