Sporadic clashes between nomadic Fulani herdsmen and locals, landowners
or farmers in the nook and cranny of Nigeria have claimed thousands of innocent
lives, led to loss of properties worth millions of Naira and there seem to be
no end in sight to this ugly, routine phenomenon. While Boko Haram overtook
ISIS as the world's deadliest terrorist organisation going by fatalities, the Global
Terrorism Index (GTI) ranked Fulani
Herdsmen as the 4th deadliest terrorist organization in the world in its 2015 ranking. The GTI reckons that, ‘’Fulani
militants in the northern part of Nigeria killed as many as 1,229 people in the
country in 2014’’.
Cause(s) of Frequent Clashes Between Fulani
Herdsmen and Locals, Farmers
A report by SBM Intelligence titled, ‘’Terror In The
Food Basket: A look into the
violence in North-Central Nigeria’’,
identified some of the factors contributing to the frequent skirmishes between
herdsmen and farmers to include: ‘’Seasonal southward migration due to dry
season which brings herdsmen into contact with locals
in Middle Belt and increased competition
for farmland, desertification’’. SMB
Intelligence asserts that though the conflict between farmers and Fulani
herdsmen in North Central Nigeria is “multi-dimensional”, it stated that its
finding shows that it is ‘’basically a conflict about resources’’. “The Fulani herdsmen
during their nomadic movement with their cattle, which constitute their own
most important assets, encroach and graze on the lands and crops of the native
ethnic groups in the Middle Belt. Inevitably, the natives complain and the
herdsmen recourse to organized violence’’. “When this happens, the herdsmen,
who reportedly have a powerful union across West Africa report back to their
powerful owners that their cattle are being rustled or killed and then the
Union organizes for protection to come usually with mercenaries accompanying
some of the herdsmen and attack villages where cattle have been rustled or
killed. According to SBM Intelligence, ‘’over 2,000 people have been killed in
conflicts between the herdsmen and host communities in the region in 2015 alone’’.
That is not to say that all nomadic Fulani herdsmen are irresponsible or
violent. Not at all.
Cattle Rusting Alibi
While one condemns cattle rustling in the strongest terms, one is
quick to add that it would be much more difficult for folks to steal cattle secluded
in a modern ranch and implanted with GPS microchips that can be tracked in
real-time. Rustling cattle is not a big issue in advanced counties where cattle
are herded in enclosed ranches. It is this tendency to roam about with cattle,
encroaching people’s properties and (in)advertently destroying crops that set
up a violent chain reaction. It starts when a typical herdsman travels all the
way from say, Katsina to a remote Tiv community in Benue state. Knowing how
risky and dangerous his journey might be, an average herdsman arms himself
sophisticated weapons and sundry charms to ward off attacks.
Culture of Omerta, Double
Standard?
