THE death toll is rising everyday in an undeclared war by Fulani herdsmen against many communities across the country. So frequent are the attacks by persons identified as cattle rearers that little attention is now being paid to their atrocities outside the afflicted communities. It should not be so; the safety of lives and property should be the paramount purpose of any responsible government.
Nigerians everywhere too should be concerned when their compatriots are being brutalised, raped and murdered by deviant members of the society. The sheer tenacity of the herdsmen and the failure of the government and the security agencies to halt the carnage have degraded the value of human life and inured a large section of the populace to the blood-letting.
What is wrong with our herdsmen? Surely, Nigeria is not the only country where the outdated migratory cattle herding system still holds sway. But it is here that the ancient tensions between herdsmen and settled communities are wearing the semblance of genocide. Last month, herdsmen wielding AK-47 assault rifles and machetes, while carrying petrol and matches, launched simultaneous attacks on five villages in Barkin Ladi and Mangu Local Government Areas of Plateau State, killing 37 persons, injuring many more and setting houses, barns and vehicles ablaze. This came a week after suspected Fulani herdsmen killed five people in Kukah in Shendam LGA and torched several houses.
In April, the death of two cows – by poisoning, according to the Fulani – in Zankan, Kaduna State, provoked mass attacks on communities in Kaduna and Plateau states that claimed over 50 lives and caused the displacement of about 10,000 people from their homes. Benue too has repeatedly suffered the wrath of the herdsmen who, in October, raided villages in Agatu LGA and slaughtered 20 persons before melting into the night.
Though the herdsmen have struck in most of the country’s 36 states, it is Plateau and Kaduna that have become the killing fields. According to community groups in southern Kaduna, Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states, Fulani herdsmen and their allies from Niger and Chad have killed more people in Northern Nigeria in the last three years than the Boko Haram terrorists. The Christian Association of Nigeria claimed recently that 205 Christians had been murdered in Fulani herdsmen attacks in Benue State alone in the last six months. In the series of attacks on communities in October, Southern Kaduna ethnic nationalities claimed that about 100 of their people were slain and several hundred homes destroyed.
But the southern states too are not safe. Last week, Fulani herdsmen were alleged to have killed six persons in Bayelsa State. In December 2012, residents of Ketu in Ogun State sent a protest letter to the state government, asking for protection from herdsmen, who they said had killed 21 of their people in repeated attacks since 2000. The complaints and reports of killings have been made in all South-West states, except Lagos. They have also struck in Edo, Delta and Akwa Ibom states as well as the South-East, where herdsmen recently murdered some residents of Ebonyi State.
Finding a lasting solution must start from identifying the cause. The Fulani complain that their cattle are often harmed or stolen and that they are denied grazing rights by hostile communities, or that they are sometimes assaulted by locals. They claim losses of over 3.5 million cattle in the 10 years to 2011. But communities resent the Fulani herdsmen for grazing their cattle on their farms and wreaking havoc on their harvests and sources of water. Like the Yewa of Ogun; Attakar of Kaduna, and Tiv of Benue, many communities allege that cattle not only devour their plants and harvested yams, they also defecate in their streams which serve often as their only source of drinking water. Farmers everywhere are particularly distressed at the ravages of migratory cattle and the frequent recourse to rape, murder and arson by Fulani herdsmen.
Vigorous efforts should be made to stop the practice of migratory herding; it is archaic, unproductive and will always foster violence as wild grazing grounds recede. Only a country trapped in underdevelopment will continue the ancient practice. With about 13.9 million cattle, 22.1 million sheep, 34.5 million goats, Nigeria should have a thriving world class livestock industry. But trapped in antiquated practices, we import dairy products rather than exporting them. According to Audu Ogbeh, a former minister and large-scale farmer, while our own Fulani cow gives one litre of milk a day, in Uganda, a cow gives 15 litres and in Israel, it is 40 litres. “If you keep it (the cow) in one place and there is proper feeding, it will yield a lot for us,” he added.
While the Federal Government has an important role to play, the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the Northern state governors who have failed to exhibit vision and commitment to development. With 90 per cent of the cattle and 70 per cent of the sheep and goats in the North, the Northern states should initiate programmes for large-scale ranching, irrigation, and creation of grazing reserves in their vast territory. Strong support should then follow from Abuja in the form of credit facilities, favourable tariffs as well as extension and research services.
A bill to establish grazing reserves and routes in all 36 states of the federation that has passed second reading in the National Assembly may be well-intentioned, but is patently misguided. To set up grazing reserves by federal law in states where livestock is not their source of livelihood is ridiculous. Why set up a reserve in Bayelsa or Ogun or Akwa Ibom? The North has a vast land mass suitable for that purpose. The northern states and the Federal Government should collaborate to do just that, and though afforestation, effectively gradually eliminate the backward practice of migratory herding. It should be voluntary for any southern state to establish a grazing reserve. We must operate the country in such a way that will enable us to utilise our comparative advantages sensibly.
Northern governors should educate their people and wean them off unproductive practices. In the meantime, the various governments should do all within their power to stop this perennial carnage and bring all offenders to trial.
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