Atiku warns that rising tension with release of anti-Igbo song could recreate Rwanda in Nigeria

FORMER vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has warned that Nigeria is now facing the real threat of genocide similar to what happened in Rwanda in 1994 given the tense atmosphere created by the ultimatum given for Igbos to leave the north of the country.

Over the last two years, there has been a surge in the demand for the recreation of the defunct republic of Biafra across southeast Nigeria, which in turn has led northern youth groups to ask all Igbos living in the area to leave by October 1. A coalition of Arewa youth associations issued the ultimatum, claiming Ndigbo have indicated that they no longer want to be part of Nigeria.

With the deadline looming, tension has been mounting despite attempts to resolve the stand-off via dialogue and over the last week, an anti-Igbo song has suddenly become popular across northern Nigeria. Warning of the dangers, Alhaji Abubakar has condemned peddlers of the hate song denigrating Igbos, warning that the country risks relapsing into genocidal war, akin to what occurred in Rwanda in 1994.

His warning coincided with the failure of a 10-man committee of a coalition of northern youths and Igbo leaders to reach an agreement on Monday. Their committee had been set up to find a common ground between the feuding groups and make peace but while it set about its task, hate speeches persisted with a song in Hausa aimed at instigating resentment against Igbos.

Alhaji Abubakar said: “It has come to my attention that a song disparaging people of Igbo origin and which wishes them dead, is circulating in some parts of the nation. I totally and unequivocally condemn this development and I call on all men of goodwill to rise up against this evil,”

“This song is reminiscent of the beginning of the Rwanda genocide, so Nigerians need to be aware that the Rwanda genocide was believed to have been ignited by a song titled Nanga Abahutu (I hate Hutus) sung by Rwanda’s then most popular musician, Simon Bikindi. God forbid that we should have such a déjà vu in Nigeria and I call on the security agencies to thoroughly and decisively swing into action and apprehend, try, convict and severely punish those behind this ungodly song which incites racial hatred.”

He added that Simon Bikindi was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for igniting and aiding the Rwandan genocide. Alhaji Abubakar added that those who think they can treat their fellow citizens so unjustly know that within and outside Nigeria exist mechanisms that will ensure they answer to their crimes.

He called on all men of goodwill to remember the immortal lines from Nigeria’s former National Anthem which reads - Though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand. Alhaji Abubakar said the effects of hate in any shape or form were made even more evident over the weekend in a shooting incident that left many Nigerians reeling with shock and he commiserated with the people of Ozubulu in Anambra State.