Temidayo Akinsuyi, Lagos


Hon. Wale Oshun, a former House of Representatives’ Chief Whip, is the National Chairman of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG). In this interview with TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI, he speaks on the insecurity crisis in the country, invasion of South-West by bandits and the role of the Federal Government in addressing the challenges. Excerpts:

The Federal Government has suspended the Ruga settlement project but some Nigerians aere demanding total cancelation. What is your take on it?

You have to look at the issue from the angle of politics and from the angle of policy. If you take the angle of politics, you cannot have a programme in a country as diverse and complex as this that seeks to provide a solution to the problem of a component in the country. What that then suggest is some kind of preferential treatment for a component in the country. Where it has to do with a component, it certainly will raise its own objections. I agree with those who insist that the RUGA policy that was lopsided. They are not aims that tend to push the real policy of Agric development because if so much money is to be committed to herding of cattle, what could have been done is to give every state a grant to look at what agricultural product is of priority in that state and to determine its own priority areas of development; in which case if it is still cattle, it will decide what aspect of cattle. Is it cattle that will be bred to take cognizance of the local environment, not ones that are herded from place to place. Is it cash cropping or other types of livestock like cash-cropping or piggery or ruminants ? They will be able to decide that kind of priority. If the federal government is intent on helping agric to develop, then those things that have preponderance of nomadic herdsmen may decide now to invest in ranching or RUGA settlements in each community. That will be their decision. Then the other states will decide whether it is cashcrop they want to go into. Even if they want to go into cattle rearing, what type of cattle? So, the choices are wide and that is what brings in the policy of agric development. That is why we keep speaking of restructuring. Is it feasible for the federal government to sit in Abuja and monitor agricultural development in Borno or Rivers? We must understand that the needs and perceptions are different and so you cannot apply the same medicine across all these areas. That is why I believe that Ruga was not properly thought about and would have caused a lot of heat in the polity because it assumes that you must have a settlement that is not reciprocated in other parts of the country.

There is this fear that once Fulanis are allowed to settle in any place, they begin to expand and later takes over the area from the original inhabitants. What is your take on this?

I really don’t know what is Ruga. And when you say settlement, are you talking about moving people from one part of the country to another for the purpose of settling them? That will not be the prerogative of the federal government. Would you now apply for the same thing to other agricultural investor who have invested in other areas of agriculture? The answer is no! It is not even a question of who the settlers will be. That may be misapplying the interpretation. The issue is what kind of migration are we talking about? Is it that the government itself is intending on migrating people from one place to another? That is not the business of government. Even in terms of policy, it is not the business of government to oversee the movement of herders to any parts of the country.

South-West governors recently had a summit where they spoke in unison against the activities of these herdsmen. Do you see anything coming out of the summit?

All I can say is that the meeting did not specify who was responsible for the criminal activities. What is important is that there were bandits roaming the South-West and robbing on the highways, raping people in their respective homes which needed to be kept under control and stopped. It does not matter who these bandits are, whether they are Yoruba, Hausa, Fulanis, Ijaws or Ibos. The fact of the matter is that the bandits are causing serious problems for the peace-loving people in the South-West and it is the responsibility of these governors to do all within their powers in order to end the banditry. So, saying it is this type of bandit is not the issue. The issue is, are there bandits that have taken advantage of the hospitality of our people? The answer is yes. Should they be stopped? The answer is also yes. I believe that the governors have no doubt in their minds that they were elected to secure the lives and properties of their people. I’m sure the people of their respective states will be watching their body language and activities because they have the responsibility of ensuring that there is peace in the region. The governors resolved that government will do everything possible to ensure that the banditry and other criminal activities are stopped.

The general impression is that the President Buhari is treating the issue of the herdsmen with kid gloves. Do you think FG should be more decisive in handling these incessant attacks by herdsmen?

I’m sure the Federal Government also has a role to play in ensuring that peace returns to the country. To that extent, the federal government is not likely to be constrained by who the bandits are. If you will recall, at a time Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State spoke about people coming in from outside the country. So, the federal government has a huge responsibility in ensuring that immigration into our country by non-recorded people is reduced. When we have people flooding into the country without any measure of restriction, that can be dangerous. As we have seen in Lagos in recent times, we have a lot of people sleeping under the bridges and many don’t have a place to go to at night. That creates a social disequilibrium. So, the federal government has a role to play in ensuring that only registered migrants come into our country. Even ECOWAS treaty does not allow for unfettered open borders so the federal government has a responsibility to control this flagrant migration that is going on.
https://www.independent.ng/fg-has-no-business-overseeing-movement-of-herdsmen-oshun/

Old Man don't talk too much


In summary :

RUGA should be canceled

Shikenam

Before u foolishly support RUGA

There has been fulani cattle settlement in the past ...in kaduna ,in jos area

Just do research how those settlement ended up

Some are now local government with emirs ,most names have been changed to fulani names

Now u want me to give my own land to fulani cucuma kill me take the land na

Support RUGGA ask anything im my name it shall be added unto you....

Anytime people of southwest seek power at the centre, they put the whole country into trouble. From awolowo, to abiola and now tinubu. You people sha don't care if the country burn down as far as you get your presidency, that's all that matters.

Buhari was a failure in 1984, never improved himself. Contested and lost many times. But because of greed of wanting the power returned to the south west, y'all went and brought this proven jihadist for us all.

You call it political sophistication, i call it stupidity and selfishness. History will forever remember you people

Dr. Katchy said in channels interview.

"There are no Nigerians anywhere currently living in the north, whether kano, katsina, sokoto applying to leave their comfortable homes in the North to resettle somewhere else inside the bushes. It's just a plan to import population to displace and alter demographics"

If you know, you know.