By Muyideen Aliyu, Ilorin
The Balogun Fulani of Ilorin, Alhaji Abubakar Sidiq Atiku, has admonished separatists not to rewrite the history of the family as there’s no controversy over the ascendancy to Balogun Fulani leadership stool, to avoid unnecessary security breach in the area.
Atiku explained that only male descendants from the paternal lineage have rights to the stool, pointing out that males from female ancestors have no historical ascendancy rights to be the Balogun Fulani of Ilorin and advised undesirable elements to steer clear from the community so as not to escalate tension and fears among the people.
Speaking with journalists after a stakeholders meeting in Ilorin last weekend, on the sidelines of a book written by a former lawmaker and erstwhile All Progressives Congress party state chairman, Hon. Ishola Balogun Fulani, he charged the people to be security conscious, especially in an attempt by criminal elements to infiltrate the community with false claims with the aim to foment trouble.
“Ilorin has been a peaceful city. We live together with indigenes and non-indigenes. But the craze for wealth has turned the society to something else, whereby people kill over money, properties, it calls for vigilance and security consciousness,” he said.
Atiku, one out of the four kingmakers for the enthronement of a new Emir of Ilorin, called on residents of Balogun Fulani to be observant and monitor strange fellows as a form of security consciousness.
A former director of education at the state education ministry and head of Balogun Fulani community stressed that the privilege accorded any residents of the area to use “Balogun Fulani” as part of their names in private life does not, and can never, confer legitimacy on the person’s claims to ascend the throne as Balogun Fulani head, nor amount to recognition by the family.
He said it behoves the leadership of the community to protect the truth, correct misrepresentations about the area, and prevent unsuspecting members of the public from being misled by unscrupulous people.
“The hereditary titles of Balogun Fulani of Ilorin and District Head of Afon are, by custom, history and judicial authority, exclusively reserved for the male descendants of our progenitor, Ibrahim Jodi Olufadi.
Any attempt by anyone, through book publications or otherwise, to distort established facts or rewrite history, is a gross misrepresentation of facts already adjudicated upon by a competent court of law,” Atiku said.
“The family disassociates itself completely from any book publications and urges the general public to disregard contents of any such publication insofar as they purport to confer on anyone an entitlement which the court has expressly denied,” he noted.
Speaking in the same vein, the District Head of Afon, Mallam Hanafi Kola Balogun, said someone who has no direct lineage with the family could not in any way lay claim to the traditional title of Balogun Fulani of Ilorin.
He noted that distorting the already established history, which was not in conflict with either the families or Ilorin Emirates council, called for caution from the entire communities, as all sons and daughters of the families, both at home and in the diaspora, would not tolerate any acts of sabotage from separatists who are out to cause mayhem in the area.
The District Head noted that the family would take the necessary measures to avoid issues that would create unnecessary security challenges in the area, stressing that the community and indeed all the stakeholders are united on these moves to correct the misgivings.