Adib Saani
One of the many security NGOs in the country has issued a press release in which a number of unsubstantiated and spurious remarks are made.
We are not oblivious about the importance of press cuttings in the lives of such NGOs because they constitute evidence that they are ‘working’.
But for God’s sake, when such remarks are made, the national interest and sincerity should be the watchwords.
Spurious remarks, when they are made, have the tendency to affect the management of security in the country.
The Zokoli attack on Fulanis, a subject which is currently under investigation by the Northern Regional Police Command, is one which a certain Jatikay Centre for Human Security and Peace Building has come in handy for the NGO.
Sadly, the NGO presented the Ghana Police Service as an inefficient security organisation which is yet to make any arrests since the perpetuation of the deadly attack.
If the security NGO is worth its salt, it should have known that some investigations require a long period of quietness on the part of the investigating authority. Making public initial strides can jeopardise the process. To seek to create a picture of ineffectiveness on the part of the police, under the circumstances, is to display ignorance about security issues.
Another worrying portion in the release is about a so-called discrimination and stereotyping of Fulanis in the scheme of things in the country. Mention is specifically made about how Fulanis are being denied the citizenship card.
“Fulanis in areas such as Sampa and Zabzugu have allegedly had their Ghanaian passports seized by immigration officials under the pretext that they can’t be Ghanaian. Marginalisation is a major cause of insurgency” are portions of the release from the NGO.
Not all Fulanis are Ghanaians, in fact there are many foreign Fulanis in the country. The foreign Fulanis, some of whom come to Ghana for grazing purposes from places like Burkina Faso, Mali and even Nigeria, should not be issued with Ghana Card or Ghana passports because they are not entitled to them.
We should be responsible in the remarks we make. Is the NGO suggesting that all Fulanis in Ghana are citizens of this country and should therefore be issued with citizenship documents? Should such denial lead to insurgency by people who do not qualify to possess our citizenship documents, as the NGO is claiming?
We are aware about some Fulanis whose forebears settled in Ghana many years before independence, some of them assimilated into the Ghanaian fold through inter-marriages. These persons, of course, are Ghanaians and entitled to the citizenship documents of the country. Not so, however, for many Fulanis who clearly are foreigners. Indeed, ample evidences exist about how some nomadic Fulanis are behind the criminal activities on the country’s highways.
Bona fide Ghanaians know their compatriots when they see them.
Fulanis who are Ghanaians possess citizenship documents. The relevant authorities should not be blamed for ensuring that only qualified citizens are issued with citizenship documents.