Chairman of the Fulani Miyetti Allah Amalgamated Associations in Bauchi, Alhaji Sadiq Ibrahim Ahmad, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to succumb to the criticisms by the Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom for the federal government to declare the Fulani herdsmen as terrorists.
Ahmad in an interview with The Leadership Newspaper yesterday in Bauchi said, there was nothing reasonable in Governor Ortom’s vituperations against the Fulani herdsmen, saying the governor is the one that has the resemblance of a terrorist based on his actions and utterances in Benue State.
Governor Samuel Ortom had last Thursday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to declare the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) as a terrorist organisation. Ortom has in a statement signed by his chief press secretary, Nathanial Ikyur hours after the federal government gazetted an order designating bandits as terrorists, alleged that MACBAN has vowed to ‘cause havoc’ in Benue.
Ahmad who doubles as Bauchi State chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has blamed the national leaders of the Fulani associations for the role he has been playing in addressing problems bedeviling his members across the country, pointing out however that some Fulani youths sometimes precipitate the problems.
He blamed poor leadership and poor representation of nomads from the national level down to states and local chapters for the leadership crisis. He called on the leaders of MACBAN to put the members in their hearts for positive outputs.
“Some national leaders of the association also play negative roles through clandestine activities that tends to jeopardize members, especially in a situation where a member is being deprived of his cattle and other means of livelihood by the bandits,” he said.
Ibrahim stressed the need for the national body to review its activities through retreats where members could be kept abreast about the dos and don’ts of the organisation.
He implored the Fulani leaders to live up to their responsibilities with a view to moving the association forward.
He called on the people and government officials to stop addressing the Fulani negatively in order to tarnish the history and image of nomads in the country and the world at large.