The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum received with rude shock the in-your-face impunity of the Buhari-led government’s announcement of a plan to set up an AM radio station for Fulani herdsmen to broadcast in Fulfude.
Minister of education Adamu Adamu, who confirmed the acquisition of the licence in Abuja on Tuesday, said the radio service will operate on frequency of 720KHz, and will be strictly on Fulani language.
He disclosed that plans are underway to secure funds for procurement and installation of requisite transmission equipment for the successful take-off of the radio station.
He added that the station is part of the peace-building efforts of the government in addressing herders-farmers clashes (herders’ terror on farmers it is)
The executive
secretary, National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE), Prof. Bashir
Usman, explained that some veteran Hausa broadcasters have been contacted to
develop programmes for the station.
The announcement came at a time the Federal Government has been acting as the
information arm of Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen by dissing the correct
interpretation of the group’s activities as an attempt to “Fulanise ”
Nigeria.
We totally reject this insensitive decision of the government on the following
fundamental grounds:
1) It smacks of hypocrisy and deception for a government that has in the last
four years denied responsibility on behalf of the Fulani herdsmen for crimes
they even owned up to, to now tell us it wants to set up a radio for them to
address the same issues.
2) Section 55 of the 1999 Constitution recognises English, Yoruba , Hausa and
Igbo as languages in which the official business of the National Assembly can
be conducted .There was no mention of Fulani which is not a language most
northerners even understand. Why this sudden promotion to a language the
Federal Government will set up a radio to promote ? Will it also set up radio
stations for the officially recognised languages and the over 250 languages
spoken in different parts of Nigeria?
3) We fear seriously that the proposed radio will become a weapon of spreading
hate propaganda against other nationalities in Nigeria, given the kid gloves
treatment with which the Buhari administration has handled the killings of
thousands of Nigerians in the last four years. We are guided the
genocide-aiding role radio played in inciting ordinary citizens to take part in
the massacre of Tutsis and moderate Hutus during the Rwandan Genocide. Radio
Rwanda and RTLM. From 1993 to late 1994 , RTLM was used by Hutu leaders to
convey an extremist Hutu message and anti-Tusti disinformation by identifying
specific targets and areas where they could be found and encouraging progress
of the genocide. In 1994 , Rwanda Radio began to advance the same message by
issuing directives on where to kill Tutsis and congratulating those who had
already taken part .
4) Using the instrumentality of the Federal Government to set up a radio for
Fulani herdsmen will throw a knife at the tiniest of the threads still holding
Nigeria together as all illusions of an inclusive country would be removed and
the rest of the country would conclude we are now under Fulani Government of
Nigeria.
We therefore demand that the Federal Government should perish the thought of a
Fulani radio sponsored by government if it cares in any form about the
corporate existence of the country.
Signed
Yinka Odumakin (South West)
Prof. Chigozie Ogbu (South-East)
Senator Bassey Henshaw (South-South)
Dr Isuwa Dogo (Middle Belt)
