MACBAN harps on collaboration with govt for peace

Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has advised Fulanis in the country to work with governments and security agencies to bring lasting peace and end kidnapping, banditry and other crimes in the country.

National President of the association, Baba Othman Ngelzarma made the call at a two-day National Fulbe Summit, which began in Abuja on Sunday.

The summit is themed: ‘Finding Lasting Solution To The Security And Socio-Economic Challenges Among Pastoral Communities In Nigeria’.

He said pastoral communities have long been confronted with challenges of insecurity and socio-economic marginalization, which not only threaten their livelihoods but also undermine the stability and unity of the nation.

He said, “We should strive to work together as a group to checkmate restiveness, drug abuse, proliferation of arms and cultural vices amongst our youths. We should guide our youths to seek integration with the larger society through education and other social interactions”.

In his remarks, former governor of Bauchi State, Malam Isah Yuguda who is also the National President, Tabital Fulaaku lamented that the simple and virtuous lives Fulanis were known for had been eroded due to many factors that have affected their ways of life.

Yuguda said Fulanis have now been profiled as criminals as a result of the actions of a few and the inactions of the majority to unite and put their house in order.

He, therefore, said Fulanis as a people should reflect and take measures to address the factors leading to the moral decadence that pervades their communities with no end in sight.

The former governor called on the federal government to holistically address the factors that brought about the insecurity being faced in the form of kidnapping, banditry and other criminalities.

He said that nothing meaningful can be achieved until the government and Fulani leadership work together to find solutions to the problems.

On his part, the President-General, Fulbe Global Development and Rights Initiative (FGDRI), Dr Salim Musa Umar, said the exclusion of Fulani in the formation of states security outfits in Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto was strange and a wrong step to find lasting peace.

Dr Umar said, to find solutions to the problems of insecurity, especially in Zamfara, Sokoto Katsina and other states, the Fulanis must have a fair representation and a voice to contribute.

He also advised Fulanis to unite and tackle the problems of criminals among them that have been giving them the bad name being used to persecute, displace, kill and deprive them of their only means of livelihood.