Bishop Mathew Kukah has tackled Nigerians blaming the nation’s insecurity problems on herdsmen, banditry and Fulani.
The bishop of the Sokoto Diocese lamented that criminal elements are perpetuating evil, and Nigerians are blaming herdsmen. He said that won’t work.
Among the Nigerians blaming Fulani herdsmen is Kikah’s fellow Archbishop of Abuja Diocese Cardinal John Onayeikan.
”If I am a Fulani, I will do whatever it takes to advise them to stop giving the Fulanis a bad name because people are saying that every attack in the country right now is perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen,” Onayeikan said during he50th anniversary of his ordination in Abuja on Saturday.
He cited the latest incident during the week when a Catholic priest Paul Offu was shot dead by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Enugu.
The incident sparked off an anti-Fulani herdsmen protest by Catholic priests—and indeed many Nigerians who still blame Fulani herdsmen for the death and many others.
Kukah, however, differed with the cardinal and the protesting priests.
He stated that the issue of banditry, armed robbery cases and killings currently going on in some parts of the country should be tackled “holistically, instead of taking the easy path of blaming every crime on herdsmen.”
“We are all herdsmen. We are all nomads. I have a couple of goats I got as gift that I am currently rearing,” he said while speaking during the burial ceremony at Mbosi, Anambra, on the weekend
“So. I am also a herdsman. We should always look beyond the surface and tackle every problem head-on. The country’s problem is much more complex.”
The first time the clergyman put forth his controversial stand was on the issue of the pictures of Fulani herdsmen on Nigeria’s visa.
His pro-Fulani take angered many, and attracted criticisms.
The bishop attacked the President Muhammadu Buhai administration in its first time—only to mellow down now.