In a letter dated July 15, Obasanjo asked the president to take decisive action on insecurity, saying the situation could degenerate into a full-blown crisis if not tackled appropriately.
Obasanjo said rather than “hammer” the farmer-herder crisis, the impression is that the government of Buhari is treating it with kid gloves.
Reacting to this letter in an interview with PUNCH, Alhassan Saleh, national secretary of Miyetti Alla Hore, asked Obasanjo to offer any information he has in order to solve the security crisis.
“The fact that there is insecurity, I don’t think the Fulani are responsible for it. The narrative that we are responsible for the insecurity is even the problem we have with the Nigerian state,” he said.
“When any crime happens, even before there is an investigation, people rush to the press and start accusing Fulani herdsmen. Herdsmen are supposed to be carrying herds of cows but if somebody is a criminal or an armed robber, he should be treated as such.
“But if Obasanjo, in particular, having ruled this country for so many years and with his network of security contacts, both locally and internationally, has information, I think he can volunteer it.”
Asked about a proposed national platform for dialogue, Saleh said, “Which national dialogue? We have a National Assembly. Whatever they have, they should send it to the National Assembly. What is the function of the National Assembly? People lost power and don’t want to agree that in a democracy, you may be in power and another time, you won’t be in power.
“If we have confidence in those we elected, I think whatever issue they have, they can channel it to the National Assembly. They want another talk shop probably to come and reposition themselves and their cronies into another jamboree.
“Where is the Goodluck Jonathan conference report? Where are the other conferences’ reports? They are just pushing an agenda; in fact, they are desperate and very diabolical in their attempt to cause a crisis in this country. My worry is that the government is not decisive in dealing with characters of that nature.
“The earlier they get him (Obasanjo) arrested and dealt with, according to the laws of the land, the better. He doesn’t mean well for the country. We just elected a new government; we have a National Assembly that was just inaugurated. Nobody needs any conference, except they are pushing for something else.”
As published by TheCable