The national chairman of Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria (GAFDAN), Mr. Sali Bayari has said that the persistent herdsmen/farmers crisis might have a devastating backlash in the form of a jihad if the situation is not properly addressed.
Bayari who stated this at a meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his residence in Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta on Saturday also justified why the herdsmen bear arms saying it is meant for balance of terror
“The issue has gone beyond herdsmen/farmers crisis; it has led to kidnapping and banditry and if we are not careful, it may lead to a kind of jihadist/ militant group and that is what we fear.
“We wrote several letters to the authorities even to the security chiefs, but we don’t get any response.
“There are times we begin to wonder whether the security chiefs are more interested in the crisis than in peace.
“We also discovered that there are some people who don’t want peace in this country. We think they have various reasons or a particular interest that is making them not to want peace to reign in the country.
“If all your efforts toward achieving peace would be destroyed by those who are supposed to give you peace, then you begin to look for another means and that is what led to people (herdsmen) arming themselves to have balance of terror.”
Bayari blamed the security chiefs as well as the federal government for paying scant attention to the issue.
However, he applauded Obasanjo for facilitating the meeting to deliberate on how to tackle the security challenges.
“If we had another father like Obasanjo in all the regions, maybe we will not be in this mess. What has brought us into this sorry state is the fact that when a problem starts, the leaders are not always concerned until it gets to the level of self-help.
“The problem we have in this country is that our leaders do not read and therefore not informed and that is why Obasanjo is different. He has made efforts more than those in government,” he added.
Responding, Obasanjo called on all Nigerians to be involved in the fight against insecurity.
He advised against buck passing and stressed the need to come together to fight the menace of kidnapping, banditry, among other social vices currently threatening the country’s unity.
“How to move Nigeria forward irrespective of our religion, ethnicity, training, and profession, among others is all we came here to discuss.
“There is nobody here who could do all these for us; it is the responsibility of you and me.
“It is not a one man’s job; it is the job for all Nigerians and it is until we see it that way that we can now move forward.
“We should stop passing blame, everybody is involved and everybody should all take the responsibility to correct what is wrong and make it right,” he said.
A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting and made available to journalists by Obasanjo’s spokesman, Mr. Kehinde Akinyemi, said a wide range of agreements were reached after the stakeholders acknowledged the problem of “criminality and insecurity,”
ThisDay reports that the participants agreed that it had become imperative for all Nigerians to come together to start talking to one another with a view to finding practical solutions to the security challenges.
“One of the problems worrying the society is the problem of cover-ups and denials by both community and public institutional leadership that ought to expose these problems and deal with them,” stated the participants.
It said Obasanjo and the Fulani leaders pointed out that stigmatisation and victimisation of a group of people, in this case, the Fulani, was of grave concern.
“The Fulani have both good and bad people. The action of bad Fulani should not be taken against all the Fulani.”
Noting that there were Fulani in other regions of West Africa who had problems in Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Mali, and Republic of Niger, the communiqué added that there appeared to be “complacency among some public institutions, such as the security and judiciary”, where reported cases “are not taken seriously and dealt with justly and promptly.”
The stakeholders, however, admitted that the Fulani are unique in a sense.
“There is no tribe in all of Africa that cuts across West and Central Africa like the Fulani. Their strategic position can be explored. Fulani are also victims of kidnapping, banditry, cattle rustling and loss of property, etc.,” the communiqué added.
Obasanjo and the Fulani leaders resolved that “there has to be a deliberate community effort” to address the problems.
They agreed on establishing a joint community responsibility among the Yoruba and Fulani leaders at the community levels.
“From all the evidence, those who perpetrate these crimes, there are both non-Fulani and Fulani. We should begin to do things differently and in a new way bring them out for sanctions.
“It is important to call on leaders who failed to do what they are supposed to do. Fulani who know the criminals among them must expose and report them to the appropriate institutions. So must other ethnic groups.”
Other recommendations reached were that there should be cooperation among Yoruba and Fulani groups and criminals should be handed over to security agencies.
“Fulani leaders and other groups are urged to approach traditional institutions anytime they find something that is not right within their communities. They should refer concerns among themselves to the different levels of traditional leadership up to the paramount traditional rulers.
“Identified criminals within the community should be handed over to the appropriate agency to be dealt with. Key stakeholders should be informed to ensure that justice or sanctions are carried out against culprits and not swept under the carpet.
“There are Fulani who are born in the South-west third, fourth or even fifth generation who see themselves as children of Oduduwa, and who have nowhere to go except Oduduwa land.
“There are other tribes who feel so in Yorubaland, and there are Yoruba who feel so in other geopolitical regions of Nigeria. So the idea of moving tribal groups en masse from one geopolitical region to another is impracticable and should not be talked about by leaders,” said the communiqué.
Additional report from Punch
