Southern Kaduna: It is not easy to remove Hausa people who clear bushes to create their settlement, says Yakassai

Alhaji Tanko Yakassai 

A founding member of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari and Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai, to resolved the lingering land dispute between the Indigenous Southern Kaduna people and the Hausa community in order to ensure lasting peace rather than using a cosmetic approaches in addressing the conflict.

The elder statesman said there was a need for a holistic approach in putting an end to the kiIIings in the area even as he said it would not be easy to remove the Hausa people who clear the bushes and create their own settlement in the region.

Yakasai stated this in an interview with SaharaReporters on Monday.

He condemned the kiIIings by gunmen in Gora Gan village of Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

He said the deployment of security in the area was like scratching the surface, adding that it would not provide any meaningful solutions to the problem confronting the people.

He said there was a need to address the issue of land conflict, one of the major causes of the crisis in the area.

While recalling the efforts made by the past government in solving the problem, Yakasai said the former governor, Ahmed Makarfi, introduced local government reform where chieftaincy institutions were created but failed to address the issues.

He admitted that land conflict was a complicated situation that the government must give priority and handle with caution.

He said, "There is a need to address the land conflict. It is a more complex situation because the indigenous people claimed the lands belonged to them. But the Hausa people and their descendants just went there and cleared the bush. They claimed all the areas they cleared.

"This is one of the major causes of the conflict. I know it is not an easy thing to do because you cannot remove the Hausa people, who cleared the bush and created their settlements. This is not because I am a Hausa man, but I am speaking as a human being."

He also suggested the need for the government to develop and replicate the solutions and strategies used in solving the communal crisis in Ife/Modakeke in Osun State.

He said, "The Kaduna State government can go and learn some ideas in Ife/Modakeke on how they can solve the problem of Southern Kaduna.

"It is a question of how you can develop a strategy. Once people see it as a viable option as they did in Ife/Modakeke, they will accept it because nobody wants trouble."