No matter what rallying cries the orators give to the idiots who fight, no matter what noble purposes they assign to wars, there is never but one reason for a war. And that is money.
- Margaret Mitchell
Of recent two videos out there in the public domain have been trending on social media; Sheik Gumi’s meeting with the terrorist Fulani herdsmen AKA ‘Bandits’ and the Police parading the killers of Senator Joshua Dariye’s father.
In the former, the Sheik makes a case for amnesty for the terrorist, describing them as economic victims of persistent cattle rustling and neglect by the Government, encroachment of reserves set aside for grazing, and add to that the general knowledge on Fulani migrations as a result of draught in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Reflecting on the interview and the pre-dominant news headlines this year, it is obvious that the ‘bandits’ are gaining more prominence at the expense of Boko Haram (or some might say a collabo is occurring).
Why you might ask?
The truth is whenever religious ideology and economic gain collide more often than not, the economy -MONEY wins; it was the same for Judas Iscariot and his 30 pieces of silver, and it speaks true for Boko Haram fighters abandoning their cause and teaming up with the ‘bandits’.
An article by Malik Samuel, a researcher with the Institute for Security Studies published Mar 2021, stated that “ There are numerous reasons for Shekau’s forays into the North-West and North-Central areas. These include the desire to create an Islamic state that goes beyond the north-east, recruitment and financial gains from ransom payments and other activities like illegal gold mining”.
In the Police press conference of Pa Dariye’s killers, we saw confessions from Pa Jethro and Mangut (our people) on how they colluded with some Fulani’s to kidnap and eventually kill the father of our former Governor.
Bokkos is one of the regions ravaged by incessant attacks from Fulani Herdsmen, hence one would expect that the strong mutual suspicion which exist will prevent such an alliance; however for the prospect of economic gain, supposed enemies have become partners in crime.
There’s always an economic aspect to every conflict.
Is there a religious (spiritual) angle to the security challenges we face as a people? YES
Is there an ethnic and territorial expansionist tendency to the attacks we experience? YES
However as with any crisis or war, resolution is usually achieved with a multi-pronged approach and I believe focusing on the economic aspects (Financing) has the potential to tremendously shorten conflicts.
After 911, the US governments efforts didn’t start with boots on the ground in the Taliban controlled regions in Afghanistan, it started by working with the banks to choke off financing to Al Qaeda.
One of the interrogation videos of an arms supplier to the ‘Fulani bandits’ puts the price of an AK47 at one million naira (N1,000,000) and bullets at one thousand naira each (N1,000)…it is obvious being a terrorist isn’t cheap!!!
This will explain the appeal of kidnapping for ransom and abandonment of Boko Haram fighters to join the terrorist herdsmen.
The Nigerian Federal Government which regulates the banks, controls immigration and our borders, telecommunications, the security agencies particularly DSS, international affairs need to do more to choke off the flow of money going to these groups.
Our State governor, Senators, Reps, Federal Minister, Perm sec, Federal civil servants, journalists, social media influencers, opinion makers, party men/women (both PDP, APC and other nationally influential personalities from Plateau State need to spearhead this charge by using whatever voice or avenues sphere of influence they command to push the Federal Government to act.
Sad to say, all we hear is how suspected sponsors are released seemingly on bail, and rumors of complicity by highly placed persons who remain nameless and untouchable.
At the State level not much can be done to choke off this financial stream accruing to these terrorists, we can however attend to the internal aspects of the conflict by empowering our people.
When we address the economic aspects of this conflict by pushing for the economic empowerment of our people and increased productivity of the State, we can enjoy a three-fold benefit as it concerns security;
One, it reduces the probability of our people being recruited as internal collaborators. Every conflict festers-on when internal collaborators are prevalent, and how are they mostly recruited – financial enticement….MONEY.
Break down our demographics in terms of unemployment and poverty indices, and you will realize we are sitting on a timebomb as a state (and a nation at large). The almajiri’s of yesterday are the bandits and Boko Haram members of today...the out of school, illiterate, unskilled and in most cases unemployed Plateau people are mostly the collaborators undermining security efforts.
Secondly, economic empowerment avails people the means to better defend themselves. The speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly has been under fire of late for calling on people to rise and defend themselves.
While most erroneously think of self-defense only in the light of acquiring guns (which is illegal) – organizing neighbourhood watch groups, vigilante with means for rapid response, influencing security outposts and the like require resources.
Lastly, if our States resources; from Agriculture to Solid Minerals, can be fully developed/harnessed, the inherent value it brings to the nation can be ‘weaponized’ to force the hands of regions that appear sympathetic to these terrorists rethink their positions.
The Southern States, home to plentiful grazing grounds, by agreeing to collectively pass laws banning open grazing has forced Miyetti Allah to soft peddle on their strong rhetoric and seek negotiation, and the Value Added Tax (VAT) battle led Gov. Wike of Rivers State is causing Northern States to take the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) potential of their domains seriously, which will force them to checkmate the excesses of religious extremist.
Funny enough the core North also tried this and failed woefully when an embargo on moving food to the South was placed.
The impact and influence of MONEY-ECONOMICS-FINANCE in conflict resolution has to be exploited as beyond guns and bullets, it all mostly comes down to financial benefits.
Afterall, Megan W. Turner said “To make war you need three things: one, money; two, money; and three, money”
Alfred Dapal Damiyal
