Afenifere, Niger Delta Forum opposed to peace – Fulani group
A group under the aegis of Fulani Youths Association of Nigeria (FYAN) on Tuesday alleged that the pan-Yoruba socio -cultural group, Afenifere and pan-Niger Delta Forum do not want peace in Nigeria.
The Fulani group accused the Afenifere and the Niger Delta Forum of kicking against the federal government’s proposal to implement the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP).
The group in a statement signed by the National President, Alhaji Saidu Maikano, made available to newsmen in Jos, the Plateau state capital, urged the federal government to go ahead with the proposal not minding the falsehood being peddled by the Afenifere and Niger Delta Forum.
Maikano declared that “the entire Fulani communities in Nigeria have expressed concern over the criticism made by Afenifere and the Niger Delta Forum, over the recent establishment and launching of the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) by federal and state government in the country.
“We call on government to disagree with their baseless decisions because they do not want peace to reign in the country, especially between farmers and herders.
“Government brought this programme, in order to bring an end to the lingering crises between farmers and herdsmen and also to modernize, and boost the livestock industry to a higher yield, but to our greatest surprise, Afenifere and Niger Delta Forum are rejecting the programme.
“Therefore, we condemn their decision with a strong voice; enough is enough.
They are not helping matters to settle crises in this country. There is no Fulani man that has ever complained about the humanitarian and developmental projects done by the federal government in the south-west, south-south and south-east.
“The federal government has been sponsoring their people on how to improve and boost their economic activities.
Nobody raised an alarm, but now that the federal government wants to improve the economics of the Fulani man to a higher yield, they are rejecting it.
“Government has been injecting money into the ministry of agriculture, but only crop production is witnessing the reality, farm implements like tractors, fertilizers, pesticides and seedlings are released for crop production, but the livestock sector has witnessed zero attention from government,” the group said.
Maikano further urged the federal government to go ahead to implement the programme, adding that it will help in boosting and modernizing livestock production through modern dairy and meat processing industry and above all will provide mechanism for peaceful coexistence between farmers and herders.