Writing under
the banner, ‘’Why does President Buhari treat Shiites and
Fulani herdsmen differently?’’, Mr. Adeolu Ademoyo argues in his essay that,
‘’the Nigerian government under Buhari treats the serial criminality of the
Fulani herdsmen with kid gloves, and has refused to properly call their
kidnapping and murderous activities by their right names – which is a crime
against the Nigerian state and people – the same government has called the
Shiites/army clash a “coup”; hence the army declared war against the Shiites
and massacred them in Zaria’’. Also
recall that security operatives reportedly killed
10 and injured 20 pro Biafra demonstrators in Aba on Tuesday, 9th
February, 2016. Prior to this incident, sometime in December 2015, hundreds of
Shiite Muslims were allegedly executed in Kaduna state following a scuffle
between them and Nigerian army personnel. A Chief Superintendent of Police who
doubles as the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Vunokilang Police
Station in Girei Local Government Area (LGA) of Adamawa State, one Mr. Okezie
Okeroafor who had spent only two months at his new duty post and 29 others were
ambushed while on a peace mission and killed on Sunday, January 24, 2016 by
supposed Fulani herdsmen following altercations between farmers and herdsmen in
Girei LGA. The DPO and his colleagues are gone for good; they died serving
their country where life has little or no value. If they had accommodation in
the barracks, sooner than later their families will be ejected. One wonders why some Fulani
herdsmen freely walk around, brandish sophisticated weapons at any slightest
opportunity yet our security and intelligence agencies turn a blind eye. In
addition to the 144 Brigade of the Nigerian
Army located in nearby Asa, Ukwa West local Government Area, Daily Post
newspaper reports that the
tactical headquarters of 14 Brigade of the Nigerian Army
hitherto domiciled at Ohafia has been relocated to Aba to rein in Biafran
agitators. By acts of commission or omission, bands of marauding Fulani herdsmen
are condoned to vandalize farmlands, slaughter scores of hapless citizens, and
waltz but security agents seem to bask on unleashing mayhem on unarmed Igbos
whose only crime is daring to embark on peaceful demonstrations or peacefully
clamouring for a Cause they believe in. If the military and security agencies will be
unleashed, ordered to use maximum force, live ammunitions to suppress unarmed
Biafran demonstrators and to quash Shiite Muslims in Kaduna, why is the
Nigerian government and the security agencies lax on destructive Fulani
herdsmen?
Between Biafran Agitators
and Fulani Herdsmen, who’s a bigger threat?
Far
from ethnic jingoism, solidarity or holding brief for the young man but it is
difficult to reconcile President Buhari’s assertion during his maiden
presidential chat to the effect that his administration will not release Nnamdi
Kanu from detention despite a federal high court (FHC) Abuja granting Kanu unconditional
bail
in December 2015 because he, President Buhari deems Kanu’s act as ‘treasonable’,
a threat to national security. It is high time President Buhari proved folks who
insinuate that his ‘softness’ and ‘omerta’ on the Fulani herdsmen debacle
is because he is a Sunni Muslim of Fulani extraction. If Boko Haram militants
are faceless, are these Fulani herdsmen faceless, ‘unknown soldiers’ too? When
folks commit crime and go scot-free, the act of impunity emboldens them to up
the ante. Evidence of unprecedented carnage from the Global Terrorism Index and
a report by SBM Intelligence proves that bands of marauding Fulani herdsmen are
a bigger threat to national security than peaceful Biafran agitators.
Mapping Out Grazing Routes,
Areas: Another Kneejerk Approach
Enter January 2016, President Buhari was quoted as saying that his
administration intends partnering with the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) with
a view to ‘’mapping out grazing areas for herdsmen as a temporary solution to
the frequent conflicts between herdsmen and farmers’’. It is obvious that this kneejerk
drive been bandied is to say the least, unfeasible and is definitely not the
panacea to intermittent clashes between locals and herdsmen. Let’s take Imo
state as a case study; will the federal/state government map out grazing areas
in all the 27 local government areas in Imo state? Will the government also replicate
such in Lagos state, Abuja and the nook and cranny of Nigeria since by their
nomadic proclivity, Fulani herdsmen traverse the length and breadth of the
country? Will these grazing routes or areas that will be mapped out, not to
distort the original master plan of these cities? Is this not tantamount to sequestering
swathes of land from the original owners to make room for another to feed his
livestock? Is this not synonymous to the proverbial notion of ‘robbing Peter to
pay Paul’? All the government cares about is how to map out grazing routes, areas,
what solution is been proffered to the negative impact of over-grazing on the
natural habitat and its biodiversity? Given that some folks from the
South-south or Niger-Delta are intrinsically fishermen; when will the Nigerian
government designate bodies of water in every part of Nigeria and encourage them
to do their fishing thing therein? Predictably, farmers in Ondo state issued a communiqué after their meeting asserting that ‘’the planned grazing routes
and zones are not practicable in the state as lands are not sufficiently
available for such projects’’.
