A press statement made available to news men by Coalition of Faith and
Community Based organizations ,Yola Adamawa State said they have reached their elastic limits.
The statement is in response to a press conference of threats by a Northern groups because of the Ruga settlement suspended by President Mohammadu Buhari.
The statement which read in parts said:
“Our attention has been drawn to a recent Media pronouncement by a Northern Group known as Coalition of Northern Groups asking the Federal Government to implement the suspended Ruga Settlement within 30days or face an impending action.
The group was reported to have said among other things.
1. “The debate to accept or not to accept the Ruga Settlement programme is already causing disaffection for herders who are of Fulani extraction.”
ii. That “we warn all state governments that stand against the implementation of Ruga initiative to desist and give peace a chance.”
iii. That “we place President Buhari and the federal Government on notice that they must completely stop this raging madness within 30days beginning from today, Wednesday (July 3, 2019).”
iv. That “if the Southerners refuse the implementation of the Ruga Settlement in the South, the Fulanis in the North, the Northerners will not allow the Southerners to live in the North.”
Ordinarily, we would have dismissed the threat and ultimatum with a wave of the hand but experience has taught us many horrific and painful lessons from similar threats issued in the past. For the so-called group from the North to have issued another similar threat after doing same about two years ago, clearly suggests a case of contempt and rebellion against constituted Authority and open invitation to anarchy. More worrisome is the fact that the government in power sees nothing abnormal about the threat since there was virtually no attempt by the government to apprehend the culprits.
It will be recalled that two years ago a Northern Youth Group issued a similar threat to all Igbos living in the North to vacate the North. The recent threat and ultimatum brings to two the total number of threats so far issued by this Northern Group to Southerners. Nigerians are shocked to their bone marrows when all President Buhari could do this time against the perpetrators of this act of felony was to ask Nigerians to disregard the threat. Two years ago when a similar threat was made, all the “Northern Elders” in their own thinking could do was to plead with the Group not to carry out their hostile intentions, a development many perceived as an outright endorsement of the actions of the (Northern groups) targeted against the Southerners.
Having considered the comments of the Northern Coalition, we are worried over the hijacking up of the geographical expression of the “North” by an insignificant evil Group to pursue its myopic sectional Agenda. It is obvious that there is no longer anything like a monolithic North and Northerners must learn to draw a line of distinction between the so-called imaginary North and the Middle Belt States.
Apart from the fact that the comments of the Coalition of Northern Groups were inciting and divisive as opposed to our National goal of unity as a Nation, the creation of States in 1967, effectively saw the dissolution of the Northern, Eastern, Western and Mid-Western regions into a single Nation. These regions stand dissolved and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) provides for the structure of a Federation of thirty-six States, the Federal Capital Territory and the 774 Local Government Areas.
The statement by the group that the negative response of the South towards Ruga Settlement was “already causing dissatisfaction for herders who are of Fulani extraction” was not only a case of racial bias but has exposed the intent and purposes of the side of the North they represent in the whole Ruga Settlement Policy. It clearly suggests an attempt to promote a single ethnic Nationality above others without regard to the havoc caused by Fulani violence and hostilities on the Nigerian populace.
It is outrageous that the same Fulanis whom the Federal Government seeks to settle through the Ruga Settlement Plan or Ranching are not Nigerian citizens but Nationals from Mali, Chad, Niger, the Neighbouring Cameroun republic, Libya and other parts of Africa. Perhaps it is worthwhile to mention that the same President Buhari during one of his visits to UK admitted that, “the killer herdsmen are foreign nationals from Mali, Chad, Niger, Libya and the Sahel region and so did Emir Sanusi. His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar also spoke in the same vein. If these statements are coming from Senior Fulani leaders whom we hold in high esteem are anything to go by, then the so-called Ruga Settlement, Grazing Areas and Ranching Plans for the Fulani Herdsmen is nothing but a scam deliberately designed to create an African home for the Fulanis in Nigeria.
Furthermore, warning State Governments who are opposed to the Ruga Settlement “to desist and give peace a chance” is an open invitation to war and does not come from the heart that cherishes peaceful coexistence and National unity and cohesion.
