OP-ED Opinions 

Asaba Declaration: Malami Has Gone Mad Again, By Buhari Olanrewaju Ahmed

The Federal Government is dealing with a delicate issue, yet absconding the parameters of truth and waving it as opposition jamboree.

Grazing cows on other people’s land is a constitutional right of any Fulani herdsman, according to the Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, in a country where these nomadic Fulani herdsmen have rendered many people homeless.



The truth is that Nigeria will never develop with this sort of shallow and illiterate mindset in power. Malami’s statement conveyed hatred in a country where the government gives priority to cows than human beings.

Malami spoke like a tribal bigot, not the attorney general of a country, saddled with the responsibility of defending over 200 million people. His utterances and body language show clearly that he is a wolf in a sheep’s skin.

Imagine, in a 21st century world, we are still discussing about the trotting of cows from Maiduguri to Lagos by foot!

Malami’s comparison of spare parts sellers in the North to Fulani herdsmen in the South is absolutely unfortunate.

Let me remind Abubakar Malami that a spare part dealer in the North brings development to the society. They build houses, buy lands, rent apartments, pay taxes, register their businesses. They never go beyond their boundaries, neither do they infringe on others people’s rights.

On the contrary, these terrorists who disguise as “nomadic Fulani herdsmen” have been terrorising people for decades and this issue has generated a lot of uproar in the past. This terror group kill, rape and maim innocent people and kidnap farmers in exchange for a ransom.

In all of this insanity in the country, Malami failed to give credit to Southern Governors in their quest to curb insecurity in the Southern Region, only for him to spew gibberish on national television for the sake of saying something, and to defend the assailant killers who have plunged the country into decades of darkness.

Have you ever seen where a Fulani herdsman with his cattle on barefoot from Kaduna to Enugu pay tax?

Meanwhile, the spare parts sellers whom Malami is trying to ridicule pay their taxes, generate more money into coffers of the government he serves and they never infringe on the right of Mr Audu who is a tomatoes seller in the North.

Spare part sellers are well organised and responsible people who have been living peacefully with everybody in the North, so that no one has complained about them killing or maiming onions sellers in the market.

Unlike the nomadic Fulani herdsmen who have always been in the news. They invade into people’s farms, destroy their crops and kill any farmer who challenges them.

It is abuse of power and failure of leadership that give someone like Malami power to utter nonsense on national television. The government under dictator Buhari is full of mediocrity and those who are responsible for the mediocrity consider themselves above the law.

Obviously, Malami is unconcerned about the deadly attacks orchestrated by his kinsmen, but only concerned about his tribe “Fulani,” who have repeatedly killed and kidnapped innocent people in the country.

Any public official who considers the peace and safety of citizens important, will never segregate the peaceful coexistence amongst the people by giving priority to his own ethnic group against others.

One eats with a friend because of the value of friendship, not because one lacks. Malami should point out where the spare part dealers carried arms and killed their host in the Northern part of the country. Malami should have come out openly and state his hatred against the Southern regions. He cannot be the attorney general of a country at the same time propagate one tribe over the other, except he is only the attorney general of Northern Nigeria.

Southern Governors came out collectively and agreed to ban open grazing in the region, for the safety of their people, so I don’t see any reason why Malami should attempt to challenge them by making the awkward comparison between herdsmen and spare parts sellers in the North who have not committed any known crime.

Malami doesn’t seem to understand his office, and the way he behaves shows clearly that he is the attorney general of the North only, whose interest he prioritizes.

It is high time for the Southern Region of Nigeria to rise in unity and defend their ancestral lands against the monsters called terrorist under the guise of “nomadic Fulani”. The uncultured behavior of these people should decisively be dealt with.

The government should know that cattle breeding is an individual business that shouldn’t be used in violating other people’s rights. Therefore, whoever ventures into it or plans to do so should be subjected to ranching for the love of the country.

Sourced From Sahara Reporters

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