National President of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Alhaji Abdullahi Bello Bodejo, has proposed the creation of a separate ministry for Fulani herders....CONTINUE READING
According to him, for the economic development of this country, herders are contributing to the national economy as much as the Niger Delta which has a distinct ministry….CONTINUE READING
In an interview with VINCENT KALU, the leader of the Fulani socio-cultural group, said though President Muhammadu Buhari is from their ethnic stock, he never did anything to better the lot of herdsmen.
Your group worked for the victory of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima at the concluded 2023 presidential election. How do you feel?
I’m very happy the way the election went, and I know that these people will carry the Fulani along, as well as other groups. They are going to find a lasting solution to the herders-farmers conflicts in the country. We are in a position to give our advice and make contributions where necessary. Not only I, but every member of my group is very happy over this political development in the country.
Was this the first time that your group came out openly to work for any political party or for the emergence of a president?
I’m the leader and president of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, a Fulani socio-cultural association, so I’m supposed to be relating with all the 36 governors and the FCT because my people are everywhere in those states, and to make sure that they enjoy a harmonious relationship with the people of those states. I’m also supposed to be relating well with whosoever that is the president.
However, this Tinubu/Shettima issue is different. They recognise us and came to us and after discussing with them, we endorsed them and we made it open to the entire country that this was our stand; that we were with the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC). This is the first time of our doing so; being active as a group and collectively decided the candidate and the political party that we were going to support and adopt. We are not regretting our action.
Why was this the first time when we have had several elections?
Our group is not a political association. Everyone or group is supposed to bring up contributions on how to build this country, which is what we have done in endorsing the APC, its presidential candidates, as well as other offices. This is our own contribution to the development of the nation. That is the more reason for doing what we have done.
Some people argue that this your first time of coming out openly to support a political party is because of the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the presidential candidate of the APC. What is your take on this?
It is not so. However, as a Muslim, the same faith ticket added to my courage to support them.
We have had Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari, but your group never came out openly to endorse any of them. Why?
We have not come out openly to endorse any, but we have supported some of the candidates during elections. In 2015, we had a good relationship with Jonathan and supported him even though he didn’t win. In 2019, during the second term of Buhari, we supported him even though it was not a Muslim-Muslim ticket. This time around, the same faith ticket gave us good encouragement to support the candidate. If you are a Muslim and you noticed that some people wanted to gang up against your religion, you ought to do the right thing by supporting the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
You said you supported Buhari in his second term. What did your group gain from his administration?
We didn’t gain anything for our support for him. I don’t understand what is happening in this Buhari regime. We have been fighting to have ranching in all the states and a ministry for the Fulani Herders, but they didn’t listen to us. During the time Audu Ogbe was the minister of Agriculture, he came up with different nomenclatures – cattle colony, grazing routes, grazing reserves and ranching, but up till today, none was implemented. People are saying that Buhari is a Fulani man, but what has he done for us? I think he doesn’t want to be identified with one group; he wants to be seen as being for every group. All the policies about the Fulani herdsmen are under Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. We didn’t benefit anything from the president. You should know that under him, Fulani lost so many lives; lost their cattle and lost so much. I can’t blame him or blame the security agencies; they are trying their best, but I still don’t understand this government.
You said your group didn’t gain anything from this government, but people say the fact that Buhari is a Fulani is the reason herders have been attacking communities?
May God punish those people who said that. These are evil people. How can they hold that position, when it is clear that Buhari didn’t do anything for us? Okay, they are saying it is because Buhari is a Fulani; then, let Tinubu who is a Yoruba man come and finish us. We are waiting. Nigeria is for everybody, but those people who are saying because Buhari is a Fulani is why we do certain things, if you check their background, you may be surprised that either of the parents or grandparents were not Nigerians. Azikiwe, Balewa and others didn’t do this rubbish politics. These people talking this nonsense, if you check, they are desperate politicians contesting for various political offices, and the other ones are looking for what to put into their pockets. That is why they are talking evil about another tribe, like this Yoruba guy, Sunday Igboho that was always killing Fulani people. Can you call that one a patriotic Nigerian? He is a political tout running after politicians.
