 Good morning once again. Welcome to the breakfast here on Plus TV Africa. We apologize for that short break. We're back now and we will be speaking with the Secretary-General of the Ganala Fulani Development Association and this conversation is really about their response to the southern governor's call for the ban on open grazing and how they have described it as very like they said it's intimidation tactics with regards 2023 presidency. Good morning to Brahim Abdullahi. Thanks for joining us. Good morning. Good morning. All right quickly share with us. You're the Secretary-General of the Ganala Fulani Development Association. So share with us exactly your thoughts on this ban on open grazing and 2023 presidency. It has been described as an intimidation tactics. Why exactly is that? Thank you very much. We have received the news of the resolution of the southern governor's association and surprise and we feel that it is unfortunate you know that you can create him the livelihoods of about 17 million year-olds living within your place and at the same time you're asking them to vote for you from 2023. What the governors are doing has completely scared us you know from supporting everyone from that part of the country. We are not against open grazing and no banning open grazing as it is but we are against this situation where you don't wake up and stop open grazing without providing any alternatives. If those governors have provided at least few results of land within their country I mean within their jurisdiction that will provide alternative granted areas for this reason then we'll be comfortable with that but what they are doing now and what they are saying their body language you know is indicating that they are trying to display the entire harvest in their area and the truth of the matter is that if you display 17 million people back to their original region and you expect them to live in peace with your people that have been given their ongoing about their legitimate business and I think you are fully yourself. The truth of the matter is that democracy is all about transformation it's all about creating trust among Nigerians it's about putting structures across the country it's about reaching out to people to vote us irrespective of their tribe and religion. So when you are trying to display about 17 million people and you watch presidency in 2023 I don't think that will work. So what we are saying is that our people are now afraid of voting for anybody from that area because you you do not vote for them and they have stopped you from your your means of livelihood and you are expecting to vote them what are they going to do maybe they are going to kill you. Mr. July, what we are saying is that the southern governors who have embraced dialogue they should have invited all the critical stakeholders to discuss and find a acceptable and agreeable solution to the problem. You are threatening us with a ban on open grazing and at the same time you're asking us to support candidates from that area I don't think that will work. Okay, Mr. Abdelahi could you hold on for a minute Mr. Abdelahi I just have a few questions you know that we needed to clarify and you're saying that the southern governor's resolution to ban open grazing in their state is threatening the livelihoods of 17 million people. Are you saying that there are 17 million cattle herders in southern states of Nigeria? Of course so when you are talking about the entire southern region you are talking about 17 million cattle with over 15 million head of cattle and we are asking them to leave that area entirely because we do not provide for any alternative to open grazing for them. Mr. Abdelahi I really wish we had the statistics to lay the facts bare regarding our population and all of that but it really seems like a very large number and a very big claim on your part to say that there are 17 million herders in Nigeria and that they all have PVCs and that because the southern governors are saying that there will be no open grazing in their state that those people will not vote and then the presidency won't swing in the favor of you know of a of a of a salvener but also another question. We have over nine million registered voters but what are the 17 million I'm talking about is the population of nomadic have totaled both in the southwest and the southeast of Nigeria. Okay so also you mentioned that according to you and you know the article that I saw online that you know you had granted an interview that states who ban open grazing would not know peace and that there's been no peace in Benway state since the ban open grazing don't you think others would interpret that as a threat to their safety? No no no that is that is not what I said uh what I did say was that um uh we should all go to Benway state and find out whether truly there is peace there because for the past few years there is no single harder in Benway state so what I'm saying is that um if you disclaim my people from your area and you firstly come to my own area there will be friction between my people and your people that are living here and so they are their business they are their legitimate business and they are all Nigerians they are all guaranteed freedom of movement freedom of association by the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria. But Mr Abdelahi that actually sounds Mr Abdelahi I don't know how you say it but that that actually sounds you know like the threat I mentioned if you're saying that if you know southern governors ban open grazing in their states then there will be friction among northerners and southerners in the north I don't know that doesn't sound threatening to you. Now take it this way you have to your neighbor you are living with your neighbor your children went to the house or the compound of your neighbor and they were driven away by your neighbor but uh your children came into your house I mean his children came into your house I don't think your children will look at them with respect uh they will say that these are the people that have I mean these are the children that uh whose father has driven on area so what I'm saying is that uh what is good for the you know for the for for a full element it's also good for a government so if if you are people who come to the north and live in peace without here we expect equal treatment to our people in your own area that's what we are saying we are not threatening anybody we are not talking about the natural law of justice. It doesn't still sound very different but I get you know you're trying to explain it better but I also want to ask if you or why it has been interpreted as driving these flannies out of these states the governors have simply said that there would be no open grazing and no movement of cattle across the states um and you know the argument has always been that when people want to do business in any other part of Nigeria they go to those places they purchase land they set up you know a business place there and they do their business so why can't we have the same thing with cattle why can't people who want to herd cattle buy land use it as you know a place to to herd their cattle and do business why does cattle need to move around you know these states and why is it a why does it seem forceful that they should be given the freedom to carry their cattle across you know any state that they choose well I have read I have read the resolution of the southern governors over and over again and again I have not seen anywhere they indicated that they are going to provide a piece of land for our people to buy them so they they don't need to do they need to provide the governors to provide alternative alternative groups to open grazing call it grazing without provision call it grazing whatever you decide for it the government to provide that you know that's alternative but Mr Abdelahi it does nobody is advocating for continuous you know grazing of animals you know moving of cattle from one place to another Mr Abdelahi what we are saying is that we should encourage people to set up cattle down in one place and start bringing their animals like it means protecting in other countries Mr Abdelahi