Crisis Hits Fulani Community in Oyo over Alleged Imposition of Leaders

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

The Fulani community elders in Oyo State thursday converged on Igangan in Ibarapa North Local Government Area of the state to kick against alleged imposition of one Alhaji Ibrahim Jiji as the state Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) “based on an order from the above.”

The Fulani elders, who stormed the palace of the Sarkin Fulani of Oyo State, Alhaji Salihu Kadiri, accused the National Chairman of NACBAN, Alhaji Muhammadu Kiruwa, of unilaterally directing the imposition of Jiji as the state chairman of the body as against the popular will of the stakeholders.

The community in Oyo State, therefore, threatened to take a legal action against the MACBAN leadership.

The position of the chairmanship of MACBAN in the state became vacant recently on the expiration of the tenure of Alhaji Yakubu Bello.

Consequently, an electoral committee headed by Alhaji Kabir Labar was put in place to midwife a new executive.

However, the Fulani community claimed that even though four candidates, namely: Ibrahim Salihu, Aliyu Mahmood, Mohammed Lawal and Ibrahim Jiji, were jostling for the leadership position of the new executive, “the electoral committee woefully failed to follow due process as they only came out to tell us that the National Chairman, Alhaji Muhammadu Kiruwa, has directed the committee to select Ibrahim Jiji as the new state chairman.”

They alleged foul play in the exercise as they expressed concern that majority of those handpicked into the new executive are foreign Fulani in contravention of the constitution of MACBAN.

While stoutly condemning Jiji’s alleged imposition, the Fulani community in Oyo State called on the state government and all other authorities “not to recognise anybody parading himself as the chairman or executive member of MACBAN in the state until the national body of MACBAN do the needful.”

The Fulani community in the state alternatively, threatened to take a legal action against the MACBAN leadership.

Notable Fulani elders at the gathering included the Sarkin Fulani of Oyo State, Alhaji Salihu Kadiri; the Sarkin Fulani of Igbo-Ora, Alhaji Idris Abubakar; the Sarkin Fulani of Lanlate, Alhaji Sule Oba; the Chairman of MACBAN in Ibarapa Central, Alhaji Mohammed Olel, as well as MACBAN representatives from Oyo, Ogbomoso, Kishi, Iganna, and other parts of Oke Ogun.

The Sarkin Fulani of Oyo State, Alhaji Salihu Kadir, while speaking with journalists, shared the worries of his people, saying: “We cannot allow the leadership of Miyetti Allah in Oyo State to be in the wrong hands.”

However, when contacted over the matter, the Zonal Chairman of Miyeti Allah who is also the Chairman of the Electoral Committee, Alhaji Kabir Labar, confirmed that his Committee actually resorted to selection rather than election following the advice from the elders that Jiji, who served as the immediate-past state chairman be elevated to the chairmanship for continuity “in view of his vast experience.”

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