By Yemi Monday, Bauchi
The silent ‘war’ of supremacy between two leading Fulani groups, the Miyetti-Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Socio-Cultural Development Association and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore led by Bello Bodejo has taken a new dimension of accusation and counter accusation.
The Miyetti-Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Socio-Cultural Development Association has described the Bello Badejo led Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore as ‘notoriously seasonal endorsements group’ parading itself as a pastoralist association.
The association said in a statement: “The attention of Fulani Ethnic Nationality in Nigeria is drawn to a phantom endorsement of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the APC Presidential Candidate by Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore; a notoriously seasoned endorsements groups parading itself as a pastoralist association.”
The statement by the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Socio-Cultural Development Association in Bauchi on Monday noted that the so-called Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Association lacks the local standi in parading itself as the mouthpiece of the pastoralists and the Fulani ethnic nationality as a whole.
Signed by Alhaji Sani Ahmed and Malam Aliyu Jibrin Isa for the concerned Fulani Ethnic Nationality, the association explained that there was no consultation with any pastoralists association in the country by Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, thus their solo endorsement is done without the approval nor consent of any pastoralist organization in Nigeria.
According to the statement, “We have 27 registered pastoralists association in the country and none was consulted before the purported endorsement. It therefore stands null and void as far as we are concerned.
“We are calling on APC and its Presidential Candidate to be wary of such handbag organizations. History is there to serve as a guide for any informed decision,” it cautioned.
The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore in Nasarawa State had over the weekend endorsed the APC Presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, claiming to be a national endorsement by the organization.
The concerned Fulani Ethnic Nationality explained that the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore endorsement of former President Jonathan should serve as a pointer to its lack of support anywhere outside their comfort zone in one senatorial district of Nasarawa State.
“It is instructive to note that former President Jonathan lost even in the comfort zone of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore in 2015 despite their endorsement of him and his inauguration as their patron,” the statement recalled.
They stated that the APC and its Presidential candidate should be wary of such staccato of endorsement which is the usual brouhaha with no substance to add any value to the political fortunes of the APC and its candidates.
The statement said: “The autocratic nature of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore is mind boggling. It is not a democratic association and has only one leader since its inception to date. We therefore abhor an association that doesn’t believe in democratic norms but aristocracy and dictatorial in its tenets and norms to be the mouthpiece of the pastoralists and Fulani ethnic nationality in Nigeria.”
The Concerned Fulani Nationality stated that it is currently compiling a compendium of its challenges to confronts all the Presidential candidates with a view of finding which one is going to address its concerns, and endorse the one that is willing to solve its challenges.
The Association called on relevant stakeholders to take note of the imminent breach of trust by Kautal Hore and its self-centred leaders, pointing out that they have immense personality and profile that are steering the affairs of Fulani ethnic nationality like former Governor Isa Yuguda of Tabbital Pulaaku International, National President of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria – MACBAN, Baba Usman Ngelzarma, who are in better position to make such pronouncement on behalf of its tribe than Bello Bodejo.