Fulani Persecution: Something would soon happen if Southern leaders continue to remain silent — Prof Usman warns
He said by keeping silent shows they are accomplice.
Outspoken Northern leader and former Executive Secretary of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof Usman Yusuf, has warned of dire consequences if Southern leaders continue to remain silent when Fulani are being persecuted in the part of the country.
He said unlike leaders from the South, Northern leaders spoke out against threats to Southern citizens leaving in the North, which is why they still reside there without much problems.
Yusuf, who made this known in an interview with Saturday Sun, said by keeping mum when Fulani are being threaten by their people, it means these leaders are in full support of what is happening in the region.
He said, "In June 2017, there was this youth group in the North that gave Igbo in the North ultimatum to vacate the North on October 1, because of consistent and persistent insult from IPOB and Nnamdi Kanu. The first person that opened up his mouth to call these youths to order was the Sultan of Sokoto.
"The Emir of Katsina where I come from and the president’s state was on the front page of Daily Trust condemning that and said he will lay down his life to protect any settler in his domain, and the Northern Elders Forum called the youths to order. The president was not in town, as he was sick and undergoing treatment in UK. When he came back, he addressed the nation.
"Now, Yoruba youths are asking Fulani to vacate Oyo, and a governor is asking them to vacate the forests, no Yoruba leader is speaking out; they must speak up loud and clearly because the events that will happen will not be small if they are not nipped in the bud, this is serious. Responsible voices need to be heard.
"This man, Igboho is just a political thug; what is he doing for a living, thuggery, and he is the one anchoring the Southwest; he is the one calling the shot in the Southwest, while Nnamdi Kanu is the one calling the shot in the Southeast.
"Where are the leaders, where are the Afenifere and Ohanaeze leaders? So the youths will not listen to them, they listen to Nnamdi Kanu who is in UK. See what is happening in Orlu, IPOB fighting the military. Where are the elders who should call the youths to order? During EndSARS where were the Afenifere and the Oduduwa Republic leaders to call these boys to order."
He also warned against ethnic profiling saying the fact that some Fulani were caught committing crimes across the country, does not mean every Fulani is a criminal.
"What they are doing in Ondo State, they are doing one million of it in Katsina State and in the North. It is a security issue and we really need to sit down and talk seriously," he said in response to question on whether the herdsmen issue in the Southwest could destroy age long alliances between both region.
"It is a security thing and I have been in the forefront talking about it long time ago before anyone else," he said.
Speaking further he said, "No governor in this country has the power to evict any ethnic group or through ethnic cleansing or for people to be profiling other ethnic groups. No. I’m a Fulani man, I don’t want to be profiled when I go to Yoruba land or Igbo land.
"For the fact that I’m a Fulani, so I’m a bandit? I have never shied away from speaking the truth. We have had times in this country where all the kidnapping, robberies were mostly people from the South, you never heard anybody in the North said, it’s Yoruba armed robber or it’s Igbo armed robber.
"You don’t treat people that way, it is wrong. I give you example, when you start profiling ethnic minorities like they did in Rwanda with Hutu and Tutsi and other places, then you are having problems. You are blaming others for your failure instead of facing your problems.
"For all the crimes committed in the Southwest, Yoruba carried out 99 percent of them. In the same way, Igbo commit 99 percent of all the crimes in the Southeast. All of a sudden, you are profiling one ethnic group, simply because the president is a Fulani man and you hate him," he concluded.
