MALAMI, AG, F.G.N: The Unknown Gunman ? - By Dave Agwalla

When you fuel the passion in haters, incite rebellion or violence against a people by making hate speeches, from the highest arm of the department of JUSTICE of a country people listen.

There's no contesting the fact that Malami, the Attorney General of this Federation & her Minster of Justice, lost his mind or forgot his high office or position he holds, when he cast decorum to the winds & uttered a hate speech against the entire Southern part of Nigeria & the lgbo race or nation in particular. He was very wrong & exhibited the highest level of ignorance, which he suddenly realized & we expect him to offer undiluted apologies.

It appears that, to Malami, Justice does not extend or protect anyone's freedom to represent or of speech, especially when he believes that his ethnic group is involved or are threatened in their destructive, deadly & senseless, open grazing business in the Southern & Middle Belt regions of Nigeria. He is a champion of the totalitarian ideology, which his people are known for, but that has no place in this country we all own together.

It is either Malami is the AG of the Federal Government of Nigeria or the Fulani Government of Nigeria (both are FGN). He definitely cannot carry the two very distinct portfolios in a very divided country like ours. Definitely not under the watch of our smarter political & prominent leaders.

The public statement by Malami in which he compared spare parts dealers in Nigeria to the world of his wondering herdsmen, who live in the forests & engaged in open grazing, is both beyond partisan politics or love for one's ethnic group. It was a hate speech, intended to cause disaffection, violence, war & further divide the country.

Most of those who have criticised him are moderate Fulanis, peace loving northerners & members of his own political party. Freedom of speech does not include or protect those who falsely shout fire in a crowded market place or theater because people may die in the pandemonium the may follow. Period!

If an Attorney General & Minister of Justice of a multi-ethnic & divided along every line, in a country like Nigeria, could not excercise restraint or great care in making speeches that are capable of plunging his country into catastrophic crises or even civil war, only God can save us.

Malami, as an appointee of Mr President & confirmed by the Nigerian Senate, emptied outside the laws of this country & must be called to order by showing him the exit door. He has to be prosecuted to deter others like him, but that may never happen because he is from the secrade class.

In ideal situations or civilised societies, Malami would have either resigned or thrown out, especially after all the critical comments that followed his hate speech by prominent & ordinary Nigerians, electronic/print media houses across the country, his fellow Hausa/Fulani stock & party members. Many in the employ of past government, who dared or committed less offences, were axed.

These justified attacks or objective criticisms of Malami can never be about or seen by anyone as political opposition by a rival party, but about his issueing an open threat to the fragile peace & unity of the contraption called Nigeria.

He should be relieved of his duties as AG & Minister of Justice of this country, not only for his hate speech that threatens peace & security, incited violence or war, but for showing so much grave disrespect to the Southern Governors Forum, who met earlier on the crises situation in the country & banned the open grazing system in their own parts of the country. Picking or singling out that particular item, from the so many contained in their widely lauded, strongly worded communique, to attack or threaten the lgbo race in doing decent business, across the country, had some sinister motives. That such came from the Attorney General & Minister of Justice, say volume about the possibility of an alleged different agenda.

There must be something to take from a man in Malami's high office or sensitive position by Nigerians, especially the younger generations who should look up to him. That cannot be from his height of demonstrating disdain for some tribes or his disrespect to Southern Governors or anyone in higher authority than him, for that matter.

The last time l checked who is who on the protocol list of this country, the AG came a distant bellow an elected Governor as an appointee of the President, who must be confirmed by the Nigerian Senate. His office required him to carry himself in a civilised manner & above board, but he failed woefully.

Governors are elected by the people to serve them. In that position or capacity, they enjoy certain previleges, have some level of autonomy, command a lot of respect, have their own state budgets, preside over heads of both legislative & judicial arms, come among the 72 Nigerians that have constitutional immunity against prosecution. These are what Malami, as the AG doesn't have.

Governors can only be removed by impeachment of their state Houses of Assembly, with a difficult 2/3rd majority required, while it's within the prerogative of the President to throw a Minister out. By the way, Ministers should be nominated by their home state Governors & can be rejected by the Senate. MALAMI needs to accord them their due respect & don't try to trivialise their actions or decisions.

Moreover, Malamu could not & cannot challenge the authority of the Northern Governors Forum, who meet regularly & issue statements or communiques that suggest preponderance of their people over others in Nigeria.

For Malami to have shown his hatred for the lgbo race, who are known to be the major " spare parts dealers, " ,a noble trade, by likening their business to that of his ethnic, low wanderers, who herd cattle's, destroy farms & commit all sorts of criminal activities, questions his qualification for the high position he occupies & what he actually believes to be the problems of this country & the likely situations.

For all Malami may care to know, the spare parts dealers are importers, who live peacefully among the indigenous people of anywhere they trade. They pay rent or build & live in their own houses, help to develop both the infrastructure & economy of their host states. They have their children in schools & are generous to the needy. Let whoever cares, compare them with the destructive herdsmen in the southern forests of Nigeria, where unknown gunmen are devastating lives & properly.

"The questions being asked by most peaceful & discerning Nigerians, are whether Malami, the AG & Minister of Justice of Nigeria, is discouraging or encouraging criminality, violence & wanton killings of both innocent civilians & security personnel in the country? Why is he opposed to peaceful solutions by attacking those who profess that?

This maybe the umpteenth time that people, who have been blinded by their pursuit or promotion of an alleged ethnic domination, those who fuel the passion of hatred/discord, incite more violence in Nigeria, disrespect higher elected or constituted authorities in pursuit of peace/protection of their peoples' lives & property, behaved & respected themselves or be held accountable for the grave consequences of their actions.

Malami may no longer be trusted for an unbiased dispensation of Justice in Nigeria, for his alleged or perceived protection of a particular race against the others.

You do not have to carry a gun to be,
" the Unknown Gunman "

My take.
Dave Agwalla