The President of Fulbe United for Peace and Development (FUPD), Ardo Aliyu Liman Bobboyi, has called for unity among Fulanis wherever they are across Nigeria.
Liman Bobboyi stated this during a press conference that was held in Abuja on Tuesday. He said the movement was a movement of Fulani leadership across the nation and an association of the various leaders of the Fulani people across the nation.
He emphasised the need to understand the various leadership structures of the Fulani people, which are being run through their ‘Ardos’, who were the recognised leaders among the Fulanis, and their power to tell their people what to do or not to do.
He added that the decision to form a separate association of ‘Ardos’ was necessitated by the recent developments affecting the Fulanis as a people in contemporary Nigeria.
“There were many associations representing the Fulanis, but there was no association comprising only ‘Ardos’. The association (FUPD) consists of 33,661 Ardos across the nation, with the least representing about 2000 Fulanis.
“Most of the Fulani associations are represented by people who are mostly urban dwellers, not Ardos, who live among their people living in dwellings (Ruga) in various parts of the country.
“The association was aimed at uniting the various Ardos across the nation. It was earlier observed that most of them are not in touch with one another to coordinate their activities to forge a common identity, represent their people, and forward their concerns to the relevant bodies and authorities.”
He called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who he said was conferred with the title of Barkindo of Nigerian Ardos during his electioneering campaign, not to forget the promises he made to the Fulanis in the country.
The FUPD boss, however, commended President Tinubu for the giant strides he has taken so far to reposition the economy, assuring him of the support of the Fulanis to succeed.
“The association knows that the President has a good intention to tackle the challenges facing the nation, but to achieve the desired goal, there is a need for more patience on the part of the people. Fixing the country will take a long time because of the myriad challenges facing the nation. As one problem is addressed, there are others that need the same attention.
“All we are saying is to be carried along in the schemes of things, and we are happy that some Fulanis who belong to the association, like Abubakar Badaru, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and Jalal Arabi, have all been given responsibilities in his (Tinubu) administration,” Liman Bobboyi stated.
South West Coordinator, Ardo Abeokuta, Ardo Muhammad Kabir Labar, in his earlier remarks, asked President Tinubu to fulfil his campaign promises while calling on him to set an agenda for livestock, which he said is the live wire of the Fulanis.
“We call on Mr President not to forget about us in all his campaign promises to our communities and every other community in Nigeria as well. We are not calling on him for ourselves only. The livestock department is one of the most important parts of the livelihood of the Fulani.
“That should be taken care of properly. It should be x-rayed, looked into, and examined, so that we can now look at how to resolve so many problems that are affecting our communities in cattle production in Nigeria. We are going to write a communiqué and present it to Mr President on what we demanded and what we expected him to do for the communities.
“This group is one of the loudest voices of the Fulani leadership in Nigeria. We speak for every Fulani community—not Miyetti Allah alone but every other organisation. If you are a Fulani, if you are a cattle rearer in Nigeria, I think we speak loud and clear for all of us for the benefit of these communities, crises affecting us, and everything else that is affecting our business. That’s what we are here for.”
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