By: Ifeanyi Izeze
How can we live peaceably together as a people by continuously telling
ourselves lies? Abi, it has now become our lifestyle in this country to
always rationalise obvious aberrations and for how long can we afford as a
people to continue like that?
It is mind-boggling and at worse embarrassing the increasing
sophistication and clinical coordination of the group of mindless
attackers we still call Fulani herdsmen or cattle rearers that have meted
chained terror to our people in different parts of the country. To think
that what is happening in the north central and now virtually every other
part of the country is a mere conflict for grazing rights would only
amount to naivety at best because it is without doubt now an evil wind
that is blowing no section of the country any good.
The question to ask is: why is it that these so called “Fulani herdsmen”
always take our security operatives unawares? They always finish their
dastardly acts before arrival of our counter-terrorism security forces.
Haba! And instead of sitting together to marshal out a coordinated
approach to address this challenge, managers of our security apparatuses
give us the impression that some of them may be privy to these
conspiracies against our people.
How do you explain the recent incident in Agatu Local Government Area of
Benue state, where Fulani herdsmen, backed by mercenary fighters (as
already confirmed) invaded several communities killing more than 500
natives because they were cautioned to stop taking their cows into
people’s farms?
Surprisingly, since the revelation that what we have been calling our
cattle rearers were actually mercenaries well-trained in the act of
causing mayhem, the government has not instituted any serious mechanism to
unravel the real identity of these contract fighters.
Who are these mercenaries- are they Nigerians or foreigners? Where do they
come from and who contracts them to go kill and destroy in different parts
of the country particularly north central and now southeast and even
south-south regions? Who arms them and how come they freely move around
with ease with their sophisticated rifles and machine guns without being
intercepted by our security operatives in different kinds of checkpoints
scattered along our roads and in major cities and urban centres? Where is
our intelligence community- the SSS and NIA and even the Police CID unit?
First we may need to ask our government: Is there anything in this Fulani
herdsmen misdemeanour that other non-Fulani Nigerians do not know?
Curiously, the federal government has been nonchalant towards devising
appropriate and workable strategies to end these incessant deadly clashes
in various parts of the country where it has become a regular news report
to hear mayhem unleashed by so-called Fulani herders on farming
communities?
As canvassed by an analyst, “All in all, the murderous invasion of
communities by herdsmen, like it happened in Agatu and parts of Enugu and
Ebonyi states, is mainly a security issue. Those in charge of security in
areas where these things happen should be held to account for the lapses
that allow hundreds of people to be slaughtered in cold blood. The
Nigerian government must be alive to its primary responsibility of
protecting the citizens against attack and danger.”
Several suggestions by different interest groups and concerned Nigerians
have been made for the banning of the current conflict-prone system of
moving animals from place to place in search of food and water, and its
replacement with the establishment of ranches and other forms of confined
grazing space, where animals would be fed with hay and other modern feeds.
It would be recalled that President Buhari told a delegation from the
Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in January this year that “a plan to map
out grazing areas would soon be presented to the Nigerian Governors Forum
as a temporary solution, until cattle owners are persuaded to adopt other
means of rearing their cattle.”
My brother Senator Shehu Sani in his “Road map to putting an end to Fulani
herdsmen violence in Nigeria,” had suggested amongst other things, the
need to immediately set up seven grazing reserves in the states of Niger,
Nasarawa, Kogi, Adamawa, Bauchi, Kaduna and Sokoto to significantly stem
the movement of herdsmen southwards and drastically curtail the incidences
of violent clashes with communities across the country.
There is no doubt that the current pastoral system urgently needs changing
if Nigeria is to overcome the frequent clashes between herdsmen (if they
are really herdsmen) and indigenous populations, which have laid waste to
many communities. The setting up of ranches remains the most feasible
option.
As suggested, the grazing reserves should be jointly managed by the
Federal Ministry of Agriculture, National Livestock Association,
universities of agriculture and the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle
Breeders Association.
Above all Senator Sani’s suggestions, my attention was particularly
attracted to what he described as the need to document, register and issue
identification cards to herdsmen. He suggested the federal government,
through federal and state ministries of agriculture and the Cattle
Breeders Association, should embark on this on a national level as this
will stem the activities of violent criminals who masquerade as herdsmen
to unleash violence against innocent and vulnerable communities.
This is what the government would not want to hear but it’s the absolute
truth: violent criminals and terrorists -on -the -run are masquerading as
herdsmen to unleash mayhem on innocent and vulnerable communities.
Now we have a president who himself is a cattle breeder and reportedly the
Life Patron of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, the pan-Fulani
herders’ union. He should rise above all prejudice and discountenance the
hitherto government’s nonchalance in this evolving national security
challenge address these incessant bloody clashes involving Fulani herdsmen
and indigenous communities across the country? President Buhari is the
best -suited man to address this issue. We are watching!
(IFEANYI IZEZE lives in Abuja and can be reached on: iizeze@yahoo.com;
234-8033043009)