Cattle Herdsmen vs. Nigerian Farmers
This constant conflict between the Nigerian Herdsmen, farmers and ordinary citizens is reaching a dangerous crescendo. For several years now, Nigerian farmers and everyday citizens have been complaining about this unnecessary conflict between the Fulani herdsmen and the farmers. I want everyone to be mindful that the Hausa/Fulani herdsmen and the Nigerian farmers are a very critical population group. The Herdsmen supply the country with meat, one of our main sources of protein, while the Nigerian farmer feeds the nations’ population albeit one person at a time. Why our so-called leaders have buried their heads in the sand and refused to find a common ground regarding this herdsman/farmer conflict baffles the hell out of me.
I do not know about the rest of you, but this matter of the herdsmen conflict is now taking mythic dimensions. The first question I have is this…how many of these herdsmen do we have all over this nation? Even if the entire Fulani tribe are cattle herders, are there enough of them to wreak the kind of havoc that is being perpetuated all over Nigeria? How could such few individuals hold an entire nation hostage and all we do is talk, whine, and complain? We need the herdsmen as much as we need the farmers. However, and from a practical perspective, Nigeria should not be allowing grazing anywhere within the confines of that nation. This is the new millennium and we should not be allowing grazing as practiced by our forefather to still be the norm. It is embarrassing that we as a nation are still grappling with these conflicts because we have failed to realize that our herdsmen should be raising their livestock in ranches instead of on our city streets and farms.
Now back to this conflict. There is this running joke (rumor) regarding the Liberian civil war. The running joke was that Liberians went to war against each other due to the cost of rice. True, false, or indifferent, the fact remains that the average Liberians will be judged by the fact that they sacrificed tens of thousands of lives over the cost of rice. I am simply amazed at the complicity of the Nigerian elite to this herdsmen/farmer conflict; hence we be labelled as a nation that went to war due to the herdsmen/farmer conflict? What will it take for these individuals who control our resources and factors of production to work together towards a common fix for these challenges before they consume us all? Over the years, we have heard and endured all kinds of nonsensical utterances from the people we elected to represent us, ranging from the right of the Fulani to graze their cattle anywhere and the fact that they (Fulani) value the life of a cattle over those of humans. But need I tell you that we elected these individuals. As we make our beds, so we will lie on it.
Candidly, the solution to some of these challenges are attainable provided we are willing as a nation to deal and resolve these nagging issues. For starters, grazing cattle is not only primitive and inefficient, but spread diseases. Any reasonable government should be looking for alternatives to grazing for this segment of our populace that depend on raising livestock to make a living. In 2021, we should be telling tales to our children and grandchildren about how our parents and grandparents use to graze cattle, sheep, and goat for a living and not them living it. I am writing about this now because what started as a conflict between herdsmen and farmers, has now morphed into something different with the purported herdsmen turning into killers, kidnappers, rapist and terrorizing Southern communities. This evolution has continued and even during Coronavirus quarantine, it was alleged that the Hausa/Fulani were using the quarantine to smuggle boy soldiers into the South for the purpose of attacking the Southerners and Islamizing the entire country. True or not true, let us not wake up one morning and find ourselves engulfed in another civil war all due to unsubstantiated propaganda, rumors, and innuendos. We (the Igbo nation) are all still crawling out of the effects of the last civil war even 40 years later.
Governor Akeredolu issued a notice to the herdsmen on public land to vacate or face the wrath of the law. My question is why did it taken this long? Where are the other governors whose citizens have been crying about menace of these marauding herdsmen? Where is the federal government and our legislators who, rather than find solutions to this problem, will by their own words exacerbate the situation? It may be true that the constitution enshrined the right of the average herdsman to graze their cattle, that same constitution enshrined the right of the farmer to tend their crops in quiet enjoyment. Furthermore, the same constitution protects the average citizen from harassment from any marauders killing, kidnapping, or raping their children. Just like Governor Akeredolu, every governor, who is entrusted with the security of the citizens of their state should challenge the practice of open grazing of livestock in their states. It is their right and responsibility to protect their own citizens from harm. This is the more reason we all should be raising our collective voices and requesting the dismantling of our current centralized police structure and replace it with state and local policing (see my article of police decentralization at www.nairandkobo.com ).
