Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos to call to order Yoruba Council of Elders over its recent utterances on the Sarkin Fulani of Lagos, as Nigeria cannot afford any breach of peace.
Speaking in a statement signed by its national president, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, on Thursday, AYCF said YCE’s statement asking Lagos state government to stop recognising the Earning Fulani is an inflammatory speech that could incite some people and cause breach of peace which Nigeria cannot afford now considering the spate of insecurity ravaging parts of the country.
The statement said, “We have followed with keen interest, the news of an inflammatory remark making the rounds about the Sarkin Fulani of Lagos and credited to the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE). The Yoruba elders, who spoke through a former National President of YCE, Dansaaki Samuel Agbede, asked the Lagos state government to stop its recognition for the Sarkin Fulani.
“We are unsettled by this position coming from elders who are supposed to be guardians of the people and should be taking the lead in ensuring tolerance, peace and harmony between the people of Lagos state and their neighbours from any part of the country, more so Northern Nigeria.
“The office of the traditional Sarkin Fulani of Lagos is an estimated 150 years old and it reflects and represents the general interest of Fulanis resident in the area. It was therefore misplaced to see the YCE trying to forcefully liken the estimated 150 year old Lagos case to that of Edo state, which is comparatively new.
“It is evident that for the past 150 years, nothing tragic has ever happened to the relationship between these ambassadors of the Fulani tribes, primarily because of the successful enlightenment strategy in support of tolerance and harmony by the Fulani monarchy in Lagos.
“We advise the YCE to tread cautiously on the issue because it represents a potentially dangerous proposition. We urge the Lagos state government to quickly intercede in this matter by calling the YCE to order, to avert an avoidable breach of peace built over a period of an estimated 150 years.
“We are compelled to draw attention to the YCE’s position in good time to elicit appropriate constitutional and legal action to maintain the tolerance, harmony and respect for the historical and cultural values that have held these Fulani as good neighbours. We insist that this is one sure way to avert a potentially regrettable decision being propounded by the YCE.
“We are disturbed by the YCE’s latest campaign that seeks to obliterate the respect and recognition of the Sarkin Fulani monarch because of the current situation in the country, notably the security challenge. We also find it quite childish that the YCE is making a fuss about illegal immigrants in Lagos, something that should be an issue for either the NIA, the Nigeria Immigrations Service and the DSS.
“How does such a purely security issue connect to due recognition for the Sarkin Fulani. The YCE has got its facts all twisted because there is so much disconnect in most of the issues they raised. We do not support any action of intolerance, capable of further worsening the nation’s security challenge. YCE needs to be cautioned from potentially inflammatory declarations that could breed division among Nigerians in Lagos.”
