Why Fulani’s Need To Be Reach Out Educationally, Scripturally- Rev. Aliyu.

Rev. Buba Aliyu is the chairman Fulani Christian Association of Nigeria (FULCAN), in this interaction with our correspondent DANIEL AGADA in Jos, he revealed the rationale behind the conception of FULCAN, emphasize the need to reach out to Fulani race both in academic and scriptural sound teachings of the knowledge of God. The excerpts please.

According to Rev. Buba, “FULCAN was established in 1972 where Fulani nationals who professed Christian faith hold her First Fellowship in Nigeria.

“The Fellowship brought together Fulani across the entire West African Region. The denominations that came together to form FULCAN were S.I.M, ECWA, TEKAN, Anglican, E.Y.N, COCIN, Baptist C.R.C.N, K.S.T.N amongst other denominations that we are working with today.

This is the body that unites the entire Fulani who are Christians in Nigeria and other West African Countries. We zone our Fellowhip across West African Countries, and we have held the Fellowship 12 times to educate and create this awareness that there are Fulani Christians in the Country.

“Arising from these Fellowships, other countries like Cameroon, Chad, Central Africa, Niger, Ghana Burkina-Faso, Gambia among other West African countries keyed into the Fellowhip and have been holding their Fellowhip too. Of recent you will see me in some videos with some Fulanis’, it is the Christian Fulani Fellowhip in Niger Republic we attended and encouraged them in the faith.

“We the Fulanis’ that have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior want people to understand that the Fulani man you see if educated properly will contribute a lot to the development of the society. This is because, if you go back to history and the accounts in the Holy Bible you will discovered that amongst those God manifested to them are herders.

“Just take a look on the account of Moses, when God spoke to him that ‘ the ground he is standing on is a Holy Ground, he was a herder. Look at Joseph, they were out there herding animals when his jealous brothers sold him and told their father upon returning home that lion ate him up and show their father clothe stain with animal blood which they killed to perfect their plan. But God lifted him up and took him to Egypt.

“So, if you carefully look at the history of those God uses in the Bible you will see that they are herders. And my greatest concerned is that our people Fulani left education behind saying that they want to herd, forgetting the fact that today, the world has gotten to a point that you don’t even see bushes any longer because of population and that is why whenever Fulani moves to any community they are seen as foreigners.

“And that is why we as Fulani Christians are calling on the Fulani race to step out of what they are into and educate their children on how to know God and God will also know them. Because God said whenever you are in him he too will be in you who knows him. By this, nobody will submit himself to go and be perpetrating evil.

“Any religion that said you should carry arm and go and killed your fellow brother (human) the person did not know God. Because the blood you are shedding is the life, and this life you are taking belongs to God because he owns it. God loves and cherish life but out quest for material things and power has made the heart of man wicked that he takes life without remorse or sense of reasoning.

“We the leadership of Fulani Christian Association are calling on our fellow Fulanis’ to look at others with mercy and free themselves of this stigma that Fulani are the ones perpetrating evils. It’s not good to find ourselves doing things that are evil.

“Because some of the things done and said by the Fulanis on media are shameful to the real Fulani race and anytime anyone does anything wrong before God is shameful.”

“FULCAN has an outreach arm known as Fulbe Outreach International, this arm over the years kept and keep propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ and also attending to some pressing challenges confronting the Fulani communities. For example, there are Fulani communities where we provided them with boreholes, some places with clinics, some social centres, some community Centres for them to be interacting with one other.

“There are places we met Fulani living in serious conflict with one another, and we settled those dispute by educating them on the need to live in peace and today they are living in peace with each other.

“So, we in FULCAN believe in the sanctity of life and we can’t say go to a community and attack people at night when they are asleep, kill them and burnt down their properties, or rustle their cattles, that’s ungodly to us.

“Secondly, we don’t advice or support that you go kill people and force them out of their lands so you can covet it or give it out to Fulanis for herding of their flocks, we don’t support such barbaric act rather we will be happy to see that you contribute positively in fostering peace amongst the Fulani and their host communities.”

“In those days, whenever a host community is celebrating anything be it naming ceremony or a festival. The Fulani in the area will take a good and healthy sheep to such family to use it for the celebration. And so also if we are to hold any celebration, the locals will bring sorghum for us to use it in making local guess, and this is the kind of brotherly living that will continue to advocate.

“We want political leaders, religious leaders, traditional rulers to continue to speak and preach to their people for us to live in peace and harmony with one another. The country is our own collectively as God made it and it beholds on us to live in peace with each other! There is no tribe that will say he don’t need another tribe to exist in this world, we all need each other just like our body parts needs each other. There should be dialogue and genuine forgiveness to one another because Jesus Christ is the king of peace.

“And that is why we are saying if you don’t have Jesus in you, you won’t be able to live in peace with one another. Some people keep making reference to the law of Moses, an-eye-for-an-eye. But recalled that Jesus while on the cross said father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.

“And it is in the light of this that we are calling on the entire Fulani in West Africa to throw away those bad things they hold to heart and take the path of love so that we can educate our children to grow in the fear of God.”

On fellowship in Niger Republic.

“I am happy with the Fellowhip we just concluded in Niger Republic. But mind you, this is not the only country we are having this, i travelled across the entire West African countries and we carry out this Fellowhip also.

“We went to Niger Republic and saw our brothers (Fulanis) in their towns and villages living with other tribes and they (Fulani) have their Churches. We saw both the bush Fulani and town Fulani living together and they bear one name which is Fulani. Their celebration is one and that further strengthened me in the faith which is an indication that whenever we took away the issue of ethnicity we are going to educate more people on the need to live together as one (Christian).

“I am indeed encourage, seeing their faces and dressings are Fulanis’ but they are Christians who believe in Jesus Christ and are not terrorist. They are not killers, they convocate to praise and worship our Lord and savior Jesus Christ in Fulani language.

“So, I can tell you that if more efford are been made in the propagation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to also educate the Fulani nationals across villages, this bad name meted on real Fulani will be a thing of the past.

“Let me tell you, most of the things happening are not carried out by Fulanis’. Because no any real Fulani has ever come out to speak or distance themselves from it. There are so many tribes that herds cattle and because people will not distinguish between these herders, everything that happened is tide to Fulani people.”