Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, has faulted the Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, over his reported comments on the ban on open grazing by the Southern Governors’ Forum.
Abaribe, in a statement by his spokesman, Uche Awon, described Malami’s statement in which he reportedly compared open grazing of cattle by Fulani herders to trading in auto spare parts, as “divisive.”
Abaribe said: “While the local ‘Bureau De Change’ business mostly done by the Fulanis are operating in all parts of Nigeria, why have they not elicited any resentment from other Nigerians?
“It is simply because they live and do their business peacefully without any problem. It is the murderous activities of Fulani herders that have given rise to the current demand for laws that will bring about peaceful coexistence of all Nigerians.
“What’s the correlation between spare parts sellers in a rented shop or government-designated area and marauding Fulani herders destroying farms, killing and raping thus trampling on people’s private properties and means of livelihood?
“Such a divisive statement from a top federal government official, in fact, the Chief legal adviser to the federal government at that, exposes a very dangerous mindset. This disposition has no doubt raised tensions in Nigeria to a frightening level.
“Why should an Attorney General of the federation be so fixated in evoking ethnic/regional fault lines when duty calls for him to be a statesman?
“It is disheartening that Mr. Abubakar Malami has chosen to debase our country. He has indeed questioned Nigeria’s unity. Very unfortunate,” Senator Abaribe said when asked his views on what Malami said.
The Nation
