Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Tuesday, condemned the frequent criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari over attacks on farming communities carried out by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
Obasanjo made the remarks at an agriculture seminar in Abuja organised by the Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) with the theme “Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture in Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities.”
The former president stated that herdsmen have the onus to look and take care their animals and added that it was ‘unacceptable’ for the herdsmen destroy the crops of farmers.
He however said he often got angry whenever he saw commentators criticising President Buhari over clashes between the herdsmen and farmers, reports Vanguard.
According to him, the clashes occurred because state governors and local government chairmen had failed at their duties.
Obasanjo Said, “And Some Of The Words That Have Been Coming Out From Our Leaders, Particularly From State Governors, Are Not Helpful; They Are Not Helpful. This Issue Is Not A Federal Issue And Another Thing I Don’t Like About It Is That When You Talk Of Fulani Herdsmen, People Talk Of The President.“Now Because The President Of Nigeria Is A Fulani Man, Then You Would Expect Him To Jump Up And Say This One Is Condemned And All That, No. That Is Not His Job. And When People Make Comments Like This, It Annoys Me. They Say The President Hasn’t Said Anything About This, That He Used To Be The Patron Of Something…, But I Believe That The Ranching Thing Failed Because The States And The Local Governments Failed To Do What They Ought To Have Done.”
The former president, himself a farmer, noted that there were grazing routes in most parts of the north during the colonial era and wondered what had become of them.
He stressed that it was the responsibility of local governments to take care of such matters of cattle grazing.
“Now, because states should have even done a lot better, they haven’t, and then when you have cattle rustling, herdsmen and farmers’ conflict, you try to make it a national issue. But it is not really a national issue,” he said.
It will be recalled that only on Tuesday, celebrated Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Adichie in an essay about Nigeria’s failed promises blamed President Buhari for his inadequate response to the attacks carried out by herdsmen in various parts of the country.
The inability of the government to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of the clearly terrorist acts has in some instances forced communities to resort to self-help which also holds a dangerous consequence for Nigeria’s fragile stability.
0 comments:
Post a Comment