Fulani Christians speak out for first time, take position on ethnicity

Some Fulani Christians are worried the tribe has got a bad name just because of the misbehavior of some among them.

Under the aegis of Fulani Christians Association of Nigeria (FULCAN), the Christians among them have kick-started a campaign to launder Fulani image and change the negative characterization.

In a statement released on Friday, the group urged Fulani people in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Niger Republic, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Gambia and others to work hard to shake off the negative stereotype.

“The Fellowship brings together Fulani across the entire West African region. The denominations that came together to form FULCAN were SIM, ECWA, TEKAN, Anglican, EYN, COCIN, Baptist, CRCN, NKST among others and unite the entire Fulani who are Christians in Nigeria and other West African countries. We are out to educate and create this awareness that there are Fulani Christians in these countries,” Chairman of the group, Rev. Buba Aliyu said.

“We the Fulanis that have accepted Jesus Christ as our Saviour want people to understand that the Fulani man you see if educated properly will contribute a lot to the development of the society.

“If you go back to history and the accounts in the Holy Bible, you will discover that among those God manifested Himself to were herders. My greatest concern is that our Fulani people left education behind saying that they want to herd, forgetting that today, the world has got to a point that you don’t even see bushes any longer because of population.

“That is why we as Fulani Christians are calling on the Fulani race to step out of what they are into and educate their children on how to know God and God will also know them. By this, nobody will submit himself to go and be perpetrating evil. Any religion that says you should carry arms and go and kill your fellow brother does not know God. This is because this life you are taking belongs to God.”

Aliyu said the group is never in support of violence.

“We will be happy to see that you contribute positively in fostering peace among the Fulani and their host communities. In those days, whenever a host community was celebrating anything, the Fulani in the area would take a good and healthy sheep to such a family to use for the celebration.

“And so also if we are to hold any celebration, the locals will bring sorghum for us to use in making (Kunu) local drinks, and this is the kind of brotherly living that we continue to advocate.

“We want political leaders, religious leaders, traditional rulers to continue to speak and preach to their people for us to live in peace and harmony with one another.

“There is no tribe that will say he doesn’t need another tribe to exist in this world. We all need each other just like our body parts need each other. There should be dialogue and genuine forgiveness of one another.

“Some people keep referring to the Law of Moses, an-eye-for-an-eye. But recall that Jesus while on the cross said Father forgives them for they do not know what they are doing.

“It is in the light of this that we are calling on the entire Fulani in West Africa to throw away those bad things they hold to heart and take the path of love so that we can educate our children to grow in the fear of God.”