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Opinions of Sunday, 23 May 2021

Columnist: www.thisdaylive.com

What’s Malami saying?

Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami

Not unexpectedly, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, last week, stood on the side of herders, when he condemned the position of Southern governors, who upheld the ban on open grazing, saying their position was unconstitutional. But that isn’t even the bone of contention here.

He went on to liken the governors’ position to banning the sales of vehicle spare parts. How?

What’s even the parallel between itinerant herders and vehicle spare parts sellers, who operate from identifiable stations or shops? Is the desperation to grant the Fulani herdsmen a free-pass so pressing that the AGF could not even properly articulate his defence and the best the chief law officer of the nation could do is equate herders and spare parts, vendors? Wow!

There’s something you can’t afford to gloss over here, albeit objectively. Isn’t it obvious now why the criminal herders go about with so much recklessness and guts? Isn’t it evident why it appeared their excesses were seemingly intractable? Isn’t it understandable now why the government seemed helpless in the face of the heinous crimes so far perpetrated by these criminal elements in the name of grazing?

It is shameful and utterly disappointing that the chief law officer of the nation could not hide his biases in a matter that threatened national security and the unity of Nigeria and would rather espouse such lowly primordial sentiments.

Although the Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu gave him a resounding reply, exposing his lack of capacity and ineptitude, Malami has also by himself exposed his role in the problems of the country. He’s no less an enemy of Nigeria.