Miyetti Allah Holds Maiden Policy Dialogue in Abuja to tackle security challenges in the North
Story from Aisha Auyo, Abuja
The conference was said to be prompted by the rise in crime by some Fulanis, bringing together concerned stakeholders who found it imperative to address the issue in order to bring lasting solutions to the problem.
Some eminent members of the group had embarked on a visit to the tribe at Niger, Zamfara, and other areas where the criminal activities were rampant, engaging in a dialogue with the bandits in order to understand the motive behind their crimes. They also met Turji with the help of Sheikh Ahmad Gumi.
After a series of visits and research, the committee concluded that dialogue by Islamic scholars and traditional leaders would help bring a more lasting solution to the problem rather than using military force.
Furthermore, religious leaders who are Fulani by origin and key players in the peace process agreed to charting a way to address the security challenges bedevilling the north western states.
The conference, the first of its kind, had most of the guests appearing in Fulani attire, which made it more colorful and entertaining. Four languages were the medium used to pass and communicate speeches being delivered. These are English, Fulfulde, Hausa and French. These testified the attendance and massive number of people that gathered from different countries.
In his opening remarks, Sheikh Muhammad Gumi mentioned that the government should use the medium of people who these people respect, in order to get their attention and overcome this crime. While proposing a ministry for Nomadic Affairs, as was done in Niger Delta, he lamented that:
“These bandits are ready to quit if they’re engaged, but no one is talking to them”, narrating how they entered the forest full of bandits without any protection except from God, and found a group of teenagers smoking tramadol and marijuana, fully armed with AK 47 guns.
He said the mere mention of words of God caught their attention and they said they were willing to make peace but their demand is for the federal government to release their people who had been arrested.
Gumi also mentioned education, empowerment, schools and hospitals, and manure as the key to curb the menace.
He cautioned the Miyetti Allah association that: “we don’t have an excuse for Allah if we leave our people without education, assistance, and resources”.
While calling on the youths to desist from taking the law into their hands, Sheikh Gumi said they should call on the relevant authority as is the instruction from Allah in the Quran. He called on the attention of all Muslims on the Hadith that,
“No Muslim has the right to kill or injure non Muslims due to the peace treaty which is renewed whenever a new government is elected. This has been part of the Nigerian Constitution since the colonial Era. Whoever among you Muslims kills any soul and you have treaty of peace, such Muslim will not even smell the fragrance of Jannah(paradise); the fragrance of paradise would be perceived 40 years away from Jannah. ” This is the extent to which Islam respects the treaty”, he emphasised.
Wife of the Governor of Adamawa State, Hajiya Lami Umaru Fintiri, also a mother to the association, advised that apart from education, what helps society is helping each other and being your neighbour’s keeper. She warned that
“the Fulani elite should help their Ruga counterparts. This will help to reduce the menace we are facing”.
She, however, expressed concern over how social media assists a lot in raising dust in the society, where an old video or something that happened in another country will be broadcasted as happening presently, and in Nigeria.
In his presentation, Senator Shehu Sani said:
“We must tell ourselves the truth, and to do so, we must be honest and fearless. Take for instance the case of Mrs Abarshi, who is Fulani, set up to be kidnapped by her nephew, a Fulani, kidnapped by Fulani villians and ransom was paid before she was released. This doesn’t reflect the nomadic Fulani we know.”
Justice Sidi Bage, the Emir of Lafia, Nasarawa State closed the event with these words:
“The judiciary has a great role to play in instilling peace among the farmers and nomads”.
Among the personalities that graced the occasion are the National President Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, (Lamido Fulbe), Alh. Bello Abdullahi Bodejo, Dr Aliyu Modibbo, former honorable minister FCT; Sheikh Gumi, Senator Shehu Sani, Prof. Yusuf, Muhammad Abubakar, the immediate past Governor of Bauchi. Among international guests were emissaries from Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, Mali, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Germany, Chad, Algeria and Benin Republic.
The event hosted eminent sons such as Emirs and flag bearers of Usman Danfodio from Bauchi State namely: Dr Umar Farouk OON II, the Emir of Katagum; Alh Ahmad Sulaiman MNI, Emir of Misau; and Nuhu Muhammad Wabi MNI III, Emir of Jamaare. These Emirs represent the Fulanis of Bauchi State.
Other Emirs who were heavily represented include that of Kano, Borno and Zazzau. The Emir of Lafia further made the event colourful with the presence of the emirate’s traditional flutes and drummers that signify power, culture and heritage of traditional rulers who are most naturally accepted stakeholders and lawmakers of the society.
Below are aims and objectives of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Socio-Cultural Association:
· To preserve and promote Fulani socio cultural heritage
· To unite all Fulani traditional rulers, their subjects, kith and kin
· To liaise with other associations of like minds and objectives for common good
· To encourage and assist members towards self-actualisation
· To promote and encourage education among members
· To seek and cater for the social welfare of its members to enhance the status, respect and honour
· To promote livestock development
· Promote peaceful coexistence and inter-communal harmony
· To help in propagating the culture and tradition of the Fulani pastoralists
· Contribute to the development of community projects
· To cater for the general welfare of all Fulani people
· To contribute their quota towards achieving society devoid of ill will or mutual distrust and a better life for their people.
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