Sultan of Sokoto asks newly elected Macban executives to end the ongoing Fulani violence

NEWLY-elected leaders of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (Macban) have been urged by the sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Muhammed Sa’ ad Abubakar III to support the federal government in its quest to combat insecurity across the country.

Over recent years, armed hoodlums have held Nigeria ransom, with kidnappers, most of them ethnic Fulanis, abducting innocent on a daily basis for huge sums. Macban has come to the defence of these kidnappers and had urged the Nigerian state not to move against them, saying they had no option as their cattle grazing routes have been destroyed.

Civil society groups have criticised President Muhammadu Buhari for failing to move against Macban, saying that being an ethnic Fulani himself who keeps cattle, he is reluctant to move against his kinsmen. Macban's leadership has also been accused of being complicit in these murderous attacks by Fulani herdsmen.

Yesterday, Sultan Abubakar III, the leader of Nigeria's Fulani's and president of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, expressed concern that some Fulani people are involved in banditry and kidnapping, causing insecurity in parts of the country. He observed that banditry and kidnapping had brought a serious setback to the economic activities and the general well-being of Nigerians, leading to the present hardship in the country.

Speaking at the inauguration and swearing-in of new Macban executives at the National Mosque Abuja, the sultan enjoined the leadership of the group to support efforts of government and stakeholders in ensuring peace in the country. He added that the threat to divide the country resulted from certain things Nigerians were not doing right, hence why some people do not feel a sense of belonging in the country’s affairs.

Sultan Abubakar said: “People do not want to know the history of this great country. If we had known the history of the Fulani movement in various parts of the world definitely, we would not have gotten to the situation we are in now.”

He further explained that the Fulani moves from one point to the other, they move everywhere and they inter-marry and are peace-loving. Lamenting how some Fulani children are involved in banditry and kidnapping, he assured that when the executives of the Fulanis meet, they will discuss how to tackle the issue, saying Nigerians cannot sit down and do nothing.

Sultan Abubakar called on Macban executive members to reposition the association against emerging contemporary challenges confronting the Fulani within and outside Nigeria. He added that Macban should aspire to balance the instability in Nigeria and across the Sahel for the development of humanity.