The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum have opposed the plan by the Federal Government to set up a radio station for herdsmen.
A statement on Thursday signed by Yinka Odumakin (South-West),
Senator Bassey Henahaw (South-South), Dr. Isuwa Dogo (Middle-Belt) and
Professor Chigozie Ogbu (South-East) said it received the news with rude
shock.
It said the announcement came at a time the Federal Government had
been acting as the information arm of Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen by
dissing the correct interpretation of the groups activities by former
President Olusegun Obasanjo as an attempt to “Fulanise” Nigeria.
“We totally reject this insensitive decision of the government on the following fundamental grounds:
“It smacks of hypocrisy and deception for a government that has in
the last four years denied responsibility on behalf of the Fulani
herdsmen for crimes they even owned up to,to now tell us it wants to set
up a radio for them to address the same issues.
“Section 55 of the 1999 Constitution recognises English,Yoruba ,Hausa
and Igbo as Languages in which the official business of the National
Assembly can be conducted .There was no mention of Fulani which is not a
language most northerners even understand.
“Why it’s sudden promotion to a language the Federal Government will
set up a radio to promote ?Will it also set up radio stations for the
officially recognised languages and the over 250 languages spoken in
different parts of Nigeria?
“We fear seriously that the proposed radio will become a weapon of
spreading hate propaganda against other nationalities in Nigeria given
the kid gloves treatment with which the Buhari administration has
handled the killings of thousands of Nigerians in the last four years.
“We are guided the genocide-aiding role radio played in inciting
ordinary citizens to take part in the massacre of Tutsis and moderate
Hutus during the Rwandan Genocide.From 1993 to late 1994 ,RTLM was used
by Hutu leaders to propagate an extremist Hutu message and anti-Tusti
disinformation by identifying specific targets and areas where they
could be found and encouraging progress of the genocide.
“In 1994, Rwanda Radio began to advance the same message by issuing
directives on where to kill Tutsis and congratulating those who had
already taken part.
“Using the instrumentality of the Federal Government to set up a
radio for Fulani herdsmen will throw a knife at the tiniest of the
threads still holding Nigeria together as all illusions of an inclusive
country would be removed and the rest of the country would conclude we
are now under Fulani Government of Nigeria.
“We therefore demand that the Federal Government should perish the
thought of a Fulani radio sponsored by government if it cares in any
form about the corporate existence of the country,” they said.
