By
Emmanuel Gandu
HIGHLIGHTS
Introduction
El Rufai : the Machiavellian ruthless strategist
El Rufai : a disaster to Nigeria
El Rufai pays monetary compensation to fereign Fulani heardsmen
Hand over El Rufai to the courts for trial, justice, and conviction for crimes against Nigeria and humanity, to the people’s court, to the judgement of posterity, or to God for clemency ?
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
He had fought many titanic battles in the past and in all of them, he came out a triumphant warrior.
From his University Students Union Aluta days to the years of the demolition saga of the FCT during the Obasanjo PDP administration.
From the first and second infamous tenures as governor of Kaduna State widely characterised by blood and tears, life threatening, unpopular and controversial policies to the alleged “treasonable” confrontation/fight with President Muhammadu Buhari over the new currency redesign policy, going all the way to the Supreme Court.
From the battles of imposition of the Muslim-Muslim ticket in Kaduna State in 2019 and again in 2023, to the replication of same at the federal level in the 2023 presidential election.
Although he thrives on controversy, and win or lose, Nasir El Rufai’s image and ego would have been bruised to such an extent that the memory will for a long time ever remain indelible in both his mind and that of the Nigerian public.
EL RUFAI, THE MACHIAVELLIAN RUTHLESS STRATEGIST
Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai comes across to me as an astute, unrepentant, ruthless Machiavellian strategist.
People call him by as diverse names as there are available situations, some complementary and a lot more uncharitable – “fearless one”, “Hell Rufai”, “Mai Rusou”, “Bull Dozer”, “Midjet”, and the “small man”.
I refer to him as the “Evil Genius”.
Be it as it may, these names are a reflection of what the phenomenon called Mallam Ahmed Nasir El Rufai has come to mean in the lives of the people he had impacted negatively or positively.
But one thing you cannot take away from the short man is his high level of intelligence and strategic planning which puts him miles ahead of others.
Give it to him or not, El Rufai’s independent disposition works well for him. His ruthlessly shrewd personality is an asset he cherishes like gold. Hate him or like him, you may never know when your actions may be at your peril or not, but one thing I know is that El Rufai is such an enigma that you would hate to love.
His type of specie and breed is so rare that they come once in a lifetime. This rare gem of El Rufai seems to have come way ahead of our time, and the Nigerian society may not have been ripe ready for his brand.
However, the resultant outcomes of El Rufai’s actions have been as disastrous as they have been seen to cause catastrophic consequences in the lives of Nigerians.
Consequently, Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai does not appeal to me as a unifier. He is definitely not a reflection of a bridge builder.
People like El Rufai have put a knife on the things that held us together and we’ve fallen apart.
NASIR AHMED EL RUFAI PAYS MONETARY COMPENSATION TO FOREIGN FULANI
At a world press conference in December 2016 in his office, Governor El Rufai told journalists that “We have paid some foreign fulanis to stop killings in Southern Kaduna.”
In that press conference as reported by Vanguard of 3rd December 2016, El Rufai said his government traced some aggrieved fulanis to their countries to stop the killings.
According to the report these fulani are from Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Senegal, other 9 African countries.
Hear now is the implication of El Rufai’s actions :
(1) Since El Rufa’s cross border ransom payment to the Fulani tribes in their countries, the floodgates for Kidnapping for ransom were flung open.
(2) Fulani heardsmen bandits kidnappers have seen kidnapping as a better flourishing businesses to cattle rearing and Nigeria have never known peace since 2016 to date.
(3) Southern Kaduna is not only seen by every fulani in the world as the aggressor in this unending conflict. The entire country is now engulfed as a theater of kidnapping and ransom payment.
(4) Is this El Rufai action not a catalyst/ cannon fodder for the unending spate of killings and destruction of property in Southern Kaduna ?, and by extension the entire Nigeria as currently experienced ?
(5) Why haven’t El Rufai also compensate the people of Southern Kaduna who have continued to bear the brunt of the fulani herdsmen terrorists massacre on daily basis all these years.?
(6) El Rufai’s travels, engagement, and paying compensation to foreign fulani in their countries is a foreign policy action. The Nigerian 1999 constitution as amended placed foreign policy on the exclusive list :
(a) Does El Rufai have the powers to travel and pay money to foreigners in their own country ?
(b) Is his actions not tantamount to treasonable felony or a coup d’etat ?
(c) Is El Rufai’s trans-borders movement of unrecorded, unapproved, and unappropriated cash not a financial crime ?
(d) Must El Rufai not be investigated by EFCC, ICPC, or other financial crimes monitoring agencies ?
(e) Why did Buhari and his federal government looked the other direction?
(f) By his action and inaction, is Muhammadu Buhari definitely not an accomplice ?
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Interestingly, and unfortunately, El Rufai’s actions have encouraged the Fulani and their kidnapping gangs including other emerging groups to ravage Nigeria with reckless abandon.
In the face of these catastrophic consequences, should :
(1) Nasir El Rufai be handed over to the courts for trial for justice and conviction for crimes against Nigeria and humanity ?
(2) El Rufai be handed over to the people’s court ?
(3) El Rufai be handed over to the judgement of posterity ?
(4) If he confesses with a contrite heart, should Nasir El Rufai be handed over to God for clemency ?
Time will tell.
Peace
19/3/2024