How the Fulani were made to suffer in Nigeria – Isa Yuguda

By PHC Telegraph

A prominent Fulani leader and one-time State Governor,  Isa Yuguda says that the Fulani race has suffered a great deal of deprivation in Nigeria.

Yuguda who was a guest on the Morning Show broadcast by Arise Television Tuesday noted that right from the pre-independence era, Fulanis and their cattle have been unfairly treated by the Nigerian state.

He recalled  that the Fulani were the first in the country to be forced by the British to pay taxes.

The former governor said taxes are usually taken from profits and not from capital, but he disclosed that the capital of the Fulani herdsman were rather taxed by the British.

Until the British targeted the Fulani and their cattle, no tribe in the country had ever paid tax, he emphasised.

Yuguda said it was no longer possible to have cattle routes the way they were drawn by the British, saying he agreed with latest moves by the National Assembly to pass the grazing bill into law.

He further noted that the development of ranches would help expose children of the Fulani to formal education and minimise nomadic life.

The former Bauchi State Governor openly criticised federal and state governments for supporting growth in agriculture and doing nothing in favour of the development of animal husbandry.

Yuguda made a case for a carrier which which would fly the nation’s flag, but said he did not believe government should own such a carrier wholly.

He said that as part of the aviation sector he helped to negotiate the Virgin Nigeria deal which proved mutually beneficial. Somehow, someone truncated the deal after he left office.

Yuguda added that the aviation sector is a money spinner, a job creator and an object of national pride.