Amosun says Fulani herdsmen deserve respects from fellow Nigerians 

Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun state has asked every Nigerian, especially Nigerians from Southern extraction, to treat Fulani herdsmen with respects they deserve from fellow Nigerians, saying peaceful co-existence of all Nigerians irrespective of tribe, is what required to move Nigeria forward.

Governor Amosun, who was speaking against the backdrop of incessant crisis between farmers and Fulani herdsmen at Advocacy Conference held in Abeokuta on Wednesday by Ogun State Business Advocacy Group, requested Nigerian government ‎and Nigerians to come up with cogent and timely solutions against inter-tribal, inter-religious crises, including Boko Haram insurgency and herdsmen-farmers crisis that impede the progress of Nigeria.

Represented by Hafsat Abiola-Costello, Special Adviser to the Governor on Trade and Investment, Amosun warned Southerners to treat Northerners and Fulani herdsmen “the way we want our people to be treated in the North is the way we should treat Northerners in the West or East”, warning the Fulani herdsmen and other people from the North to also conduct themselves peacfully wherever they might go across the country.

Also, Tunji Labode, immediate past President of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) asked government and Nigerians to look beyond the proposed ‎establishment of grazing reserves for Fulani herdsmen, but should consider compensation for the victims of Fulani herdsmen-farmers crisis across the country as palliatives and measures to forestall reprisal attacks which such victims might nurse against Fulani herdsmen.

He said, “There have been talks about grazing reserves for Fulani herdsmen, but nobody is talking about compensation for the bereaved families of those that were killed or affected across the country by the crisis between Fulani herdsmen and farmers. That should go hand-in-hand with establishment of grazing zones for herdsmen.”

But, Muhammed Kabir Labar, Southwest Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) who led other herdsmen to the dialogue in Abeokuta, said that reported crisis of Fulani herdsmen and farmers was a mere excuse to get rid of herdsmen and their business in Nigeria as the nomads  are not terrorists  as usually reported, adding that reported crisis between herdsmen and farmers was usually politically motivated.

He said, “This is a very good platform to show ourselves that we are peace-loving Nigerians. We are called nomads or pastoralists ‎in Nigeria, we are terrorists, we carry out our business peacefully and make sure that Nigeria sustains this commodity that is under Agriculture which will produce for local consumption.

“We are going to look at the allegation raised that we carry weapons around, we are all Nigerians and under the Nigerian system of government we know that carrying sophisticated weapons around is prohibited. Indicting our community that we carry weapons around? I don’t believe in that, they are all political motivations, they ( some Nigerians) only ‎talk about this to kill our business completely and that will not happen.”