CHALLENGE OF THE FULANI HERDSMEN??? . By: Luke Onyekakeyah (culled from The Guardian).
AS the Federal Government battles the guerrilla war launched by the Boko Haram in the Northeast region of the country, an equally vicious battle is raging ceaselessly in Central Nigeria, this time at the instance of “Fulani herdsmen” and “unidentified gunmen”. This battle predates the Boko Haram confrontation. As it were, the Jonathan administration is confronted with these deadly battles in the Northeast and in Central Nigeria. The two battle fronts have contributed in making Nigeria anarchic. People are being slaughtered daily and means of livelihood and hopes shattered. Government is overstretched. This is to reaffirm that Jonathan is the most besieged president in Nigeria’s post-independence history. No other president had faced this kind of situation.
The spate of killings and destruction of property attributed to Fulani herdsmen in recent times across Nigeria’s North-Central region down to the Middle Belt and even to the southern parts of the country is worrisome. The development has raised questions on whether or not the perpetrators of the dastardly acts are really Fulani herdsmen or some other groups hiding under the name to commit havoc. Have the security agencies confirmed that the attackers slaughtering hapless villagers and setting houses ablaze across the northern landscape, particularly, Benue and Plateau states, are really cattle Fulani?
The traditional Fulani herdsmen we know are lanky and docile in outlook and don’t appear dangerous when herding their animals. They move with their herds of livestock in loose flowing robe, with round raffia hat and long stick across their shoulders. The known ammunition they carry is bows and arrows, used to defend their livestock from wild animals and intruders. Real Fulani herdsmen don’t carry AK-47 assault riffles, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons as being reported.
Are these the ones launching the series of reported attacks real Fulani herdsmen? If so, how come they have morphed into a band of marauders who abandon their livestock to attack villages? Where are the livestock kept when they are engaged in attacks? There seems to be no traces of livestock, which would be difficult to control in the event of gun battle and arson as is rampant in the Middle Belt. The attacks are well- organised. The marauders wreak havoc and disappear without dead livestock littering the areas.
If the attackers are truly Fulani herdsmen, then, the country has a serious challenge at hand. Finding a lasting solution would remain a daunting task even after the Boko Haram crisis is over. The cattle Fulani need large grazing fields for their livestock, which is not easy to come by without the full cooperation of all the state governments in the North. The problem arose because much of the hitherto grazing reserves in the North have been overtaken by desertification after they were abandoned. The solution is to provide grazing lands for the herdsmen. But if the marauders are not Fulani herdsmen but some nefarious elements hiding under the name to cause havoc, then the security apparatuses should be more circumspect and brace up for battle. So far, there has been no serious military deployment to confront the attackers and that explains why they seemed to be having a field day.
One is inclined to think that though the Fulani herdsmen are facing precarious situation due to dwindling grazing lands, the problem does not exist only in Nigeria but throughout the entire Sahel region of Africa. Fulani herdsmen are found in countries like Niger Republic, Chad, Burkina Faso, Sudan, to as far as Egypt, among others. These countries suffer more from desertification than Nigeria. Nigeria is not the worst hit.
Why are the Fulani herdsmen in the other countries that face even harsher environmental condition, not slaughtering their countrymen as the herdsmen in Nigeria are doing? This is why I think that some elements are hiding under the Fulani herdsmen to commit havoc and by so doing blackmail the government. Worsening insecurity is one weapon critics of the Jonathan administration have used against him. But the whole thing seems to be contrived. The battles seem to be stage-managed.
There is need to establish the veracity of this matter and not just rely on unverified information. Nowadays, amid the insecurity plaguing the nation, it seems that different groups are on the rampage to destabilise the country. There are the Boko Haram guerillas; there are “unidentified gunmen” and there are Fulani herdsmen. Each group is as vicious as the other.
Apart from the Boko Haram attacks in the Northeast, the other attacks in Central Nigeria are attributed to either “unidentified gunmen” or Fulani herdsmen, a situation that complicates the nation’s security. Who are the “unidentified gunmen”? Has anyone been captured and identified to make things easy? The country can’t be fighting with “unidentified gunmen”. Fighting unknown enemy is more daunting than the contrary.