In the spirit of ‘change’
and dynamism of culture
The only constant thing in life is change; even culture is dynamic
and archaeology testifies how Neanderthal man went into extinction because they
could not adapt, compete. To this end enlightened and prominent Fulani folks
and affiliations such as the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of
Nigeria (MACBAN) will do well to inculcate in their kinsmen, the need
to rethink aspects of their culture such as nomadism that is antithetical, not
in tandem with civilization. It is high time these herdsmen embraced ‘change’
and do away with roaming across the country to feed their cattle. For one, this
nomadic trait exposes them to sundry risks, denies their offspring access to
better education, health care, opportunities in the public service, private
sector of the economy and ultimately, an uneducated Fulani man or woman cannot
compete with their peers from other parts of the country. And when this
man-made problem comes to play, the same government will start running helter-skelter,
churning out wonky policies such as ‘’Quota system’’, ‘’educationally less
advantaged states’’ and so on and so forth all of which sacrifices merit at the
altar of mediocrity and nepotism. On the guise of ‘political appointment’ or to
fulfill ‘quota system’, you wake up one morning and hear that a seasoned
professor of education cum vice chancellor with more than 30 years’ experience
from southern Nigeria is a junior minister to a northerner, an accountancy
graduate turned journalist, the latter been the substantive minister of
education. Pardon that digressing but valid analogy, moving on…
The Way Out: Adopt
Technology, Global Best Practice
Nigeria is not
the only country where folks herd cattle or consume beef so there is no
justifying or extenuating the tendency of herdsmen to mow farmlands or massacre
folks who resist them trespassing their property or destroying their crops. A present-day
farmer or cattle herder must not simply rely on Mother Nature to feed his
cattle but MUST grow and supply what they feed on. Thanks to innovations and
technological advances, man does not have to depend on nature – rainy or dry
seasons for agriculture as irrigation can mimic rainy season, providing
constant water supply all year round for farming, livestock. With the advent of latest technology, an app called iHerd helps farmers to track, monitor
hordes of cattle as they move within a ranch and helps farmers to be abreast of
animal health issues. In Australia and other advanced countries, robots or
drones fitted with thermal cameras are now deployed to herd cattle whereas some
folks in Nigeria insist holding on to the nomadic lifestyle of their ancestors.
Since cattle herding
is a private profit making enterprise, let the individuals, the ogas-at-the-top,
Alhaji’s, retired Generals, Emir’s that own these cattle, acquire and develop modern
ranches in their domain where their cattle will be taken care of. This is the best
practice in the Americas, North and South, Australia, and Europe. If Nigerian herdsmen
embraced use of mobile phones for communication, they should equally up their
ante, embrace fodder technology and graze their cattle under
a shelter, a ranch within their domain. Don’t trespass and destroy people’s properties or
source of income in the guise of herding cattle. Law of demand and supply
ensures that buyers will definitely come knocking if cattle owners cannot take
their cattle to the buyers. How come the white
Zimbabwean farmers in Kwara state introduced by the now Senate president Bukola
Saraki, are not roaming around with their cattle and wreaking havoc.
Conclusion:
In the words of Senator Ben Murray Bruce, a staunch advocate of ‘’common
sense’’, ‘’there is room for growth in the global market for beef exports and
Nigeria can key in to this by harnessing the resources of the Fulani through
modern cattle ranches that will provide the domestic market with inexpensive
beef and improve Nigeria's balance of trade position by exporting beef and
cattle to other nations’’. As the Buhari administration strives to arrest
corruption, malfeasance, Boko Haram insurgency, please let him also make reining
in the streak of violence and rampage attributed to Fulani herdsmen a top
priority of his administration by brainstorming intelligent and feasible
solutions rather than bandying hogwash, kneejerk approaches. Akin to factors
that fanned the embers of Boko Haram, this nomadic lifestyle and almajiri culture
is a time bomb if not nipped it in the bud. A stitch in time saves nine.
Written by:
Follow Don on Twitter: @DonOkereke
No comments:
Post a Comment