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Ademola Babalola, Ibadan
Former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, on Tuesday, urged South west governors to put their political differences aside, and join forces to frontally tackle kidnapping, armed robbery and other vices affecting the zone.
He gave the warning during an interview with journalists at his Bodija residence in Ibadan, the state capital after observing Eid-el-Fitr prayers with his erstwhile Secretary to the State Government, Chief Sharafadeen Alli.
Ladoja advised the leaders to see themselves as governors of everybody in their respective states, adding that “there is nothing bad in the governors coming together, irrespective of party affiliations in order to tackle insecurity in the Southwest.”
He noted that there have been controversies over allegations that the Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, plans to Islamise and ‘Fulanise’ Nigeria.
He said it was not possible to Islamise the country, but if the allegation of ‘Fulanisation’ is true, then there might be a problem.
Ladoja, who backed Governor Seyi Makinde of the state over the dissolution of Local Government executive councils and proscription of the activities of National Union of Road Transport Workers, said, “In Nigeria, we should be grateful to God. Religion has never been a problem for us until recently. Even, Boko Haram insurgents did not start with Islam.
“Boko Haram started by saying ‘Western education is a sin.’ They never called themselves an Islamic group. But at times, if it is what people live on, you will see some extremists there. There are extremists in Islam and also in Christianity, as well as traditional religion.
“I don’t think any government, no matter what it does, can Islamise Nigeria. Will I say a child of mine, who married a Christian should be killed in the name of religion? No. We have mixed up more than that. The plan cannot stand if it ever exists.
“But if you are talking about ‘Fulanisation’, that is where the problem may come in. What is happening now is unprecedented. The Yoruba and Fulani have been living together from the time immemorial. But as the population is growing, the consumption of meat is also increasing. And the number of people in agriculture is going down. Many places that used to be forest have become farms.
“We need to find a way out. The Fulani have been saying how they rear their cattle has become a tradition. But we need to make them realise that the population of people nowadays is more than what we had then. There are better ways of rearing cattle these days, than sticking to the old tradition of grazing them all around and from one place to another.
“If it is all about giving food to the cattle, we can solve it. But if the Federal Government has ulterior motives that it wants to ‘Fulanise’ Nigeria, I don’t think this will be possible. What we know the Fulani for is they always want feeds for their cattle. If we find a way they will be feeding their cattle, and the farmers are also cultivating their farms beside each other, there will be no crisis.
“When I was young, there was no way you could find cows in Ibadan. If you wanted to buy cheese, you have to go to Oyo or Iwo. Nowadays, however, hardly would you find an area where there is no ‘Gaa’ (Fulani settlement)”, Ladoja said.
