If Buhari achieves his land-grabbing agenda for Fulani, Nigeria will burn —Middle Belt president

As President Muhammadu Buhari announced plan to establish Integrated Farm Estates (IFE) across the 109 Senatorial Districts across the country, the National President, Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Dr Bitrus Pogu speaks with ISAAC SHOBAYO on the policy and position of the MBF regarding it.  

 

What is the position of the Middle Belt Forum on the plan by the Federal Government to establish Integrated Farm Estates in all the 109 senatorial districts in the country?

It is a cattle colony or RUGA in disguise; all that this government is interested in is just to acquire land through funny policies for the Fulani. It is another strategy to reintroduce cattle colonies, RUGA, and grazing reserves, which the people have rejected. Since the inception of this administration, most of the policies of this government revolve around cattle in a bid to acquire land for the Fulanis.

We are not against our local Fulani being accommodated and living like any other Nigerian, so that they can ranch their cattle instead of moving around causing problems for everybody. However, the policy of this administration refuses to acknowledge and accept the fact that a lot of Fulani roaming our streets and forests are not Nigerians. The government wants to take over our lands and hand them over to these people for their political reason and political domination. We cannot accept it no matter the way it is presented to us.

It is like the president is more interested in the welfare of these foreign Fulani than that of other tribes in the country. He started with cattle colony, RUGA, ranching, National Livestock Transformation Plan, Recovery of Cattle Routes and Grazing Reserves. All these policies were just a ploy to placate the Fulani. Mr President has refused to listen to other Nigerians; the government simply wants to take over land through every available means for the Fulani, which is what we cannot accept.

We, in the Middle Belt, know our local Fulani; other communities in Nigeria know them too. Let whatever policy the government wants to bring towards ranching be community-based. Our stand is that the foreign Fulani should be taken back to their countries by revisiting ECOWAS protocols on free movement. Is it because the president [Buhari] has Fulani blood in him that he wants to populate Nigeria with Fulani from Burkina Faso, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and other places? Nigerians will continue to kick against this until Mr President listens to them. This farming estate in 109 senatorial districts in Nigeria is deceitful. Those behind it are not sincere; it is another way of land grabbing for the Fulani.

 

The Federal Government’s position is that the farming estate is part of the policy to develop agriculture towards boosting food production in the country. What is your take on this?

Agriculture has so many facets, which include animal husbandry. Growing of cereal and others are all other parts. And I want to tell Nigerians that this programme that is about to be unveiled is designed to accommodate all forms of agricultural practices, including animal husbandry. So what type of agriculture is the Federal Government talking about? When the government wants to acquire lands, they bring all manner of policies, but Nigerians cannot be fooled. Let the government come out and explain itself. It has been a different type of wine in the same old skin.

Since the inception of this administration, the government just keeps changing the nomenclature at different intervals to force these foreign Fulani on Nigerians. But it will be good, if the government can come out clean and clear on this issue. We are tired of foreign Fulani coming to kill our people. We have tolerated them for too long; it is time for them to leave.

The evils they are perpetrating are enough. The fear of Fulani is everywhere. We in the Middle Belt are not in support of the farming estate as it is a grand ploy to acquire land for Fulani. The land belongs to every community in Nigeria and people know their boundaries. In my Chibok area, if I want to acquire land for animal husbandry, I will have to buy the land. Nobody gives free land, because every piece of land belongs to one family or the other.

All forests belong to somebody and then you want to take over that which belongs to one indigenous tribe and hand it over; it cannot work. Definitely, there would be resistance. We are not against the local Fulani acquiring land and we are not against assisting them to have land in whatever way, but we are against a blanket take-over of ancestral land and handing it over to the Fulani, be it local or foreign.

 

The Federal Government, in the past, introduced various agricultural programmes and policies that cut across different parts of the country, such the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP), among many others, why then is it difficult to improve on all these?

This government knows what it is doing; it has a direction, which might not be clear to some Nigerians. When this government came up with the idea of Cattle Colony, it became suspect, because we told the government to address the problem of Fulani first. But the government just changed the idea of the cattle colony to RUGA, claiming it was not the RUGA that we know. Before the controversies over this could settle, it came up with the National Livestock Transformation Plan NLTP. All these are the same thing and a grand plan to settle some people.

Recently, the president gave a directive that cattle routes in the country should be recovered. Tell me how that is going to be possible? Now, it is a farming estate; the government is just looking for a way to grab lands for the Fulani. We have seen examples of this in Kaduna, the Ladduga project. The British during the colonial rule wanted to settle the natives for the land; the document is still there for everyone to go and check as they never settle anybody. But today, the government has taken away the land and allowed Fulani to settle there; we have seen it with our “koro koro eyes”. If this is replicated in other places, this country will burn.

 

Don’t you think the proposed farm estates will boost agriculture and further empower the local farmers?

Forget about this. What have they done with the previous policies? Don’t be deceived; it is just to make the Fulani have a settlement across the country. The major problem of the country today is insecurity. Most farmers in the country can no longer access their farms for fear of being killed by these killer Fulani herdsmen. If the government wants to promote agriculture in whatever form, let it address the issue of insecurity first. Our concern is why they are accommodating foreign Fulani, despite their atrocities in this country. Our constitution clearly defines who a Nigerian is. These people are creating problems for us, but our government has refused to take decisive actions. The posture of the government is legitimising their stay to continue to kill us. We, in the Middle Belt will continue to oppose this.

 

But the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) recently called on the National Assembly to stop the Southern governors from going ahead with the implementation of the ban on open grazing (cut in)?

These Miyetti Allah people are pushing their luck too far. If they continue pushing and when the chips are down, everybody is fed up, there might be genocide in this country.  The people of Nigeria have been exercising patience; let them tread softly, because before this time, only a few people disliked the Fulanis, but they have now created a terrible situation whereby virtually every Nigerian dislikes them. This is not good for them. I am advising them to have a re-think.

 

Why is it difficult for the Federal Government to brand the killer herdsmen as terrorists, despite their heinous activities?

I am not the Federal Government. If the government has its bias that is its own business. If the Federal Government refused to arrest a group of criminals, because they belong to a particular tribe, that is their business and quite unfortunate. It is up to them to know that they have failed. Let them retrace their steps and do the right thing. We have told them severally to classify them as terrorists; they refused. But as far as we are concerned, they are terrorists.

 

What is the way out?

The issue is hanging on political will. I am confident our military has the capacity to wipe out these terrorists, but the Federal Government should allow them to do their job professionally.

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