Ethnic, religious tension: Implement recommendations of El – rufai Committee, Lukman tells Buhari

Tunde Opalana, Abuja

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Dr. Salihu Lukman has counselled President Muhammadu Buhari and leadership of APC to activate the recommendations of the El – rufai Committee on True Federalism to douse the dangerous ethno – religious tension that pervades the entire country.

His suggestion was necessitated by the current challenge around the criminal conducts of kidnappers and bandits who based on all the accounts, hide under the guise of Fulani herdsmen, affect every Nigerian irrespective of ethnic and religious grouping, which has unfortunately been reduced to expression of support for one ethnic group against the other.

Lukman was saddened that chains of events that followed the order of Ondo State government of January 18, 2021 that elicited the response of Mallam Garba Shehu of January 19, including actions by one Sunday Igboho in Oyo State issuing ‘quit notice’ to Fulani groups to vacate parts of Oyo State which he said has generated more campaigns promoting ethnic hatred in the country.

He said more worrisome is that some of the leaders and public officials are completely possessed by what is clearly the anger in the land to the extent that there is hardly any social or political enquiry taking place or if there is, everything is about rationalising and reproducing the current public anger and hatred for each other.

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In a position that does not represent the view of any APC Governor or the Progressive Governors Forum, Lukman appealed for moderation in the way this issue is being managed.

This, he said ,may require that political parties are able to intervene when problems of polarisation get activated to the level of manifesting as a threat to peaceful co-existence as a nation.

He said as a party, APC has a good experience when it comes to managing problems created by ethnic polirisation in the country.

“This is because in 2017 when the madness of Nnamdi Kanu’s IPOB and the so-called Arewa Youth got heightened so much that there was the senseless ultimatum to Igbos to vacate the North and national debate on restructuring was producing all manner of proposals including maps of break-away parts of Nigeria, the APC National Working Committee under the leadership of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun initiated internal consultations leading to the appointment of the Mallam Nasir El-Rufai led APC Committee on True Federalism.

“Although yet to be implemented, the report of the Mallam Nasir Committee on True Federalism provides a standard template of how a party in government should handle difficult challenges of polarisation.

“Certainly, if the party was able to move recommendations contained in the report of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai Committee to the level of implementation, the current levels of misplaced anger against the APC and the Federal Government in the country would have been moderated.

“May be the challenge we have today present a golden opportunity for APC to be able to initiate processes of implementing the recommendations contained in the report of the APC Committee on True Federalism.

“What may be required in the circumstances is for the APC Caretaker Committee led by His Excellency Mai Mala Buni to initiate internal processes of consultations both within the party and across the executive and legislative arms of government.

“Given that there already exist APC tripartite consultative committee, chaired by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo with both the party Chairman, HE Mai Mala Buni, Senate President, HE Ahmed Lawan, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiala and PGF Chairman, HE Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Secretary to Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Gida Mustapha and Chief of Staff to President, Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari serving as members, the initiative to commence processes of implementation can be started.

“We need to appeal to our leaders and our party to rise to the occasion of this challenge facing our dear nation beyond the current public anger.

“That can only happen if our leaders are able to insulate themselves from being among the drivers of public anger and hate based on which they are able to painstakingly lead the country in a new direction of unity and national co-existence”.