Under my leadership, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore was the first group to come out openly to endorse Tinubu, a Yoruba man, but Igboho is busy killing Fulani people because they don’t want to see our people. They are killing innocent people because they don’t know the history of this country; they are just interested in the N50, 000 or N100, 000 which politicians give to them.
Yes, Buhari is a Fulani man, we agreed; we can’t deny him or fight him. We can’t talk evil of him because he is our father, and very soon he would hand over to Tinubu and we will hear what they would be saying about him being a Yoruba.
Fulani are contributing far more than other groups in this country from the cattle they are rearing. Over 99 per cent of the cows’ slaughtered everyday are from individual Fulani people. Those saying because Buhari is a Fulani and that is the reason we are doing this and that, don’t have anything in their places, not even farms; they don’t have work, they are waiting for the next four years to begin to make money from government. I call on the good people of Nigeria not to mind those people. Most of them don’t know anything about this country.
You supported the incoming government to win the election. How are you going to support them to succeed?
We shall continue to manage our people to be law abiding; we shall continue to relate well with every community to ensure peace in the country. We need a peaceful environment for our business to thrive. We want the government to know that whatever programme they have for the farmers they should also remember the pastoralists. We will want a separate ministry created for Fulani herders. We will try our best to make sure that there is peace everywhere, but we will not tolerate a situation where Fulani are attacked and people will go to social media to write that Fulani are the ones killing people.
Last time you were happy that there hadn’t been herdsmen– farmers’ killings, but last month, it was reported that herders killed over 130 people in Benue State. What led to this again when it seemed that peace has come to stay?
I saw or read it in the social media that herdsmen killed people. Did we see where security men arrested the alleged killer herdsmen or we are relying on media reports? Benue State has a long history of communal crises before the state enacted the anti grazing law. After the law became effective, anything that happened in the state they would say, the herders attacked them. What of the killing of over 40 herders three months ago. If you have been following events in the state, since the time that Governor Ortom alleged that herdsmen attacked him in his farm, and he was dodging their bullets, I no longer believe any story of herdsmen attacking Benue. The only person that I would believe what he says is the state Commissioner of Police or the Director of the DSS because they hear of every crime committed in the state. They are supposed to know where the attacks happened and also arrest the people responsible.
I’m not in support of any crisis; I will not support any herder to kill any person. I have not been to Benue State for long, and I don’t even think there are herdsmen in Benue because Ortom has already sent all of them away. So, I don’t know the herdsmen they are saying did this and that. I don’t believe the herdsmen were responsible for the said killings. After this interview, I would ask the Commissioner of Police if they arrested any Fulani man there in respect of this alleged killing.
In Benue, the incoming governor is a Catholic priest. How are you going to relate with him to make sure there is peace in the state? Have you congratulated him?
He is a minister of God, and I don’t think he would come and start creating problems like Ortom. He is a very educated and he is a man of God. Benue people did the right thing by voting APC and even stopped Ortom from going to the Senate. They did this because they needed peace in that state and we will support this governor 100 per cent and we are praying for him and waiting for him to be sworn in, and also waiting for Ortom to go back to where he belongs. We are hoping that the governor will carry everybody along not only the Tiv people. Most Tiv people are very good, very intelligent and educated and that was why they jettisoned Ortom during the last election. We can give the incoming governor a very good advice on how to ensure peace in the state.
Earlier, you proposed the creation of Fulani herders. If every group asks for the same thing, how many ministries would the country have?
Remember, there is the Ministry of Niger Delta because there is oil there. At the same time, the Fulani have millions of cows in the country. The milk from cow is costlier than petrol. A litre of petrol is about N250, but a litre of cow milk is N1, 500. You see the difference is clear. We are contributing to the economy as much as the Niger Delta, which has a separate ministry. Then, why can’t a separate ministry be created for us? With a separate ministry, if the herders have problem they would go there and it would be resolved. I’m not talking of the Ministry of Agriculture, which is only for the farmers. The herders have problems in this country and with this ministry, the problems would be handled. The government under the CBN Anchor borrowing scheme, gave huge money in billions of naira to crop farmers, but they didn’t remember the herders….CONTINUE READING
