Following last week’s ul­timatum by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, asking all Fulani herdsmen in Ondo State to vacate forest reserves within the state, the action seems to have pitched him against some of his northern colleagues, as the ulti­matum expires today.

Interestingly, the angry col­leagues of the Ondo State gover­nor belong to the same party with him, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

An aide to one of the governors, who spoke to SUNDAY IN­DEPENDENT exclusively, expressed disappointment that Governor Akeredolu who had benefitted immense­ly from the support of Fulani leaders, including many of the APC governors in the north, would turn around to stab them at the back.

Accordingly, a pro-north political group within the APC, Northern Progressives Youths Coalition (NPYC), had expressed fears that the activities of the killer herds­men would ruin the chances of the ruling party before the 2023 general elections.

Also, the Yoruba apex body, Afenifere, took a swipe at the Arewa Consultative Fo­rum (ACF) for encouraging criminality and threatening war.

When SUNDAY INDE­PENDENT made efforts to reach a northern governor on the possible implications of the ultimatum given to the herdsmen to vacate Gov­ernment Reserved Forests, an aide who pleaded not to be the named, described the Ondo governor’s move as an embarrassing ingratitude taken too far.

“This is an embarrassing ingratitude taken too far by Governor Akeredolu, who has benefitted immensely from Fulani leaders, includ­ing President Muhammadu Buhari and many governors.

“When some of the gover­nors were trying to help the Ondo governor in his re-elec­tion, some of his friends warned that he would disap­point them.

“That was the reason my principal, for instance, was very careful about his second term bid. Now, we have seen it all.

“The man thinks he has arrived because he had won re-election and his case at the tribunal appears to be head­ing his way with the PDP’s inability to call witnesses.

“But, he has forgotten that he has a longer way to still go in his quest to be fully settled than the path he has taken so far.

“He has suddenly forgot­ten that we have the Appeal, and even the Supreme Court. Tell me, who is in charge of the Judiciary that he is misbehaving. We are disap­pointed and he won’t go un­punished as we progress in this struggle.

“There is no reason to be a slave to one political party if this is the way to go on the part of the Ondo governor. So, where is the difference?

“Whether PDP or APC, what matters is the personali­ty and we are ready to ensure the man does not remain as governor. He is an ingrate. We shall show him our stuff soonest,” he said.

Fulani Herdsmen Demarket­ing APC

However, a Pro-North­ern Youth group, under the APC Northern Progressives Youths Coalition (NPYC), has expressed deep concerns over the worrisome activities of some bad eggs masquer­ading as Fulani herdsmen in the country.

The group said apart from the onslaught of the Boko Haram in the North, the activities of the criminal herdsmen, have continued to embarrass the North and the APC ahead of the 2023 gener­al elections.

Coordinator of the group, Mallam Yerima Dikko, lamented that the way and manner the Presidency takes up the fight in favour of the Fulani herdsmen whenever issues of their involvement in the insecurity situation in the country are raised, was worrisome.

Dikko, in a statement made available to reporters in Abuja, said the audacity of the Meyetti Allah and some other Fulani personalities in defending the senseless kill­ings and kidnapping trace­able to the killer herdsmen, was unacceptable.

According to the state­ment, “We must not be car­ried away with the wave of the moment. We must be wary of our past and allow the mistakes of the previous years to guide us into the fu­ture

“We are all living wit­nesses to what happened in Benue State and how Gover­nor Samuel Ortom capital­ised on the activities of the herders to defeat our party in the most crucial election.

“While we must continue to seek a good and better life for the people of our country, we must also understand that we have a great deal of responsibility to continue to put the fortune of our great party, the APC in the good book of our people.

“This is democracy. The people are the major stake­holders. We must begin to address the issue of insecu­rity and the involvement of the Fulani herdsmen from the prism of the value of hu­man lives and the promise of our party to place a premium on the protection of lives and property of the people.

“The APC, our great par­ty, cannot afford to be sunk in ethnic bigotry when in reality we are supposed to cater to the generality of the Nigeria people. We must be wary not to allow the activi­ties of these herders to ruin our chances and injure our popularity among the people.

“The activities of the Fulani herdsmen is demar­keting our party ahead of 2023 elections. Every man of conscience and noble con­viction with total loyalty to the APC, must not fold arms and allow the issue to end the glory of the party we have all laboured to build.”

The group noted that both the Presidency and the Mey­etti Allah have continued to act as the source of inspira­tion to the herdsmen.

It urged the presidency and other stakeholders to think more about the value of life and the need to ensure that human lives are valued above cheap ethnic coloura­tion.

Source:- Independent ng

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