The renowned Islamic scholar, Dr Ismail Ibn Musa Menk, also known as Mufti Menk will today deliver a lecture at the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar’s 15th Anniversary on the throne.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, made the disclosure yesterday at the International Conference Centre Kasarawa in Sokoto, venue of the Annual Shaikh Usmanu bn Fodiyo Week.
The Sultan said “Mufti Menk has promised to personally grace the occasion of my 15th anniversary on the throne. He will arrive Sokoto in the evening today (yesterday) and deliver his lecture at tomorrow (today)’s session. We will be glad to receive this great scholar here in Sokoto.”
Commenting on the paper delivered by Dr Aliyu Usman Tilde, titled ‘Bello’s Concept of Urbanization of the Nomad and its Relevance Today’, the Sultan commended the presenter for what he described as a self-explanatory paper.
“I knew Dr. Tilde 15 years ago; I knew him for his passion for Fulani. He has been consistent in promoting and protecting the interest of the Fulani. He has never relented in showing his love to the Fulani. I, therefore, urge you to sustain the tempo as it helps a lot in exposing the true picture of the Fulani for the rest of the world to understand them very well. You should continue telling the people the truth about Fulani.
“History is very important to human life, through history, we will know where we come from, where we are and where we are heading to. History is a strong catalyst for the development and progress of a nation and Ummah.
“I, therefore, urged the federal government to ensure inclusion of history into the curriculum of our schools. Through history, we can encounter all the distorted theories that have been fed not only Nigeria but across the globe,” he stated.
We must learn from the past to build a future -Tambuwal
Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has tasked Nigerian leaders to imbibe the culture of learning from the past in order to build a better future for the younger generations.
Speaking at the 8th Shaikh Usmanu bn Fodiyo Week held at the International Conference Centre Kasarawa, Sokoto, Tambuwal said leaders should learn to review history with a view to shaping the future of the young and unborn generations.
“We must continue to learn from the lessons of the past to build for today and for the future. We should know how to review the past and come up with solutions to the challenges associated with the lifestyle of our people.
“The leaders in this country must be serious about the herders/farmers issues. As leaders, we are not in any comfort zone to enjoy our offices, we must carry on with our responsibilities no matter how hard in finding solutions to the challenges bedeviling our people.
“We must partner with relevant bodies to ensure that these issues around and about herders/farmers, insecurity and other related challenges are resolved,” he said.
Governor Tambuwal warned politicians in leadership to always be mindful of their utterances, lamenting that “when we intend to politicize issues that concern our people, we sometimes end up creating problems not only for ourselves at the moment but for our people in the future.”
Tambuwal, who cited example with the cancellation of Jangali (cattle tax) by the defunct Peoples Redemption Party (PRP)-led governments in Kano and Kaduna states in 1969, said the PRP-led government used that as a tool to turn voters against the government of the defunct National Party of Nigerian (NPN).
The PRP, therefore, compelled some NPN-controlled states to also cancel the tax in their respective states.
“The PRP was using the cancellation of Jangali tax as a tool to turn voters against the NPN government without appreciating the fact that the tax (Jangali) was not only a mere tax generation programme but also a security kind of, where information is being harnessed about herders, their herds, what they do and their movements.
Dr Tilde proffers solutions to pastoralists/farmers dispute
A renowned scholar and public commentator, Dr Aliyu Usman Tilde, says Nigeria can only succeed in addressing pastoralists/farmers disputes if the government is able to settle and provide the herders with basic needs.
Dr Tilde made the assertion in a paper he presented at the 8th Shaikh Usmanu bn Fodiyo Week, held at the International Conference Centre Kasarawa, Sokoto.
He explained that the pastoralists could be settled by the government on the condition that all the necessary facilities that would better their lives are put in place.
He said: “Government should put in place a breeding programme that makes possession of a few numbers of exotic dairy or meat cattle a sufficient source of income for the owner. A land should be freely provided and owned for the cultivation of pasture, feeds and human settlement. Farming equipment, structures, energy, water, vet services, access roads etc should also be provided to the pastoralists.
“Security of the cattle and the pastoralists should also be provided. A market at home and overseas that will sustain demand for their products and social amenities like schools, clinics and others must also be put in place for the pastoralists to enjoy.”
He added that there is also an urgent need for the revitalization of all the grazing reserves established by previous governments by bringing their facilities to life.
Dr Tilde further stated that “pastoralists must be ready to give in to control; they must be known, registered and their movements monitored before any reasonable planning for the livestock sector would be possible.”
He said it is unfortunate that no government was ready to shoulder the task of resettling the pastoralists and the pastoralists themselves could not do it largely due to the cost implications.
He said: “Can a pastoralist with the average herd size of 35 (valued at N7 million) sell them to offset the cost of settlement, including the purchase of hectares of land for housing, pasture and provision of exotic breed, water, labour, security, health, education, etc?
“The discourse over the settling of pastoralists is filled with the idea of ranching. It is something that different governments and people in Africa have the past 100 years tried with little success and the examples are too many to cite.
“In Nigeria, the first attempt was in 1914 by Africaan Ranchers Limited, an English firm that operated a 16,000-acre ranch in Allagarno, Borno province, and 9,000 acres land in the close-settled zone at Rigachikun, near Kaduna. The Rigachikun ranch lasted only for three years when the last cattle were removed in 1917. The enterprise in Allagarno lasted 9 years…”
Dr Tilde recalled that there was a semblance of success of Mambilla Plateau but that too could not be applied in Sokoto, Kano and Borno where the Fulani can purchase land as they did on Mambilla 40-60 years ago.
Speaking at the occasion, Governor Aminu Tambuwal, recommended the six recommendations outlined by Dr Tilde to the 19 northern governors for study and implementation.
Governor Tambuwal said Sokoto State government on its part had established 19 grazing reserves in the state on the 100 hectares of grazing land it inherited.
He also said his administration had continued with the Sokoto State Breeding Centre project which was started but abandoned by the previous government of the state.
