THE trending episodes of  the gruesome activities of Fulani herdsmen in some parts of the country have become disturbing and terrifying. They have no doubt reawakened the need for Nigerians to be security conscious at all times.

People now sleep with their eyes opened, especially in rural areas because of the some killer- herdsmen in their lands. Their activities have equally led to the calls by groups and some prominent individuals for herdsmen to leave the South East without further delay.

In Ebonyi State, Governor David Umahi has decided to be conscientious and diplomatic in his decision but also critical in order not to plunge the state into disaster.  In his last enlarged Security Council Meeting, he harped on the crucial need for Ebonyi people to avoid   tension between them and   herdsmen   as many of them had   lived in the state for over 40 years. Governor Umahi, a wise democrat and crisis manager, harped on peace, instead of making provocative comments that could endanger the lives of innocent residents of the state.

Security  advisers

The governor, through the instrumentality of a well coordinated security advisers consequently put modalities in place for the setting up a community-based security committee that includes Fulanis to check the activities of   killer-herdsmen in the board. No wise and right thinking Chief executive of a state would declare war without firstly, differentiating between the enemies of the state and those willing to live in peace with his people.

There is a popular dictum which states that ‘it is the rat in the house that tells the one outside where the food is’, but if you are able to manage the one inside very well, it will not accept any other visitor programmed to destroy its future.Ebonyi State is widely regarded as a peaceful state and its government’s strategy for peace will not come by way of declaring war but through the declaration of peace. This, the Umahi administration believes, would enable it identify her true enemies and then strike whenever the need arose. The governor on different platforms has reached out to the Fulani herdsmen in the state as they have decided to follow the path of peace and equity. This record is indeed unbeatable.

Being a master strategist, Governor Umahi has set up measures on how to identify any foreign fulani herdsman. He has directed the State Commissioner of Police Command to disarm any herdsman seen carrying guns in on Ebonyi soil. Immediately the gruesome incident in Enugu State broke, Engr. Umahi placed the police and other security agencies on the red alert. They are now systematically and synergistically working round the clock to checkmate incidence of crimes and criminality across the state.

Most Igbo had expected Governor Umahi to declare war on the herdsmen in the state and consequently drive them a way but facts emanating from the corridors of most advance security strategists in the world over, states that at the beginning of any insurgency, you first of all separate your friends from your true enemy before declaring total war. Umahi as a true Igbo leader and nationalist has always believed in the oneness and peaceful coexistence of Nigeria but not to the extent of allowing non-believers take laws into their hands.

Many had faulted his peace move and had expected a war-like disposition; but if he had openly declared war and the Igbo   are attacked in other parts of the country, Nigerians and indeed the Igbo would not only pour vernom on him, they would call for his head. What we need now is for the killer herdsmen to sheathe their swords. They must know that no Igbo man would fold his arms and watch them kill or maim their loved ones. Governor Umahi remains the first Governor within the South East to openly address issues revolving around the herdsmen and should be commended and not criticized simply because he did not openly call for a reprisal attack on the Fulani herdsmen.

What apparently causes acrimony between the herdsmen and the South easterners border mainly on   the encroachment of the herdsmen into their farmlands.  So, Governor Umahi decided that the state would create grazing routes so that farmlands belonging to Ebonyians would not be encroached upon by herdsmen.

These routes would serve as a guide for the herdsmen while moving along with their cattle as any violation of this measure could bring far reaching sanctions on any defaulter. What the Governor of Ebonyi state is simply doing is to put measures in place that would encourage the reign of peace in the state and for him to know how and when to act, if eventually there is crack on the wall.

By Peter Okutu