A union of Fulani cattle breeders in the country, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, says it is prepared to secede from Nigeria.
Saleh Alhassan, the National Secretary of the socio-cultural group told the Punch on Saturday that herders of Fulani extraction have been overtly disparaged and marginalised in many parts of the country, hence the expediency of disintegration.
While lamenting that the controversial ethnic group had benefited little or nothing from the Nigerian federation, Mr Alhassan said the situation has not been any better under President Muhammadu Buhari (of Fulani origin).
“If everything busts (Nigeria disintegrates), it’s to the advantage of the herders because we are not even enjoying the federation,” Mr Alhassan said. “We are even bidding for restructuring of the country; let every part go, so we can say this is where we are.”
He added: “If the President is a Fulani, it doesn’t in any way affect the life of a herder. In fact, they are worse off under Buhari. Buhari has not done anything for us other than creating enemies for us.”
Mr Alhassan who noted that herders produce the bulk of the country’s animal protein, decry the herders’ lack of access to government facilities under the Buhari administration.
“Herders are being chased around. If Buhari loves the herders, he would have created the grazing reserves for them,” he reckoned.
The herders’ position could open another prong in raging conversations about secession in Nigeria. Already, some Yoruba and Igbo elements have been agitating for self-actualisation of their successive regions, citing injustice from the centre.
Fulani herdsmen have come under severe crackdown from both state and non-state actors in the Southwest, following a resurgence in farmer-herder clashes, kidnappings and a variety of other violent crimes alleged to be majorly instigated by Fulanis.
Earlier moves by the federal government to create grazing reserves for herders nationwide was widely rejected by Southern state governments.
Cattle breeders in the country have abhorred the singling out of the Fulani ethnic group for victimisation, rather than the reprimand of those behind the crimes.
