Obasanjo, Fulani Leaders Adopt 10 Resolutions At Security Meeting In Abeokuta

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday, brokered a security meeting with Fulani leaders in the South West and North Central States.

Obasanjo summoned the Fulani leaders in South Western states, including Kogi and Kwara, in the wake of rising insecurity in the region and the country at large.

Advertisement

The meeting held at the boardroom of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) at Oke – Mosan, Abeokuta, Ogun State, and was attended by leaders of the Gan-Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria (GAFDAN), led by its national chairman, Alhaji Sale Bayari.

The former president and the Fulani leaders reached the ten resolutions below on ways to address insecurity in the region.

  1. “There has to be a deliberate community effort to address the problems. Joint Community Responsibility MUST be established among the Yoruba and Fulani leaders at the community levels.
  2. “From all the evidence, those who perpetrate these crimes, there are both non-Fulani and Fulani. We should begin to do things differently and in a new way bring them out for sanctions.
  3. “It is important to call on leaders who failed to do what they are supposed to do. Fulani who know the criminals among them must expose and report them to the appropriate institution. So must other ethnic groups.
  4. “There should be cooperation among our people groups. Fulani leaders and other groups are urged to approach traditional institutions anytime they find some thing that is not right within their communities. They should refer concerns among themselves to the different levels of traditional leadership up to the paramount traditional rulers.
  5. “Identified criminals within community should be handed over to the appropriate agency to be dealt with. Key stakeholders should be informed to ensure that justice or sanctions are carried out against culprits and not swept under the carpet.
  6. “There are Fulani who are born in the South West 3rd, 4th or even 5th generation who see themselves as children of Oduduwa, and who have nowhere to go except Oduduwa land.  There are other tribes who feel so in Yorubaland, and there are Yorubas who feel so in other geo-political regions of Nigeria.  So the idea of moving tribal groups en masse from one geo political region to another is inpracticable and should not be talked about by leaders. 
  7. “We have to work as one community through our various efforts and responsibilities to protect and safeguard the interest of the community. 
  8. “Presently, the Oyo State House of Assembly has a bill proposed on the open grazing that has passed the 1st and 2nd reading.  Government should address the idea of Settled Grazing before full implementation of zero grazing.
  9. “Criminal Fulani herdsman and non-herdsmen must be identified, exposed and brought to book, to serve as a deterrent to others. There must be punishment for lawbreakers. The same must apply to other criminals from other ethnic groups.
  10. “Participants agreed to meet within three months to review the progress of implementation of the recommendations.”

The meeting came about three weeks after suspected Fulani herdsmen were alleged to have killed Mrs Funke Olakunrin, daughter of the national leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Chief Reuben Fasoranti.

Advertisement

Following Olakunri’s death, Obasanjo had in an open letter recommended that President Buhari, being “a Fulani elite and the current captain of the Nigeria ship,” should summon a national dialogue where herdsmen can make their grievances known.

But the Presidency, in apparent response to the open letter, described the former president’s intervention as political.

“It is incumbent on all leaders across the country to consider their language and its potential consequences. Insecurity is an issue that Nigeria must face together as one nation – united. Times of tragedy like these are not the time for politics,” the Presidency had said.

Meanwhile, President Buhari had following Olakunri’s death summoned a meeting with traditional rulers from the South West.

“I want to consult with you our royal fathers, so that together we can proffer solutions to the lingering security problems in the South-West and other parts of the country. We are indeed aware there are significant security concerns in the South-West,” the President had said during the meeting.

Leave a comment

Advertisement