Standup9ja: Quit notice to igbo, grazing rights denial to
Fulani unconstitutional- Yakasai
An Elder Statesman and Political Adviser in the Second
Republic, Alhaji Salihu Tanko Yakasai has said that both the quit notice to
Igbos and the denial of grazing right to Fulani herders are unconstitutional.
Reacting to the joint position paper by the Arewa Citizens
Action for Change, Yakasai said, “The quit notice to Igbos by some people in
the north and the purported denial of grazing right to Fulani herders in the
south are against human rights provisions of the Nigerian constitution, which
guaranteed freedom of movement to all Nigerians.”
Yakasai lamented that even the state laws enacted by some
governors which denied Fulani herders from driving their animals in areas that
were not legally granted to any individual or corporate bodies was infringement
of the provisions of Nigerian constitution.
He said, “I read the joint position paper by the Arewa
Citizens action for change. First of all I believe there is only a Nigerian
citizenship, as long as we have a Nigeria. It is a good beginning, but I think
we needed a deeper and more serious extermination of our situation, which I
believe is overdue.
“It does not matter whether Nigeria will continue as a
single political entity or not. We in the north need to have a kind of master
plan for our future and the future of our people. It is wrong for us to be
living in the way we are without any plan for our development for the present
and for our future.”
The former political adviser opined that the recent meeting
should be seen as a call for action, suggesting that it should be followed by a
much more serious meeting to be attended by leading figures from all parts of
the North, both from the middle belt and the far north.
He added that knowledgeable people from various strata and
disciplines should be invited to attend the meeting without any discrimination
whatsoever and individuals should be allowed to present position papers on
different aspect of social life.
Yakasai pointed out that the papers should make specific
recommendations for uplifting the society, with a road map for the achievement
of set goals, saying that “A preparatory committee should be set up to define
the objectives for the meeting. I for one never believed that Nigerians will be
better off in separation.
“I have been having this conviction right from 1953 and my
position remains the same till today. But, it will be foolhardy to sit idly bye
in the face of one agitation after another. In a period of uncertainty, it
wrong to assume everything is normal.
“It is better to have as many options as possible at your
disposal. Even if the need to use any option shall not arise, in the end you
have nothing to lose by being prepared for the unexpected,” he concluded.
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