The Ife crisis and the way out

IN the evening of Tuesday, March 7, 2017, the air in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, started getting polluted with unpalatable violence. Crisis ensued between Hausa traders and Yoruba traders and indigenes in the city. It was reported that a driver had mistakenly hit an Hausa woman with the side mirror at night and got matcheted that same night by the Hausa sympathizers. The crisis became full-blown on March 8, 2017. In a bitter response, the Yoruba, mostly National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), got their members mobilised and Sabo, the home of commerce for the Hausa, became bloody over the counter-attack.

The crisis between the Hausa traders and Yoruba indigenes can be fully described as an inter-ethnic violence. Some may shy away from the reality and the truth behind this name ‘inter-ethnic violence’ under the guise of dousing the escalation of the rift between the two concerned tribes.On March 8, Rotimi Makinde, the Federal Honourable from the Ife constituency, took to this social media platform to respond to the fiery rampage. In his words: “The crisis in ile ife, Osun State today is not about Yoruba/Hausa but about some miscreants who must face the law, it is good to see the police rising to the occasion and so also the monarchs. We have been enjoying relative peace until these nuisances rose to give us the names we do not deserve. The situation is under calm for now and the public should be sure that the police and the community we ensure justice is done accordingly. The Ooni is known for peace and he did recognize the need for we all to live peacefully regardless of our tribes….’’

Giving credit to the kind intentions of the Ife politician, it is diplomatic to opine that the rift has no tribal discoloration since Ife has had no record of such brutal encounter with the Hausa sojourners. But the diplomacy is far from the truth visibly known to all and sundry. The Hausa have so far burnt houses, churches and other properties accredited to their immediate foes and no one else. The  anger from the Yoruba has not been blindly navigated. Constructed, structured and purposive havocs were manifested. On an average scale, the death tolls at both ends may be presently in the hundreds. So, never should Ife indigenes water down what is crystal clear.

In the middle of this crisis, the Osun state government declared a two-day curfew that was later extended till the following Monday in a bid to douse the effects of this violence. The monarch of Ile- Ife, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, who has often been given a pat on the back for subduing the recurring Ife-Modakeke war, took a step of peacekeeping and reconciliation. All these efforts to suppress the crisis were not sufficient. It is therefore imperative that a more pragmatic way-out is sought after.

Why? From history, Hausas have established a strong bond with the Yoruba indigenes. While some have thriving businesses in Ife that create sustenance for the Southwesterners, many of them have amassed fixed assets by virtue of their lucrativeness, some in the tertiary institutions of Obafemi Awolowo University and Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu, and also around the city. The Hausa are interconnected with the Yoruba in terms of blood relations. An example is the Ara Seriki of Hausa in Ifeland. Convincingly, migration is not an advisable solution because of this intertwined relationships. The implication of this will still be unpalatable.

Every human race is a sympathizer for a particular group of people. In my opinion, orientation is a realistic solution which our elder statemen and political leaders should pursue to the core. Orientation is a function of the mind involving awareness of three dimensions: time, place and person. Both the Hausa and the Yoruba need be soundly sensitised on the need for peaceful co-existence irrespective of their locations and the people residing around them. Conflicts cannot be avoided as long as humans co-exist but conflicts can be managed. Enough of the past records of war that the Hausa and Yoruba tribes have separately marked. Bloodbath in Ife-Modakeke fights only wrecked the economy and will do more if similar massacre is made to survive now. And, Hausa will make their regions unconducive to the Yoruba and the latter will do same. Then, the name ‘Nigeria’ will hold no water. This should not stand! Orientation will reshape and re-channel the energy and sympathy of citizens of different tribes before it gets misguided.

• Ogunjobi is a 400-level student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.