National Coordinator of the Arewa Initiative for Peaceful Co-Existence in Southern Nigeria and former Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa has condemned the marginalisation of Arewa communities in the south.
He said the Arewa communities are not given equal opportunities in the political, economic and social schemes of their places of abode in spite of the fact that most of them are born and bred in those communities.
Bafarawa made this statement when over 10 million Arewas in Southern Nigeria gathered to endorse President Goodluck Jonathan in Asaba last week.
Bafarawa said “Arewa communities in the south are politically marginalised. They are not allowed to contest for political offices both at the state and federal levels. They are also not appointed into state or federal administrations.
“Our people in the south operate under harsh and difficult business environments. The traders and artisans among them enjoy no form of business protection. They are subjected to multiple taxation and extortion by their host governments. Sometimes the markets where they ply their wares are raided, and closed down under whatever guise. In the process, many of them lose their goods to Area Boys and other miscreants.
“Arewa communities in the south do not enjoy educational schemes such as scholarships and bursary awards. This is because they are regarded as non-indigenes in their places of domicile. They are also not admitted into state-owned educational institutions because they are seen as strangers.
“Even after graduation, they are not given employment in the civil service of the states where they were born and brought up. This situation has not helped the development and upliftment of these young Nigerians. The result is that some of them who cannot be gainfully employed resort to hooliganism and criminality.
“There is a general lack of access to soft loans by Arewa communities in the south. Schemes such as small and medium enterprises loans are denied them. They are also not considered for poverty alleviation programmes of their host states, among other discriminatory acts.
“We note also that security of their life and property is sometimes not guaranteed owing to sporadic clashes that arise from grazing rights and location of markets. In the process, lives and property are lost and wantonly destroyed”.
He demanded for the inclusion of Arewa communities in the scheme of things, he said “Today, we are taking the very first crucial step to ensure that our brothers and sisters living in southern Nigeria are no longer left out in the scheme of things. We want to ensure that they not only play their civic roles, but do so to the benefit of the fatherland.”
President Goodluck Jonathan while addressing the crowd assured the Arewas that if he was re-elected, he would come up with a very strong law to prohibit any form of discrimination against any Nigerian.