So, what shall we do about this herdsmen conflict? First let me remind all that the Hausa/Fulani have co-existed in our communities for decades. For those who may have forgotten, we had what we used to refer to “Ama Awusa” (Hausa Colonies) in almost every metropolis in the then East Central State. These communities disappeared during the war and reappeared right as soon as the war ended. So, we will be deluding ourselves thinking that this phenomenon of the Northerner living among us while raising their livestock is new, well it is not. To get to solution sets, we need to ask the basic question of why there is increased conflict between these sojourners and the native residents. Why these nomads, who have co-existed peacefully with us for years are now turning into rapists, marauders and killers. Could it be that in the state of heightened distrust of other tribes, we now blame them for rising crime in our communities? I am not attempting to defend anyone, just that we must seek first to understand, and then to be understood.
Nevertheless, to minimize and/or stop these conflicts, Nigeria as a nation must stop grazing livestock! As mentioned earlier, this method of raising livestock is not only primitive and outdated, but interferes with traffic flow, spread diseases, and pollutes the environment. In the new millennium, we should focus on helping our herdsmen raise their livestock in cattle farms and/or ranches, and preferably in the north where we have vast “plains” that could accommodate such business. Furthermore, grazing livestock in the south is not very productive given the areas topography and the fact that the region is populated by mostly small farmers whose farms are constantly being trampled by these Fulani livestock. The federal government is pumping billions of Naira in Agriculture, part of that money should be used to assist these nomads with purchasing ranch lands and trained on how to raise livestock in ranches. Instead of investing billions building refineries in Niger Republic and constructing rail lines to nowhere, our government should be building ranches and constructing rail lines to move these livestock to other parts of the country. Talk about misplaced priorities.
Scanning through news outlets, I saw President Buhari telling Governor Akeredolu to checkmate crime in Ondo instead of blaming the herdsmen. Yes, President Buhari is right! Crime in Nigeria is reaching titanic proportions and truly need to be checked before we become unmanageable crime hotspot. The type of crimes currently being recorded in Nigeria defies imagination…and some of them could be considered cultural abominations. However, in these heightened tensions between the tribes, rather that seek out the source of these crimes, it is far easier to blame the other tribes, or to some extent the herdsmen, for those crimes. The only glaring omission from the statement attributed to the Nigerian President was the fact that he alone controls the police and other security apparatus that could be deployed to fish out those perpetuating these crimes in our country. He should not be telling Akeredolu to control crime in his state, Buhari should be telling his Police and military to control crime in all parts of the country. Instead of looking for the elusive and probably nonexistent Eastern Security Network (ESN), and killing innocent citizens in Orlu as was reported earlier in the week, Buhari should be deploying soldiers to help seek out the people perpetuating these killings, kidnapping and rapes in our areas. That what conscientious leaders do – well like I have said numerous times, Buhari has already checked out, we just need to sit out the rest of his tenure.
To stop these unnecessary conflicts between herdsmen and farmers, I am encouraging every state Governor to follow the footsteps of Akeredolu and notify Nigerian herdsmen and Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association that grazing is no longer permissible in their states. They have that right as the Chief Security Officers of their states, and as enshrined in our constitution. Just as with Akeredolu and Ondo state, if these herdsmen want to initiate a dialogue that will lead to creative and constructive solutions, so be it! But enough of these whining. It is time we confront these smoldering fires before they become full infernos that may end up consuming the entire nation. If we knew the cost of the Biafran war in human lives prior to engaging in it, who knows, we may have opted for dialogue instead. Make no mistake about this phenomenon, the herdsmen have a right to raise their livestock in any part of the country, just like the Igbos and Yoruba should be allowed to set up shop anywhere in the country. But just like anything else, their rights end where other rights begin. If their goal would be to settle in the South just like they have done over the years, they need to procure (buy) property to tend to their livestock in ranches as in other parts of the world. Like I said earlier, they could stay in the Northern plains and set up ranches to raise their livestock and let the Igbo merchants transport their meat to other parts of the country.
For comments, please hit me up at www.nairandkobo.com
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