if you go to any of the southern states to do business does the government need to provide you a place to do business or do you go in search of land with which you do your business well we have great over and over again from papers you know from that area some of the governors coming out to say that they have no single piece of land for grazing in their state we have read that we have seen that and I know you know it that the governors themselves have come out to say that they have not seen a lot of land for grazing this is why we said that when they ban they talk about banning open grazing we are saying that they are fully language indicating that they are trying to drive out other areas there has also been land I believe provided in northern states for grazing if of course if needed so why can't these persons so these people take advantage of those you know pieces of land that have been provided in northern states again this is this is the problem we are talking about Nigeria where every citizen has the right to live wherever they need to so the fact that lands are provided is not does not stop somebody who is to you know to move any part of the country to live because it's guaranteed by the constitution and again I want you to know that we have we have over 400 generations of and only about 100 and five of them are gathered and they are not enough to accommodate the the hardships that we have in this country so what we are trying to say and others is that both the federal and state government you know are guilty they have not provided conducive atmosphere for for for our people to fulfill their business so we are not trying to say that if northern governors are not also guilty they are because we have governors in the north that has about 24 of those grazing results that were designated and only about two of them are designated all right some of them have not got with any you know so they are all guilty what we are saying that our people will be treated as Nigerians or of course they will be treated as Nigerians I want to have something else you know with regard to treating them as Nigerians there is other things you know that people will look out for when they choose a candidate that they vote for and that is a candidate that provides them with first of all assures them that their rights as citizens will be respected you know in a democracy but also healthcare infrastructure security education there's numerous of these things that are important so if you have a candidate that you are sure provides all these other things are you saying that simply because he has not given you land to move your cattle across his state that those other things are very you know are automatically unimportant you see it may interest you to note that I am personally an advocate of the president what I'm saying is that candidates who aspire to this country to come out with a very clear program on how to treat all Nigerians equally uh they should be able to reach out to every Nigerian they should be able to feel trust rigid of trust between all Nigerians um I have for the past the 15 years I've been advocating for the Igbo presidency unfortunately the the area where Igbo which is defenseless to start attacking and killing my people you know what we are saying is that we need a candidate from anywhere within Nigeria that uh will treat all Nigerians equally even though some people are suggesting that um the issue of going and the issue of power shifting is is undemocratic but we have started so I'm saying that in my formal opinion since we have started it and two of the geopolitical goals have benefited it is only natural that we should move to another I mean the last geopolitical goal that is the southeast of Nigeria but unfortunately all the politicians from that area are not looking at it the way it should be looked into looked at okay so I need to get you on record um Stab Dilahi do you want a 2023 president that is from the south yeah I said I said do you want a president that is from the south in 2023 I have been advocating for that especially for Igbo presidency but I think since now one of those people come out to threaten my people uh I'm beginning to change my mind okay so you don't get to break this new threat and blackmail you have to come out campaign build structures are thrown on device try to build bridges of trust let all Nigerians know that they are comfortable and fit under your leadership and presidency you don't threaten people simply because you want presidency so what we are saying is that even now if a thousand are a very good democrat a true Nigeria that we live in the corporate existence of Nigeria that we live in the constitution of Nigeria that has the right and is the the mind and the results to treat all Nigerians equally why not after all we have had so many northern leaders and they have done nothing absolutely nothing to my people so we are not tribalist we are not you know religious uh you know team wise we are not um religious uh you know uh we don't treat people with religious sentiment we are looking for a president that will give our people a sense of belonging feeling from the south of the west but what we are saying that you cannot achieve that by threatening other Nigerians you cannot achieve that by blackmail you cannot achieve that by by completely destroying the means of livelihoods of millions of Nigerians okay mr abdelahi um the reason for the conversation about banning open grazing in the first place is simply because of the clashes that have occurred between farmers and herders and how you know there is news about in these herders encroaching into people's farmland and then that costs in conflict between the farmers and herders and the community so i'm what does the um Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria have to say about these herders who encroach into people's farmland who threaten the livelihoods of the farmers and then go ahead to commit atrocities such as murder well our our position has always been that there should be an effort you know to try to sensitize and educate our people to know that you cannot even go out of grazing unless you eat food therefore a farmer is very very important in your life we are also saying that there are over 400 grazing reserves that have been designated in 1965 which alone that is called 1965 grazing reserve we are saying that those governors who have the custody of land to be assessed from the rich of grazing reserves and encourage these people to settle in that will definitely resolve crisis with completely sub crisis between farmers and herders we are saying that communities will make deliberate efforts to form committees that put across on stakeholders you know that will be meeting from time to time resolve all crisis that are border on encroachment of farmland all right this has been our position we won't support stopping grazing open grazing without providing alternative what we are saying is that movement to provide alternative to open grazing all right um i wish we had i genuinely wish that we had more time but ibrahim abdelahi thank you very much for stopping by and for sharing your thoughts with us i hope that we can create a very much and have this conversation again and go deeper into this good morning thank you this is where we have to say goodbye thank you very much for watching i will basically covered you know key issues in angieria regarding the recantin you know off that statement you know that she was guilty talking about chilema um ojuku regarding the murder of super tv co um we talked about some racial slurs that came out from steven smith when he butchered the names of nigerian athletes in the us and we also talked about you know key issues concerning our security on off the press and uh the open grazing issue yes um but of course so this is where we wrap up this morning thank you very much if you want to of course catch up on any of these conversations and uh re-watch them remember to catch uh get with us on social media it is at plus tv africa on facebook and instagram and same with our youtube channel at plus tv africa and plus tv africa lifestyle i am osao gie and i'm annetta philix same of i