Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria endorses Buhari for president in 2019

FULANI herdsmen's body the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (Macban) has endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari as its preferred candidate in next year's general elections.

Highly controversial, Macban has been blamed for the constant clashes between herdsmen and farmers across the country that has led to thousands of deaths as pastoralists carry out gruesome attacks against farming villages. President Buhari has come under a lot of criticism for failing to address the crisis or calling Macban to order.

Himself an ethnic Fulani who herds cattle, President Buhari has been accused of refusing to clampdown on Macban because he is sympathetic to their cause. Critics have accused the president of failing to deal with the Fulani herdsmen as decisively as he has dealt with other opposition groups like the Shiites and the Indigenous People of Biafra.

In a development now likely to heat up the debate further, Macban president Alhaji Muhammadu Kirowa, said the association will be backing President Buhari because his administration has directed impacted positively on the lives of their members. He added that the president had also made significant efforts towards reviving grazing reserves across the country.

Alhaji Baba Uthman Ngelzarma, Macban's secretary, added that the decision to support President Buhari was a decision taken by its annual congress. He said their members who are over 20m took the collective decision and the leadership had no other option than to follow the majority decision.

“We represent over 20m members across the country and here in attendance we have over 2,000 people who have come from all corners of the country. We have representatives from each local government and you heard their view, they have declared their interest on Muhammadu Buhari to move to the next level.

"This is the majority decision of the congress and we as leaders, we don’t have option other than to follow. Macban also frowns at the sensational and negative stereotyping of herders who are doing a legitimate economic activity that contributes to the gross domestic product of the country and ensuring food security,” Alhaji Ngelzarma said.

He then appealed to members of the association to be law abiding and avoid frictions and utterances that are capable of causing chaos in the country. In addition, he also appealed to the media to be conscious of reporting that has the tendency to cause genocide, especially where herdsmen are described as killers and unwanted citizens.

Alhaji Ngelzarma  also called on federal government to stamp out cases of impunity in relation to the killings of innocent citizens who are caught in the conflict. As many as 2,500 are believed to have been killed in the crisis, with up to 62,000 others displaced, mainly across Nigeria's Middle Belt.