Herdsmen radio: Adebanjo, Clark, others attack FG
Elder statesmen, Chief Ayo Adebanjo and Chief Edwin Clark, on Friday, warned that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government has set the stage for the Fulanisation of the country following the establishment of a radio station for Fulani herdsmen.
Also, President-General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, and President, Middle-Belt Forum, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, argued in the same vein.
Bitrus, who said the laws and regulations pertaining to radio stations allowed for broadcast in indigenous languages, noted that the establishment of a radio station for Fulani herdsmen would send negative signal that the country was under colonial regime.
Adebanjo, in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, said the establishment of a radio station for Fulani herdsmen was to implement what he described as ‘Fulanisation’ of the country by the President Buhari-led administration.
Adebanjo, who is one of the leaders of Afenifere, said, “There must be a radio station to realise the agenda. They have forgotten that they are in a developed society. If you must do that, are you going to open a radio station for the Yoruba people? For the Ijaw, Igbo, Kanuri, Ibibio, Urhobo, Itsekiri and other ethnic tribes? Or is it a rebuttal that he is not Fulanising? Are all these actions by accident? We said you are Fulanising and you are taking action.
“In the South and Middle Belt Forum, we will fight this battle. These are what we have been objecting to. He is creating conflagration in society and they are all over the place doing what they are doing. After sending them to locate an area, they attack the villagers and they will say it is communal conflict, whereas it is scientific invasion, aided by the government of the day.”
Clark, who is the convener of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, lamented that those who amalgamated Nigeria in 1914 did not create a super tribe and underdogs, adding that Buhari was setting a dangerous precedent.
He said the President should consider opening radio stations dedicated to the activities of Biafran agitators and militants groups in the Niger Delta region.
The former information minister added, “I want to ask the education minister what he has done with the almajiris schools in the North that are empty today? How many herdsmen found with dangerous weapons have been arrested and prosecuted? It means that their action is deliberate. The Federal Government is pampering them (Fulani herdsmen).
“This is simply a confirmation of what Chief Olusegun Obasanjo said. People should be very careful. This country belongs to all of us and Mr. President is a president for all Nigerians. He should, therefore, listen and talk to his people and not be misled by his aides and ministers.”
In the same vein, Bitrus said the development portended danger for the country’s unity, alleging that the ruling All Progressives Congress ‘Next Level’ slogan during the electioneering was to implement the Fulani agenda.
He added, “These people have been kidnapping all over the place and terrorising people in the name of looking for routes for their cattle. We have cried that the majority of the people are not Nigerians; yet, the government went ahead to do this. It shows that the sensitivity is no more there and that they own this country and can do what they like.
Also, Isiguzoro called for caution so that the development would not further divide the country along ethnic lines and possibly spark civil disobedience. Punch
