Date: 2016-08-27

A Unilorin lecturer, Professor Lanre Yusuf Badmus has stressed the need for the Federal Government to immediately set up a fact-finding committee to look critically into the Fulani herdsmen/ farmers clash in the country.

Professor Lanre Badmus, who is the Dean of Post Graduate School, University of Ilorin, said this on Friday while fielding questions from Journalists, in his office, in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

The University Lecturer noted that the committee should be made up of all religious stakeholders who are patriotic Nigerians to examine the root causes of the clashes and come up with a blueprint that would be implemented by the Federal Government to forestall further clashes.

Badmus also supported the plan for the establishment of grazing reserve as it was done in South Africa and screen the herdsmen in the country, pointing out that majority of the perpetrators of the act are not from Nigeria but foreigners with the main intention to destabilize the nation.

He said "the introduction of grazing reserve is acceptable, as it was done in South Africa. Government should screen the herdsmen in the country, many of them are not from Nigeria, they are not fulanis, they have foreign connections. Their main intention is to destabilize Nigeria, having predicted that in 2015 Nigeria will break but they failed, they will not relent in their efforts. That is why they are looking for alternative way such as the killings being perpetrated by the Fulani herdsmen to cause instability in Nigeria".

"On this note, I want to appeal to the Federal Government to set up a committee to look into the issue critically. The Federal government should set up a committee that would be made up of all religion stakeholders, both Muslims and Non Muslims that are patriotic Nigerians and come up with a blue print on the issue, he said.

According to him, members of the committee should carry out the assignment by looking and identifying critical areas that needs urgent attention without attaching sentiment to the work irrespective of their religion and ethnic background.

While speaking on the visit of the United States Secretary of State, John Kerry to the Sultan of Sokoto, Badmus, said the visit came at the right time, saying that the North has been the theatre of instability and Boko Haram and noted that the assistance of the United States would help to end insurgency and other security challenges in the country.

The don stated that war against corruption and Boko Haram insurgency had been two critical issues the present administration promised to address and called for foreign intervention to win the current war against the menace.

He asked the presidency to prioritize their efforts in term of solving the problems confronting the nation, urging the government against dissipating time and energy on prosecuting all the 800 corruption cases on its list and expressed fear that government will not be able to prosecute the cases within the remaining two years of the present administration.

Badmus charged government to strengthen the fight against corruption by sentencing the politicians or anybody culprit caught to prison to serve as deterrent to others.