Nigerians must rise above ethnic prejudices, Ardo cautions
Rights activist and former Senator representing Kaduna Central in the Eighth National Assembly, Shehu Sani, has challenged the Fulani ethnic stock to save their name, image and unborn generations from banditry, terrorism and other forms of criminal acts.
Sani spoke to the gathering of the Fulani ethnic nationality in Zaria, while lamenting that the ethnic stock is responsible for the present insecurity in the North and most parts of the country.
The former legislator, who delivered an address at the Fulani Pulaaku Day, organised by the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Chapter of the National Fulbe Students Association, in Zaria, at the weekend, noted: “We don’t have peace presently in the Northwest, and most part of the North,” adding: “This peace that we lack is coming in different forms.”
He continued: “We have banditry in the Northwest, terrorism in the Northeast, and we have a mixture of banditry, terrorism, ethno-religious violence, herder-farmers and settler-indigenes conflicts in the Northcentral part of Nigeria. These are all associated with the activities of the Fulanis.”
Sani highlighted the notable names of bandits and terrorists in the country, saying: “Most of the notable bandits in the North and by extension in Nigeria are ethnically Fulanis.”
IN a related development, the 2023 gubernatorial candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for Adamawa State, Dr. Umar Ardo, has urged Nigerians to reject ethnic profiling, cautioning against the harmful effects of basing appointments in government on ethnic or religious considerations.
He noted that national appointments must be anchored on merit, integrity, competence and loyalty to the Nigerian state, stressing that since every community in Nigeria has patriots and opportunists, the task of leadership is to identify the capable patriots without demonising entire ethnic stock.
Ardo, who is also a co-convener of the League of Northern Democrats (LND), said he was compelled to make the call based on a recent video by Primate Elijah Ayodele, the self-styled leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, in which he warned President Bola Tinubu against appointing Nigerians of Fulani extraction into sensitive positions of government.
While condemning the warning, Ardo regretted that “the so-called cleric alleged that such appointments would lead to betrayal, shock and pain for the President,”
He stressed that, coming from a man who parades himself as a priest and who commands the attention of gullible followers, such falsehood, bigotry and dangerous incitement should not be condoned with silence.
In a statement, the SDP chieftain therefore called on all Nigerians, especially leaders of thought and faith, to reject and condemn such divisive rhetoric, remarking that “Nigerians must rise above ethnic prejudices if we are to build a republic founded on justice, equity and competence.”
He said Primate Ayodele owes the nation, and particularly the Fulani, an unreserved apology, maintaining that the cleric’s words were not from God, but from the vault of human bigotry, sounding that Nigeria cannot afford such dangerous counsel from its pulpits.
Ardo stated: “Let it be said without equivocation that Primate Ayodele’s postulation is historically false, morally reprehensible and nationally destabilising. As a historian, I know that Nigeria’s history does not support Ayodele’s sweeping generalisation. Fulani men and women have served this country with distinction, loyalty and sacrifice.”
