Malami’s mischief

NOT a few Nigerians were filled with consternation last week when they heard the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), on national television struggling to stand law and logic on their heads in an attempt to provide justification for Fulani herders’ insistence on sticking to an anachronistic mode of animal husbandry under the guise of freedom of movement. Malami’s intervention was ostensibly aimed at preventing a breach of the constitution but behind that facade is his real intention, which is to take the wind out of the sails of southern governors’ recent resolution banning open grazing within their domains. He even drew a parallel between banning open grazing in the South and prohibiting the sale of spare parts in the North. He posited that the constitution provides for the freedom of movement for Nigerians within the country’s geographical borders and, as such, banning open grazing vitiates this freedom and it is unconstitutional.

That was a blatantly mischievous interpretation of the constitution. Many citizens’ anger towards Malami did not just stem from the absurdity of his hollow pontification on freedom of movement and the  preposterous comparison he drew between open grazing and spare parts trading. It also stemmed from the realisation that he could have been giving poor quality legal advisories to the Presidency on matters relating to the herders, and the fact that he will continue to do so as  the AGF.

The AGF says that the southern governors should not have banned open grazing, and he issued a veiled  threat that the North could also ban spare parts vendors. Pray, what is the correlation between nomadic herdsmen who graze cattle on people’s farms and spare parts vendors who pay for shops and conduct their business in accordance with the law? Sadly, Malami has a history of making politically insensitive statements, behaving and talking as if he is the AGF of the North or the mouthpiece and counsel for herders. But this time, he really crossed the line by a long shot. It is a disservice to the country for a public officer of the AGF’s status to consistently and unabashedly prioritise self and ethnic interests over and above national interests.

Indeed, if there is any minister whose thoughts, decisions, actions and judgments should have national outlook devoid of colouration by primordial sentiments, it should ordinarily be the AGF whose portfolio is the only one specifically named in the constitution. But apparently, the current occupier of the office has, in practical terms, fallen short of the requirements envisaged by the drafters of the constitution. It is rather sad and strange  that Malami’s idea of freedom of movement is the type that allows armed herders to have a field day, destroying farm crops with their herds, killing, maiming, raping, kidnapping and extorting innocent citizens. It is either that Malami regards the numerous accounts of heinous crimes ascribed to Fulani herders as fairy tales, or that he is up to a mischief.  It is really embarrassing and concerning that the AGF could speak in such an unlearned, provocative and uncouth manner just to please Fulani herders, suggesting that the people and governments in the entire South could go to hell for all he cared.

The AGF has a litany of questions to answer: Is the  constitutionally guaranteed freedom which he alluded to for humans or cattle? Is the freedom of movement  like any other freedoms without limitation, even when security of lives and properties is threatened? Why is there a provision for derogation from rights to freedom in section 45 (9)  if those rights were absolute, as he is insinuating? How can anyone be  advocating freedom that has consistently caused others pain? Who made Malami a judge over state laws or is the country now a unitary state? Has Malami forgotten that by the provisions of the Land Use Act, governors have control over lands in their states? What danger do spare parts vendors constitute that Malami is, in a sense,  instigating northern governors to move against them? When did the constitution assign the role of making proclamations for the entire country to the AGF? And as a member of the executive branch of government, is it within the purview of the roles of the AGF to interpret the law? Is the interpretation of the law not the function of the judiciary, another arm of government? And why does Malami consistently give the impression that he has morbid fear of any initiative that has the potential to rein in the atrocities of killer herdsmen?

The bond of cohesion among the different ethnic nationalities in the country has never been as fragile and  tenuous as it is today. Thus, the AGF will need to tread carefully and stop his penchant for overreaching himself and taking sides on issues that border on ethnic and partisan interests. In a multi-ethnic state, office-holders are not expected to make ethnically provocative and insensitive statements. Such unguarded pronouncements are sure recipes for deepening hatred and mutual suspicion. The country is currently mired in grave security and socioeconomic challenges, and provocative and incendiary pronouncements like the one Malami made in his  recent pixilated intervention on the  banning of open grazing may sound the death knell on Nigeria. The AGF and his ilk should not continue to throw caution to the wind.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.

Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train

The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…