SAN FRANCISCO, October 18, (THEWILL) – Against the backdrop of criticisms coming the way of President Muhammadu Buhari for not doing enough to address the gruesome killings visited on host communities by suspected Fulani herdsmen, former president Olusegun Obasanjo has declared that it is not the responsibility of the President to address the lingering clashes between herdsmen and farmers.
He made this point on Tuesday during 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.
According to him, “Some of the words that have been coming 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.
The former president, who pointed out that during the colonial era, there were grazing reserves in most parts of the North, wondered what had happened to them.
He continued, “I need to state that it is the responsibility of local governments to take care of them. Now, states should have even done better, but they haven’t, and then when you have cattle rustling, herdsmen and farmers conflict, you try to make it a national issue. 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.”
Obasanjo also used the event to bemoan the increasing level of hunger in the country, stressing that it was sad to note that about 65 per cent of Nigerians were faced with food insecurity.