The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) provides that every citizen has the right to move and live freely in any part of this Country. The repeated threats by some Northerners to the Igbos and Southerners to vacate the North for whatever reason and their insistence on the settlement of Fulani Foreign Nationals in the thirty-six States of the Federation, is a clear expression of contempt and violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Surprisingly, the same section of the North is demanding for a referendum if we can no longer live together, a position that was strongly resisted by them during 2014 National Conference whose report President Buhari chose to throw away into the Archives.
In view of the foregoing developments, we wish to observe and recommend the following:
1. Communities across the Nation have suffered losses in terms of lives and property in the hands of killer herdsmen and will not in anyway support the livestock transformation plan under whatever guise. The implementation of the policy will no doubt heighten the level of insecurity in the States.
2. We completely disassociate ourselves from the threat and the 30days ultimatum given to the Buhari administration to implement the Ruga settlement policy which expires on August 2, 2019. The position of the so-called Coalition of Northern Groups does not reflect the opinion of the entire ethnic Nationalities in the North. The so-called Group lacks the capacity and spread to speak for the entire North. Nigerians should therefore disregard the threat. The threats are diversionary tactics intended to take our minds away from burning issues like the Ruga initiative.
3. The Ruga Settlement Plan or Livestock Transformation Plan should be abrogated and not only suspended to create confidence in the minds of Nigerians over the sincerity of Government to save the Nigerian State from drifting into anarchy and possible civil war.
4. We appeal to such organizations like the Coalition of Northern Groups to stop claiming to speak on behalf of the entire North because of the present realities and the fact that there is no more any monolithic North. Groups in the North must learn to draw a line of distinction between the Core North and the Middle Belt States to avoid conflict.
5. We call on the International Community and Non-governmental Organization both within and outside the borders of Nigeria to mount sufficient pressure on the Buhari Administration to designate the Killer Herdsmen/Miyetti Allah as a terrorist organization and to implement the National Conference Report of 2014 which reflects the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.
6. We stand with the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Fora in total opposition and condemnation of the Ruga Settlement initiative and all components of any programme that seeks to take our ancestral lands for any form of cattle breeding under whatever pretext. The current overwhelming presence of Fulani Foreign Nationals from Mali, Chad, Niger, the Cameroons, Libya and beyond portends great danger to the future of the people of this great Nation.
7. We call on the government to arrest and prosecute the Northern Coalition Group for their inciting and divisive threats which are capable of throwing the Country into a State of anarchy and violence. The failure of the government to take a prompt and decisive action will not only confirm the fears of Nigerians on the insincerity of the Buhari regime in handling the Ruga initiative but will amount to complicity.
8. We further call on all peace loving Nigerians especially those referred to as “Southerners” to stick to their guns on the issue of RUGA and to disregard any threat by the Coalition of Northern Groups. Any possible life threatening action to the Southerners in the North will also be viewed as a threat to the existence of other ethnic Nationalities in the Country. We must learn to console ourselves with the fact that we all have one common enemy. The coalition of Northern Groups may have to contend with us first if they have to carry out their threats.
9. It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to tighten security on our borders to avoid the influx of illegal immigrants. The ECOWAS Treaty and its protocol No.A/P.1/5/79 relates to free legal movement of persons and not cattle.
10. Without mincing words, it has become highly imperative to note the strong sense of RACISM clearly expressed in the comments of the Coalition of Northern Groups with its adverse implications. It has therefore become highly imperative to call the attention of the Federal Government to the danger it portends to the Fulani race as it pitches one single race, the Fulanis against the entire Nigerian citizenry. In our candid opinion, such atmosphere is not conducive for peaceful coexistence, National Unity and Cohesion.
Signed: Signed:
Prof Kaleb Bulus Filli Barr. Leader Leneke
(The Chairman) (Secretary)
Adamawa United Forum.
GENDA
Grassroots Mobilization Initiative
Gate Keepers
ECWA
LCCN
Christian Liberty Organization
CYN
AAG
CONAECDA
Pene Da Bwatiye
Mbula Development Association
Lunguda Development Association
Margi Development Association
KCCF
Garkida Development Forum
Fali Development Forum
Laka Community Development Forum
Chamba Development Forum
Verre Development Association
Yungur Development Association
Lala Community Development Association
Yandang Community Development Forum
Kanakuru Community Development Association.
Lunguda Development Association.’
