The paramount ruler of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrosheed Adewale Akanbi, Telu I, has urged President Bola Tinubu to take some measures to address the insecurity in the country, including taking Fulani herdsmen to school.
Oluwo appealed to the Tinubu-led administration to invest in ranching for the herdsmen to keep their cattle, adding that the nomadic system is injurious to them and the entire nation.
Oba Akanbi made this known in an open letter written to Tinubu on Thursday while expressing dissatisfaction with the spate of kidnappings and killings perpetrated by killer Fulani herdsmen in the South-West region and other parts of the country.
The monarch said most of the insecurity challenges faced by the country are carried out by Fulani herdsmen who want to survive, adding that there are also good Fulani herders.
The traditional ruler also urged the security agencies to deploy digital equipment to check insecurity in the country, as part of the measures to tackle insecurity.
“Arresting those children from the bush to the four walls of classrooms requires the promotion of ranching. Understanding is key, while education is the door to peace,” the letter read.
“I want to appeal to your excellency to assent legislation that will compel education for children and enact strict punishment for parents refusing to educate their children.
“Priority can be placed on the Fulanis with preferential monitoring of nomadic settlements. This option will secure their future as engineers, pilots, doctors, professors, kings, bankers, ambassadors, etc., and not kidnappers. My domain is the highest host of the Fulanis in Osun State. Before the escalation of the kidnapping menace, I visited the Fulanis in my domain mandating formal education and threatened to arrest parents of teen children rearing cattle during school hours.”
Oba Akanbi further said, “Our security should go digital. If not now, who else is our Messiah? Nigeria’s security should be strengthened. The boost can optionally be assured through the mandatory and timely provision of electronic national identity cards for everyone on Nigerian soil, such that the security forces can accost and demand identification anywhere, anytime. With a digital ID card, security can track suspicious members of society.
“Your Excellency, I want to appeal for a quick response to enact a law in collaboration with the national assembly for a quick trial and execution of culpable kidnappers. There is no justifiable excuse for injustice. Injustice is only justified when a matching penalty is meted out. The change is in action. Let two, three, or four culpable kidnappers taste death; then, we will breathe the air of peace.”
“In conclusion, let me admonish Nigerians. Nigeria’s security architecture cannot be strengthened in isolation. Nigerians must volunteer to support the service chiefs and other security agencies in intelligence gatherings. Community policing should be encouraged,” he added.