“Mäny Fuläni Can’t Remember Their Stätes of Origin” – Deputy Senate President

Senator Jibrin Barau, Nigeria’s Deputy Senate President says many Fulani herders in the country cannot recognized the states they hailed from.

The Senator made the remark on Thursday during the consideration of a bill for an act to establish the National Animal Husbandry and Ranches Commission, NAHRC, by the Senate.

The NAHRC was sponsored by Senator Titus Tartenger Zam, from Benue State.

According to the magazine’s investigation, the bill is seeking to stop Fulani herders from moving around the country by carving out some lands for them to rear their animals.

The bill is also seeking to end the re-current bloody clash between Fulani herders and farmers across the country.

Speaking at the Senate chamber yesterday, Barau said if the bill is passed it will lead to the relocation of Fulani herders across the country, many of who cannot even remember their state of origin.

He said many Fulani herders were born where they are currently living, and will be difficult for them to be relocated to other states because they don’t know their state of origin.

He contended that the bill was in breach of the 1999 Constitution, stressing that the choice of resident by any Nigerian is guaranteed by the constitution.

According to him, Fulani herders should be allowed to live wherever they chose because “you cannot stop any Nigerian from living in any area that he so wishes.”

He said, “the relevant section of the constitution has been read. I saw something just a few days ago: Senator Natasha visited a Fulani settlement in her senatorial zone. Those people do not have any home except that place. They have been there for so long. They have been part and parcel of that society.

“Now, to tell them to move to their state of origin, where is their state of origin?

“Now, for us as political leaders, I would like you to look at that. Who is the current Senator of FCT? She is a Yoruba native, but she has won the election here. Nobody told her to return to her state.

“I won my first election in Tarauni Federal Constituency to the House of Representatives in 1999 from Kano Central, but I am from Kano North. Nobody told me to go back to Kano North, so why do we now tell herders to go back to their states of origin?

“My friend Zam understands that this is not in consonance with our constitution; your bill is good. I like this bill, but this aspect should be removed. We should remove it. I advise my friend Senator Zam to stand this bill down for a consultation, for better drafting, so that it goes in consonance with our constitution.

“Mr President, I will tell you some of these Fulanis, if you ask them where their state of origin is, they have even forgotten; they look at themselves as Nigerians.

“We should address the issue to reflect wherever someone is, it’s his place, and he can do his business there. So, Mr President, I advise this bill to be stepped down for further consultation.”

Meanwhile, the magazine learned that the bill appears to have the support of majority of senators and has now been passed to the committee state after many lawmakers okayed it.

In 2019, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state came under heavy criticism from not a few Nigerians following his remark that the Fulani are stateless.

“The Fulani man is a global or African person. He moves from The Gambia to Senegal and his nationality is Fulani,” Mohammed said.