Farmers and herdsmen clashes: one of the agonizing
features of a dysfunctional state.
Mr. Danladi Cirona, the chairman north central wing of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, on Sunday 24th of June 2018, was said to have released a statement which confirmed that over one hundred people who were killed a day before in Riyom, Barkin Ladi and Jos south areas of Plateau state lost their lives in a retaliatory attacks carried out by an organized Fulani cattle rearing bandits and their mercenaries. This very statement, he later denied, while the investigation that was supposed to follow the phone conversation he had with the lead editor of the media house which first reported the issue went silent and the reporter eventually came on air to dissociate Mr. Danladi from the statement that was earlier accredited to him.
Well, the crux of the matter in this case is that one has to put the analysis in this tone in order to make a case for or against whoever our security agency or panel of inquiry is going to hold responsible at the end of the day. At least these mass killings, unlike that of Benue state, points directly to a group of people (Fulanis), which makes it crystal clear for a responsible government that craves imperatives of state as espoused by Crawford Young to know what to do. Instead, a sitting president terms the killings 'political'. This shows a clear cruelty and display of unintelligent wits by someone who is in charge of a typical dysfunctional state.
I decided to wait and look through the political whirlpool of Nigeria before writing this piece because topics that tilt towards ethnic, religion, sex or cultural beliefs is capable of becoming value-ladden, impressionistic and bias. Frankly speaking, if we take a keen look at what happened in Ekiti, Anambra, Adamawa, Kogi, Nasarawa and Zamfara to mention a few states, it is glaring that the perennial dispute between farmers and herdsmen could be traced to four factors. One, the issue of grazing routes. Two, a system of over centralized political structure. Three, politics of lip-service by irresponsible politicians and lastly, the natural quest for peace by the indigenous people.
Grazing routes law is one of the most haphazardly and fraudulently promulgated laws in Nigeria. In case you don't know, grazing routes are areas cutting across southern hemisphere from the North designated for cows to feed on irrespective of whoever originally occupies such places. The law originated from the Nigerian Government's Grazing Reserve Act of 1964, enacted to encourage sedenterization of nomadic pastoralists through legally secured titles. Politicians hijacked the law and appropriated lands to themselves, for farming, under the disguise of Grazing Reserve Law, Northern Nigeria No 4 of 1965. After a period of almost two decades, cattle headsmen still wander about while land owners were not compensated despite the fact that Federal Land Act of 1978 recommended fair compensation for the indigenous land owners.
Politicians stole the compensation money and they still went ahead to tell cattle herdrers that there is a route they could ply from Sokoto to Ankpa in Kogi, from Maiduguri to Asaba in Delta state for example. Whoever then stands on cows’ way simply becomes a Fulani man's enemy.
The issue of over centralized political system (disaggregative or centripetal federalism) has made it difficult for people to discuss and fossilize laws in their respective states on how to ban open grazing. Even, states that did it have been systematically sidelined by the federal government. Eg Ekiti and Benue states. Party affiliation and political prebends would not allow some foolish state Governors activate some determinant clauses in the Land Use Act of 1978.
From the first republic till date federal government has not taken any concrete action on farmers/herdsmen crisis. Even if they pretend to do, it is just a lip-service. The reason being that fundamental steps are deemed too rigorous for politicians to handle; instead, they prefer making money from the failed system than to make the system work because they will get less money if the system should work appropriately. For instance, the Justice Niki Tobi Judicial Commission of Inquiry on Jos Crisis submitted a white paper in September 2002, which indicted one Alhaji M.D Abubakar, former commissioner of police of the same state. Nothing happened after the report and previous Commissions headed by Justice Aribiton Fiberesima and that of Justice Bola Ajibola with their findings and recommendations died 'national natural deaths'. The best you can get is ... "We condemn and regret this unfortunate incident. We sincerely commiserate with the affected families. Our security agencies are on top of the matter. We shall nip it in the bud, thank you".
Nigerians relish national peace; as such, many farmers tolerated the encroachment of their farm lands. The reason farmers tend to allow this encroachment is because they believe herdsmen are normads, who must at various times, or as a result of change in weather move from one place to another. Plateau state for instance was the most peaceful state in Nigeria until their peace was shattered by inter ethnic and farmers/herdsmen crisis. Imagine when rustlers allegedly stole three hundred cows from nomadic people that are known for indiscriminate killings as means of revenge, what do you expect? It is a pity that those that are supposed to fish out the rustlers are powerless and those that were attacked in return are helpless.
Whether Nigerians have hope in the political system or not is not the issue. If we continue to be hopeless our hopelessness will drive the country into destruction. My position is that people must find solution to the killings. It is now the duty of Nigerians to act because different regimes have failed the country and they will continue to fail unless people stand up and behaviourally dictate who gets what, when and how. No matter how hard it may seem. Ekiti and Benue states are forging ahead in their bid to curb cow invasion of the indigenous peoples' farm lands. Other states should follow suit. Legislators must not be foolhardy in their exercise. Benue state law for instance categorically stated that 5000 hectares is not available for any single ranching, but an individual herder can apply for ranching. With such law in place federal government of any era will not be able to enforce cattle colony on the thirty six states of the federation. Why the Cattle colony in the first place? After all, Sokoto state government once said they could accommodate all the cows in Nigeria. Why not settle all the cows in Sokoto and allow indigenous people have peace.
If Nigerians want to help themselves the time is now. Pressure groups for instance command respect and attention. You can form groups on social media. Register it and bring out the groups physically during political rallies and make demands on whoever you want to vote for. Tell them what they must do, which laws they must pass and if they fail do not hesitate to vote them out. The time politicians come around and talk to us is over. We must seriously talk to them because peoples' lives are on the line.
Don't attempt to or kill any cattle herder's cow. Do not injure their cows. Do not steal anybody's cow. Do not take up arms against Fulani herdsmen because they can cause irreparable damage and they are not traceable because they do not have any tenable form of identity. Toe the path of peace and we can structurally and constitutionally address the problem. If president Buhari can go to the USA to tell Donald Trump that herdsmen do not carry guns but just sticks you should know that there exists some kind of federal and logical complicity which makes cows more important than human lives.