Whereas, the Boko Haram crisis appears to be defined, the other equally brutal attacks are undefined. No one is held responsible. Usually, the marauding attackers wreak havoc at night and disappear with no trace. Thousands of people have been killed. And each time this happens, the nation’s security is stunned; they remain transfixed until another round of attack is perpetrated. I am persuaded to pry into this matter because the cattle Fulani or Fulani herdsmen did not start rearing livestock today. If they are the ones staging the attacks, why are they restive in Nigeria than elsewhere? Why is their situation different here?
There is no doubt that things have changed. Most of the vast dry hinterland that formed the traditional grazing lands has been overtaken by development and desert encroachment. This has forced the Fulani herdsmen to migrate southwards into non-traditional grazing lands used by sedentary farmers. Cattle rearing and sedentary farming don’t go together. It is the failure of the states governments (Gombe, Bauchi, Adamawa, Taraba, Plateau, Kaduna), with large populations of herders to preserve the traditional grazing lands that is at the root of the problem. The only way out is for those states to resuscitate the grazing reserves as a major agricultural revitalization programme.
On that note, the bill at the National Assembly (NASS) to establish National Grazing Routes and Reserves comes to mind but with a caveat. The North is the traditional ecological home for commercial cattle rearing. While it is proper for the state governments in the North to establish grazing reserves, it would be improper to require states in the South to do the same. The South is rainforest and is ecologically unsuitable for cattle grazing. Besides, there is land scarcity in many parts of the South.
Nigeria has distinct ecological zones that more or less determine the traditional occupation of the inhabitants. From the coastlines northwards is the mangrove swamp, rainforest, Guinea Savanna, Sudan Savanna, and Sahel Savanna. The rainforest which broadly extends from the coast to the north of Enugu, Abia, Ondo, Oyo and Ogun states is dominated by trees in a dense jungle ecosystem. This zone is suitable for the production of root crops and is most unsuitable for cattle rearing. There is also the presence of tsetse flies that harm livestock. North of this zone is the extensive Savanna belt with its characteristic, more open country and short trees intermingled with grasses. This zone, which extends to the southern fringes of the Sahara Desert, is the traditional home for cattle rearing. The land in this zone doubles what you have in the South.
It is political and wrong-headed for anyone to propose a bill that requires every state in the federation to establish grazing reserves for the Cattle Fulani. Where in the Niger Delta and Southeast would the grazing reserves be established? Where will Lagos State establish grazing reserves? Given the acute land scarcity in the South, where will the populations in these areas do their traditional farming occupation? It looks like some people want to ride on the back of the cattle Fulani to reach and occupy the South. That would breed more communal strife between the indigenous populations and the herders. That way, the aim is defeated.
Since the North has more extensive landmass, which is the traditional home for cattle rearing, the states in the area should be required by law, to reactivate the grazing reserves. The fishermen in the Niger Delta, whose waters have been polluted by oil, are not asking for freshwater body upland to carry on with their fishing activities. Similarly, the farmers in the Southeast, whose lands have been devastated by erosion, are not looking elsewhere for land to continue their farming activities.
In the same vein, the cattle Fulani should not expect to have the entire Nigerian landscape given to them for livestock herding. It is easier to create grazing reserves by irrigation in the North than to clean up oil-polluted waters or reclaim erosion-devastated badlands in the Southeast. The state governments in the North should embrace the challenge of providing grazing reserves for their herdsmen.
- Nice wan!!! Well written.
- It is indeed very stupid to suggest dat Southern States should establish GRAZING RESERVES for dem. On what basis??? What would happen to our farmers???
- Dat is what you get when you have dick-heads in government....clueless moda4ukas.
- My own be say...is it not time for government to kno dat all dis fulani cattlemen invasion blablabla, say na BOKO HARAM dey take style dey camouflage???.Abi do you need prophet to tell you so??? Which time fulani cattlemen start dey carry AK-47???
- Make una siddon there dey MUMU. Na when d problem reach una door steps una go come dey do gra-gra.
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