I have read Mr Umaru Amadu Sanda’s article, and I got startled and scandalised by the gravity and latitude of persecutions, victimizations, stereotypes and vilifications that Fulanis are subjected to, not only in Ghana and Nigeria, middle and coastal belts of West Africa.
As Bob Marley aptly put it, only “he who feels it knows it”. Umaru Sanda’s article has not only accentuated the deep columns of ethnocentrism and nepotism that seeks to ravage the fabric of our national cohesion and hospitality but also embeds the undercurrents of xenophobia and slavery in Ghana. The core message in Umaru Sanda’s article is encapsulated in his statement: “I am not by this article portraying members of the Fulani ethnic group as saints. But I believe that these recurring troubles could be easily averted if the crimes committed on either side are dealt with as crime rather than boxing a whole ethnic group together”. What appeal, directed at the human conscience, could be fairer than this?
I am from a community in the Upper West Region where the treatment of Fulanis seems to be almost the reverse of how Fulanis are treated in other parts of Ghana. In fact, in my community, (I don’t about now), Fulanis used to be wealthier than most of us and well-integrated with us. My grandfather engaged a Fulani to cater for our family cattle, and I remember, when I was in upper primary and JSS, I used to go to our Fulani’s farm to weed portions of their farm for money to buy my books and car-tyre sandals for school. We have checks and balances that keep Fulanis and us in a cordial relationship. We inter-marry with Fulanis, and we attend their funeral/naming ceremonies and they reciprocate.
For instance, we believe most our Fulanis arrived from Burkina Faso, and because we live very close to the Ghana-Burkina border, we hold the fears that anyone who gravely maltreat their Fulani, may wake up the next morning to realize that the Fulani had fled with their cattle into Burkina as a way of revenge. This may sound like a stereotype but it is consistent with human behaviour to revenge with all the arsenals at our disposal. Sometimes, our Fulanis used to harvest more maize from their farms than we do, but my grandfather was obliged to feed them, regardless. Fulanis from my community, Walembelle, participated in games and everything we do, except taking their children to school.
Fulanis play a crucial role in the social and economic development of Ghana. We need Fulanis to take care of our cattle so that our children can attend schools and so that we can fund their education from the sale of the cattle. Fulanis also need to cater for our cattle so that they will have tangible ground on which their stay with us is purposeful and legitimate. It is a tenable surmise that a considerable number of Ghanaian youths would not have completed our education if Fulanis had not agreed to take care of our cattle and they do so at the expense of their children’s education.
Fulanis keep their kids with our cattle in the bush for our kids to be in the classrooms or so that we can always enjoy beef and dairy products with our families. By virtue of nature of their job, Fulanis children are naturally bound to be deprived of the right to education and this deprivation could perpetuate as long as the children of Fulanis must follow cattle in order avoid being banished by the cattle owners for not taking good care of their cattle.
My little observation about human nature is that the tendency for humans to discriminate against fellow humans or to feel discriminated against by other humans seems to a universal curse of humankind. The way we feel about the abhorrent treatment of Fulanis in Ghana and in West Africa is not different from how Africans feel about how we are treated by Western countries. It is not also different from how some women or wives feel they are under perpetual dominion, manipulation and oppression by men or their husbands, and it is not different from how ‘Kaayaye’ girls feel about how they are treated in our open markets and slums in the urban areas. Besides, Africans have always sounded like we are the perpetual victims of Western imperialism and we harboured this feeling for centuries and still.
Another example, former president John Mahama is not a Fulani, but he had his share of the ethnocentric venom and bigotry from Ghanaians to the extent that some people from his own ethnic group, disowned him by referring to him as “Bole Mahama” in order insulate themselves from the psychological and emotional inflictions and agonies that come with such deleterious ethnocentric invectives. The toils and advocacies of civil rights activists like Martin Luther King Jnr, Malcolm X, etc. have changed America and Europe but have not changed the conditions of black people in these regions as expected because blacks have failed to wake and rise to the call to change their circumstances. Indeed, Africa seems to have produced the most vociferous freedom fighters in the world’s history but Africans still keep the doom narrative unchanged. I hold the view that no oppressed people have ever attained freedom from their oppressors unless they take bold steps to emancipate themselves out of illiteracy, poverty and dependency.
Advocacy could somehow scale-down the magnitude of discrimination in the public space, but it is a very slow, ineffectual and inadequate approach. In most cases, advocacy rather compels the oppressor to adopt more subtle ways to still keep the oppressed under oppression. This is, perhaps, the reason why Dr Kwame Nkrumah, our first president, envisaged neo-colonialism. It is also, perhaps, the reason why, despite Africa’s freedom fighters have lost their lives in their struggle to liberate Africans, home and in the diaspora, the dreadful conditions of Africans anywhere and everywhere have not changed much, and Africans everywhere still continue to engage in civil rights activism and activism against white supremacy. In Ghana, Muslims in Zongos and so many folks from Northern Ghana, have been expressing similar sentiments (if not same) as the sentiments articulated by Mr Umarui Sanda in his article.
Not long ago, most people caught in arm robbery in Ghana, had Muslim names even if they had other names, and Zongo communities found that to be questionable and perceived that be a calculated media smear that targeted at denigrating and tarnishing the image of Muslims. Northerners are still struggling hard to untagged themselves from stereotypes and misconceptions that Northerners are conflictual and uncultured. Not long ago, just like how BBC reporters used to paint gloomy pictures about Africa, it was the same way Ghanaian media reporters reported about Northern Ghana.
The points I wish to underscore here are two:
- Uneducated/unresourceful people. people without land or with land that has no significant economic value and vulnerable minority groups are susceptible to abuse, enslavement and discrimination by the privileged ethnic groups. This is, probably, a tragedy from the corruption of human morals by capitalist mentality and obsessions about power and wealth accumulation.
- The conditions of people who suffer loathsome discriminations and victimizations can be changed only when they change it by themselves through every appropriate and possible means. For instance, the establishment of Ministry of Zongo Development can only be as good as it looks on the scoresheet of political gimmicks and tokenisms. If the conditions of Zongo or Fulani people will change in Ghana, they must change it themselves.
The good news is that, given the list of Fulanis in high places in Ghana, as mentioned in Mr Sanda’s article, I think Fulanis have enough prominent people to win this battle. It is not a battle to win in the media or through the media, even though the media could serve as a catalyst. It is a battle against illiteracy and poverty. It is the African battle, it is the Zongo Muslims battle, and it is the Northern Ghana battle.
I think it will not be a bad idea for Fulanis to establish a scholarship scheme and/or establish schools to support their kids’ education in Ghana. It will not be a bad idea if Fulanis advocate for the law that stipulates the relationship and benefit-sharing formula between cattle owners and their Fulani herdsmen. The point remains that something tangible must be done by the Fulanis, and for the Fulanis. For people who own no land in Ghana, like the Fulanis, education is the land and it is the land for the people of Northern Ghana who occupy vast land that has very little economic value. Let’s cultivate education to turn the tables and the tides in our favour. Let’s help ourselves.
The post A rejoinder to Umaru Sanda’s Article: “The untold story of ‘enslaved’ Fulani Herdsmen” appeared first on Citinewsroom - Comprehensive News in Ghana, Current Affairs, Business News , Headlines, Ghana Sports, Entertainment, Politics, Articles, Opinions, Viral Content.
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