Farmers/Herders Crises – Is It An Economic, Ethnic or Religious Issue?

Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, disclosed that the farmers/herders clashes across the country is more of an economic survival than an ethnic or religious issue.

He stated this during the presentation of a book titled, “Dynamics of Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences”, written in honour of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board’s (JAMB) Registrar, Prof Is-haq Oloyede.

He also warned that if the government and Nigerians continue to look at the clashes resulting from the crises as an ethnic or religious issue, it would proceed.

The Sultan cautioned that no tribe or ethnic group should be seen as criminals, even as he encourages the federal government to fish out and deal with the criminals who have continued to kill innocent citizens.

He said, “Nowadays, the worst word you can hear is Fulani. There are millions of Fulanis who don’t even know how to train cows. I am Fulani. I was never a herder. Now when everybody sees a Fulani man, he is a killer.

He also laid emphasis on the fact that there are criminals all over the world, not Christian/Muslim/Yoruba criminals. A criminal should be referred to as a criminal and dealt with accordingly. That is what we are telling the government. If the government has failed, they should tell us where to come in and help.

“We don’t have statesmen any longer. We only have men of state as people just align with their states and religion more. A governor only sees his immediate surrounding as his constituency. We must be allowed freedom to go wherever we want to and live wherever we want to. We don’t except criminality. If criminals are in our midst, we must fish them out and deal with them”.

However, it should be noted that putting an end to the farmers/herders crises, would also bring back the great image of our country, thereby, leading to economical growth.

As Nigerians, we shouldn’t just sit and say everything is okay, we should endeavour to do our parts to ensure everything is truly okay.

What’s your take on the issue? Is it truly economical survival, ethnic or religion…