The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nige­ria has expressed displeasure over the rejection of ranches by South-East governors, describing it as shocking and lack of discretion.
The group said the governors’ decision did not show exemplary leadership.
The South East Governors Forum had in its meeting in Enugu last Sunday, unanimously agreed that no land would be made avail­able for the establishment of cattle ranches in the zone.

The group, in a statement issued by its South-East leader, Alhaji Gidado Siddiki, said they least expected such decision from the Igbo who he referred to as “the major bonding elements among the people of Nigeria.”

It explained that the governors’ latest stand would not only frus­trate its people from carrying out their legitimate livestock rearing business in the zone but suggestive of the kind of suspicion that might undermine the mutuality of the claim of brotherhood.

“It was surprising to us consid­ering the cordial relationship that had existed in the zone between us and the state governments. Miyetti Allah had never failed to appre­ciate the commitment of the host governors in ensuring the safety of his members,” Siddiki said.

“It is our candid view that the South-East whose citizens are the major bonding elements among the people of Nigeria would provide ex­emplary leadership in accommodat­ing other Nigerians in their midst.

“It is evident that our organ­isation’s advocacy for peaceful coexistence among indigenous farmers and herdsmen is increas­ingly making successes in the South-East. We are mindful of the various negotiations and consulta­tions still going on in respect of the contentious issues of ranching, col­onies and grazing areas across the country. We are hopeful that these issues are considered dispassion­ately in the interest of Nigeria and the generality of its citizens.

“We of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders of Nigeria, consequent upon the existing understanding we enjoy with our hosts, and in response to the latest stand by the South-East Governors Forum, wish to reaffirm our confidence in the capacity of our host governors to encourage the growth of our legitimate trade in their geo-polit­ical zone.

“It is a very trying period in the history of Nigeria and it is our candid view that the South-east whose citizens are the major bond­ing elements among the people of Nigeria, would provide exemplary leadership in accommodating other Nigerians in their midst, in so far such persons are legitimately en­gaged in their economic pursuits,” it said.

Meanwhile, the Indigenous Peo­ple of Biafra (IPOB) has flayed the leadership of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) over its statement on the recent decision by South East governors to ban illegal movement of cattle between states in the region.

IPOB in a statement issued through its spokesman, Comrade Emma Powerful, described the statements credited to the group as clear indication that the herdsmen activities pose grave danger to the people of the region.

The statement read: “The arro­gant tone of their statement and implied threat contained therein, against Igbo lives and businesses in the north, points clearly to an impending hostile response from them, which IPOB is both duty and honour bound not to ignore.

“We must make it abundantly clear that any attack against Igbo lives and businesses in the north, will be met with commensurate response in the south. Threats and large-scale invasions of territories in the Middle-Belt may have had the effect of subduing indigenous Tiv resistance to the Fulani hege­monic juggernaut in the Middle Belt and total collapse of morale in the West, given what happened at Ado-Ekiti PDP rally on Wednesday July 11, 2018. One inevitable out­come of any premeditated attack on Igbo people and easterners living in the north, will mark the beginning of the apocalyptic end of Nigeria as we know it.”

According to the pro-Biafra group, the decision of the South- East Governors to avoid wholesale breakdown of law and order in their region, through the banning of herdsmen activities, should be applauded and not derided.

“Given that 70 per cent of Nige­ria’s land mass is in the north, as we have been boastfully reminded by many government officials and core northerners over the years, it stands to reason and common sense that ranching activities is better suited to the north not ‘tiny’ ‘landlocked’ South-East.

“Those northern voices that continually pressured Igbo leaders and governors to mistakenly ban IPOB are today silent against the murderous antecedents of their own kith and kin the Fulani terror herdsmen. Had IPOB not been ill-advisedly banned by South-East governors and Igbo socio-cultural leaders, MACBAN would not have had the guts to issue such an in­sulting statement against Igbo lives and business interests in the north.

“All South-East and South-South governors must be guided by a pop­ular proverb in Igboland that says, only an irrational man kills his na­tive doctor when those that wish to poison and harm him are still very much around and multiplying. Are­wa Consultative Forum and their foot soldiers the MACBAN must know that IPOB will never tolerate their excesses”, it added.

https://orientdailynews.com.ng/news/miyetti-allah-alarmed-over-rejection/




lalasticlala seun mynd44

That closing proverb makes too much sense. Don't kill your doctor when your enemies are about to poison you. Otherwise, you're on your own.

Defenceless.