Fulani herdsmen under the aegis of the Gan-Allah Fulani Development Association, a vibrant offshoot of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association (MACBAN) have rejected the grazing land offer by the Governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, insisting on nationwide operation.

This is contrary to the position of the mainstream Fulani herders group, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, which has described Ganduje’s offer as a welcome but has yet to commit to accepting it.

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje had said earlier in the week that he is ready to accommodate as many cattle breeders as possible in the Falgore Forest for their business. He made the offer in a bid to help solve the herdsmen-farmers’ crisis which has inflamed passions in several parts of the country as a result of killings blamed on herdsmen.

However, a report this morning in The Nation quoted the Secretary General of Gan-Allah Fulani Development Association, Alhaji Saleh Bayari, as saying that Ganduje’s offer is neither feasible nor acceptable because the Fulani, like other Nigerians, have a right to live and do business in any part of the country.

The paper said it was told by Alhaji Bayari in an interview: “We are quite appreciative of his (Ganduje’s) concern for our people, but if we all continue on that note, we will not have a country.

“We will not have a country, or a nation because it simply means that tomorrow, when you harass some Yoruba who have been living in Jos for generations, or some Igbo living in Kano or Sokoto, their state governors will just tell them to relocate.

“Then, at the end of the day, we would have as many countries as the number of tribes that we have in Nigeria and that would not augur well for us as a country.

“By following Governor Ganduje’s directive, we are going to end up polarising the country on the basis of sentiments rather than nationalistic feelings and callings.”

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