Prof. Olutayo Adesina, the brother of presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, has said “the Fulani people have remained the most pampered in the history of Nigeria”.
The professor of history at the University of Ibadan said that it should not be surprising to anyone that almost all other tribes are against the Fulani because of the general belief that the group is being “favoured and pampered”.
Adesina gave these submissions while featuring on a weekly radio show Parrot Xtra Hour on Radio anchored by Olayinka Agboola and broadcast live on Oluyole 98.5 FM Ibadan on Monday evening.
Adesina said this was not created by the Buhari administration but as a result of the administrative deficiency and favouritism on the part of the British colonial masters.
He said further that the problem started when the colonial administration created cattle routes from the north to the south, which led to the “grabbing” of lands from the original and indigenous owners, thereby causing disaffection between those affected and the Fulani.
Adesina stated that the British colonial government pampered the Fulani through the indirect rule system practised in the north, which led to the immediate success of the practice there.
He said:“The British did not take away their privileges, and when you retain certain privileges, you appear invincible while in the south some of our traditional rulers were rough handled by the colonial administrators.”
He described the relationship between Fulani and Yoruba specifically as “age-long” dating back to years before 1800. He said the Fulani migrated across the Sahara to settle among the Yoruba.
According to him: “Over the centuries, we have seen the relationship between the herdsmen who came from across the Sahara, to Yorubaland and at the beginning of the raining season, they moved back to the edge of the Sahara. It was the farmers that used to invite the Fulani herdsmen after harvest to come to their farms so that the cattle dung will serve as manure for the farmers.”
He, however, said that political, population and religious pressure can be said to be responsible for the frequent skirmishes among the two tribes.
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