Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of
Kano state, and Igbo leaders in the state have rejected calls by some northern
political leaders that herdsmen in the southern part of the country relocate to
the north.
According to a statement by Abba
Anwar, chief secretary to Ganduje, the governor spoke during a special dinner
organised to honour Boniface Ibekwe, Eze Ndigbo Kano, on his 10th Offalla
anniversary, at the government house, on Saturday.
Reacting to the calls by northern
elders asking herdsmen to leave the southern part of the country, Ganduje said
Nigeria as a heterogeneous society calls for mutual respect among different
people.
He also said herdsmen must
respect the laws of people they live with.
“Those who are calling on the
Fulani to leave South, we don’t share the same feeling with them,” Ganduje
said.
“People have a choice, as far as
the Nigerian constitution is concerned, to live wherever they chose to. But
they must respect the laws and cultures of those they are living with.
“As we are all creatures of
Allah, it is duty-bound on all of us to always respect Allah’s creatures. No
two way about it.”
According to the statement,
Ganduje called on the federal government to put a “halt to the ever-increasing
movement” of herders from one state to another.”
“Herders should drop the cultural
attachment to their rearing activities and make their rearing become
economically beneficial,” he said.
“It is because we want to bring
out economic benefit out of the whole exercise that we inaugurated a RUGA
Settlement Committee for us to have it in Kano.
“And to most fundamentally, move
away from the insecurity posture poses by the herders’ farmers clashes
everywhere.”
Ganduje also reiterated his
commitment towards making sure that the Ruga project takes off in Kano.
He said: “It is through that we
can be able to educate our Fulani brothers and sisters. And I have been
nurturing this idea long before now.
“That was why we sent Fulani
youth, 75 of them, to Turkey to be trained on Artificial Insemination. They are
back now. So we need to put them into good use for society.
“I was born in RUGA (hamlet). I
was educated while my parents believed and understood the dire need to educate
their children and the children of others. If not because of that Allah’s
Blessing I wouldn’t have this opportunity to stand before you. ”
On his part, Ibekwe said the
order by the northern elders does not mean well for the “corporate existence of
our dear country.”
“Look at what is happening now,
some people are calling on Fulani to come back to the North. So if they come
back what will happen to us here in the North?,” he asked.
“Our people will tell us to go
back to the South. Is that what our forefathers wished to see us doing? We are
therefore rejecting such call coming from some quarters.”
Ibekwe also urged his people
(Igbos) to be law-abiding citizens, saying “we are very happy that we are safe
in the hands of our governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. Kano is the safest
place in Nigeria.”
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