The Fulani Community of Bauchi State, under the aegis of Daddo Pulaku and Affiliated Associations, has kicked against the proposed creation of more emirates and chiefdoms, urging the government to rescind its decision.
The group, which made its stand during a media briefing in Bauchi, yesterday, said that the planned creation of the emirates and chiefdoms was meant to achieve ethnic and tribal divisions in the state.
Chairman of the community, a former lawmaker, Mohammed Aminu Tukur, who spoke on behalf of the members, said that the Fulani community would remain with the existing Bauchi, Ningi, Dass, Jama’are, Misau, and Katagum emirates across the state.
Tukur said that the community respects the constitutional right of other communities to seek traditional representation, saying: “However, we note with concern that the current proposal for new chiefdoms and emirates seems heavily driven by ethnic demarcations, rather than historical legitimacy or administrative necessity.
“As law-abiding citizens and stakeholders in the peace and development of Bauchi State, we categorically state that the Fulani of Bauchi State do not wish to be subjected to any newly created emirate or chiefdom outside the six existing emirates.
“Our allegiance remains with the historic traditional institutions under which we have long co-existed in dignity and harmony.”
“We believe this position is both a constitutional right and a cultural imperative. Subjecting us to newly carved structures without our consent undermines the principle of free association, disrupts longstanding communal relationships, and could lead to avoidable tension.”
It would be recalled that over the years, the Zaar community had been agitating for a Sayawa chiefdom. It is believed that the area is dominated by Christians, hence the resistance from the Fulani community in the state.
The state government had, therefore, called for memoranda and set up a high-powered committee, headed by a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Koshe Hamza Akuyam. The committee was scheduled for inauguration on Friday.
