Jonathan on Monday met with Berom leaders of Plateau State, and on Wednesday held a follow up meeting with Hausa-Fulani elders, in a bid to find ways of ending the cycle of communal violence in Plateau.
In an interview with Daily Trust in Abuja yesterday, spokesman for the Hausa-Fulani delegation, former minister Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande, said they rejected the state inquiry commission reports because the commissions were one-sided, their recommendations overtaken by events and there are subsisting court cases against them.
Nakande said the Hausa-Fulani preferred implementation of only the recommendations of the panels set up by the Federal Government, namely the Emmanuel Abisoye panel and the presidential committee headed by Chief Solomon Lar. He said these committees had broad compositions and their work was extensive.
This position is contrary to the one taken by the Berom elders, who announced after their meeting with Jonathan on Monday night that they want all inquiry commission recommendations implemented.
Nakande also said the Hausa-Fulani told the President they were being marginalised by the Plateau state government in job placements and infrastructure provision, even though they constitute more than a quarter of the population.
They also said claims of efforts to Islamise the state were false and mischievous since the Muslims do not control political power at any level and the security agencies are headed by non-Muslims.
Nakande said they expressed disappointment that the Gbong Gwom Jos, who is the chairman of the traditional council and who should be seen as a father of all groups, decided to attend the meeting with only one side thereby implying taking sides.
He said the president thanked them for the maturity and open mindedness with which they embraced the meeting and assured them that the government will issue white papers on the reports of the panels before it, while another meeting would be convened in which all stakeholder groups will be brought together to agree on ways of achieving lasting peace.
Other government officials at the meeting, which lasted about two hours, were Vice President Namadi Sambo, Secretary to the Government of the Federation Anyim Pius Anyim, National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, the President’s chief of staff Mike Oghiadomhe, presidential spokesman Reuben Abati and the President’s senior special assistant on publicity Doyin Okupe.
Those from the Hausa community were Alhaji Saleh Hassan, Garba Abubakar, Ibrahim Baba Hassan, Hassan Hussein, Sani Mudi, Alhaji Umaru Sani and Sanusi Mato. From the Fulani side, there were their leader Saleh Bayeri, Aliyu Tilde and the Ardos in some of the local government areas of the state.
Bayeri, who is Pro tem National Secretary, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders of Nigeria, appealed to the Federal Government to hasten the provision of grazing reserves for herdsmen in Plateau to tackle protracted conflict with farmers.
He urged the government to address the issue of indigenes/settlers dichotomy in Plateau, saying that Fulani herdsmen were not settlers in Plateau.
“Fulani man has been living in Plateau State for 7,000 years; he is still within Plateau, but every year on seasonal basis, he moves from one place to the other.
“He does not settle in one place because he does not have the luxury of staying in one place because he has cattle to look after. This does not mean that because he cannot stay in one place, based on his occupational style, you say that he is a settler or he does not belong there,” he said.
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