Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Tuesday, maintained that it’s not the “job” of President Muhammadu Buhari to address the lingering crisis between farmers and Fulani herdsmen across the country.
He made the remark at the 23rd Annual LAPO Development Forum with the theme, ‘Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture in Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities’, organised by the Lift Above Poverty Organisation in Abuja.
Obasanjo berated leaders for blaming the persistent crises on the Federal Government.
According to the former President, “Some of the words that have been coming out from our leaders, particularly from state governors are not helpful! This issue is not a federal issue and another thing I don’t like about it is that when you talk of Fulani herdsmen, people talk of the President.
“Now because the President of Nigeria is a Fulani man, you expect him to solve the problem immediately, that is not his job. And when people make comments like this, it annoys me.
“They say the President hasn’t said anything about this, that he used to be the patron of something…, but I believe that the ranching thing failed because the states and the local governments failed to do what they ought to have done.”
“I need to state that it is the responsibility of local governments to take care of them. Now, states should have even done a lot better, but they haven’t, and then when you have cattle rustling, herdsmen and farmers conflict, you try to make it a national issue. But it is not really a national issue.
“For me, the herdsmen are entitled be able to look after their animals but they are not entitled to destroy the crops of the rural farmers, it is unacceptable.”
Buhari had in August vowed to deal with the lingering Fulani/farmers crises across the country, stressing that his administration will not condone any form of criminality.
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