By SEGUN AYINDE, ABEOKUTA
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday met with the leadership of Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria in Southwest in order to find lasting solution to the menace of Fulani herdsmen attacks in the region.
Obasanjo, who said that Nigeria is in darkness following the incessant attack of Fulani herdsmen in the country, called for the collaborative efforts of all Nigerians and the leaders of the Fulani to end the menace.
The former president spoke with the leadership of GAFDAN in company of the National Chairman of association, Alhaji Sale Bayari and the Spokesperson of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin and Dayo Adewole, son of the immediate past Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, who was abducted by Fulani herdsmen on his farm, at his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Obasanjo, while urging the leadership of GAFDAN from Southwest including Kwara and Kogi states to bring out ideas that would move the country out of the current darkness of insecurity, said that all hands must be on deck to solve the problem of insecurity not only in Southwest but also in the entire country.
He lamented the state of criminality and insecurity in the country, urging Nigerians to come together irrespective of their tribes, religion or ethnic groups as brothers and sisters to tackle the menace of insecurity, especially the Fulani herdsmen attacks bedeviling the nation.
Obasanjo, however, urged Nigerians not to blame any tribe on the problem insecurity of the nation, urging them to come together and fight for the peace, oneness, wholesomeness and how to move the country forward in the comity of nations.
He expressed regret over the insecurity and criminality in the country, noting that the outcome of the meeting would no doubt, provide solution to the challenges of insecurity in the nation.
The former president, however lamented that other African countries who look up to the nation for solution whenever they have crises are also worried about the current situation of the insecurity in the country.
He, therefore, expressed confidence that the country would be able to tackle the insecurity challenges and be a role model other African country could continue to look up to for solution to their problems.
Obasanjo said, “Let me tell you some of the reasons for our meeting. What has been happening in Nigeria, particularly in this area, the Southwest, we have got a lot of bad things happening here, let us not deceive ourselves. We have got a lot of heat, not enough light. And without adequate light, we may not be able to deal with the problem the way we want to and find solution to it. We have got enough heat but we now need light to guide us so that we are all out there.”
“Secondly, we are all in darkness, all of us. We need to be in the light. And those who may want to choose to be in darkness and want to deceive themselves, we can live them in darkness but majority of us have to be in the light and let the light shine upon us so that we can see our faces, we can see ourselves as we are, where we are naked, let us see ourselves as naked, where we are half covered, let us see ourselves as half covered, where we are fully clothed, let us see ourselves as fully clothed.”
“We are also going about among ourselves with history, some of the histories that we are going about among ourselves are the histories we need not perpetrate. We are going about with myths, we are not going about with reality. We are going about with lack of clarity so what we want to do is to push aside myth and talk about reality, we want yo talk about clarity. We want to see things clearly the way they are.”
“There is criminality, there is insecurity and it has not been like that before. If this is what we have, what we wat to do at this meeting is find solutions to stop it. We want to have peace, we want to have security, we want to have harmony, we want to have wholesomeness, we want to have progress, how can we have these? We want to move Nigeria forward, irrespective of tribe, religion, ethnicity, trade, profession.”
“We want to interrogate and be inquisitive among ourselves about things around us but particularly about unusual things around us. We are not industrial, we are not prosecutorial but we want to interrogate ourselves why is it, how is it, where is it and then we find solutions to it. Where I come from, where you come from. How can we together move Nigeria forward? And there nobody else who will do all these for us, it is you, we, all of us here and all our brothers and sisters wherever they may be in Nigeria.”
“It is not one man’s job or one person’s job or one group’s job, it a job for all of us, all Nigerians and unless and until we see it that way, we should stop passing blame, everybody is wrong and everybody is right. Let us take what is right in one group and join it what is right in other group and throw away what is wrong in all the groups then we will move forward.”
“Our brothers and sisters in West Africa are worried about our situation. They are wondering if Nigeria cannot manage her security, if Nigeria’s security is endangered, how can they look up to Nigeria who they normally see as big brother, that can be called upon to come and help them if they are in any type condition. So they are worried and we are here to assure them, to assuage their worry to be able to say yes, we are Nigerians, we can deal and we will deal with our security problem and any other problem that we need to deal with.”
