By: Ifeanyi Izeze<\/p>\n
How can we live peaceably together as a people by continuously telling
\nourselves lies? Abi, it has now become our lifestyle in this country to
\nalways rationalise obvious aberrations and for how long can we afford as a
\npeople to continue like that?<\/p>\n
It is mind-boggling and at worse embarrassing the increasing
\nsophistication and clinical coordination of the group of mindless
\nattackers we still call Fulani herdsmen or cattle rearers that have meted
\nchained terror to our people in different parts of the country. To think
\nthat what is happening in the north central and now virtually every other
\npart of the country is a mere conflict for grazing rights would only
\namount to naivety at best because it is without doubt now an evil wind
\nthat is blowing no section of the country any good.<\/p>\n
The question to ask is: why is it that these so called \u201cFulani herdsmen\u201d
\nalways take our security operatives unawares? They always finish their
\ndastardly acts before arrival of our counter-terrorism security forces.
\nHaba! And instead of sitting together to marshal out a coordinated
\napproach to address this challenge, managers of our security apparatuses
\ngive us the impression that some of them may be privy to these
\nconspiracies against our people.<\/p>\n
How do you explain the recent incident in Agatu Local Government Area of
\nBenue state, where Fulani herdsmen, backed by mercenary fighters (as
\nalready confirmed) invaded several communities killing more than 500
\nnatives because they were cautioned to stop taking their cows into
\npeople\u2019s farms?<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, since the revelation that what we have been calling our
\ncattle rearers were actually mercenaries well-trained in the act of
\ncausing mayhem, the government has not instituted any serious mechanism to
\nunravel the real identity of these contract fighters.<\/p>\n
Who are these mercenaries- are they Nigerians or foreigners? Where do they
\ncome from and who contracts them to go kill and destroy in different parts
\nof the country particularly north central and now southeast and even
\nsouth-south regions? Who arms them and how come they freely move around
\nwith ease with their sophisticated rifles and machine guns without being
\nintercepted by our security operatives in different kinds of checkpoints
\nscattered along our roads and in major cities and urban centres? Where is
\nour intelligence community- the SSS and NIA and even the Police CID unit?<\/p>\n
First we may need to ask our government: Is there anything in this Fulani
\nherdsmen misdemeanour that other non-Fulani Nigerians do not know?<\/p>\n
Curiously, the federal government has been nonchalant towards devising
\nappropriate and workable strategies to end these incessant deadly clashes
\nin various parts of the country where it has become a regular news report
\nto hear mayhem unleashed by so-called Fulani herders on farming
\ncommunities?<\/p>\n
As canvassed by an analyst, \u201cAll in all, the murderous invasion of
\ncommunities by herdsmen, like it happened in Agatu and parts of Enugu and
\nEbonyi states, is mainly a security issue. Those in charge of security in
\nareas where these things happen should be held to account for the lapses
\nthat allow hundreds of people to be slaughtered in cold blood. The
\nNigerian government must be alive to its primary responsibility of
\nprotecting the citizens against attack and danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several suggestions by different interest groups and concerned Nigerians
\nhave been made for the banning of the current conflict-prone system of
\nmoving animals from place to place in search of food and water, and its
\nreplacement with the establishment of ranches and other forms of confined
\ngrazing space, where animals would be fed with hay and other modern feeds.<\/p>\n
It would be recalled that President Buhari told a delegation from the
\nCentre for Humanitarian Dialogue in January this year that \u201ca plan to map
\nout grazing areas would soon be presented to the Nigerian Governors Forum
\nas a temporary solution, until cattle owners are persuaded to adopt other
\nmeans of rearing their cattle.\u201d<\/p>\n
My brother Senator Shehu Sani in his \u201cRoad map to putting an end to Fulani
\nherdsmen violence in Nigeria,\u201d had suggested amongst other things, the
\nneed to immediately set up seven grazing reserves in the states of Niger,
\nNasarawa, Kogi, Adamawa, Bauchi, Kaduna and Sokoto to significantly stem
\nthe movement of herdsmen southwards and drastically curtail the incidences
\nof violent clashes with communities across the country.<\/p>\n
There is no doubt that the current pastoral system urgently needs changing
\nif Nigeria is to overcome the frequent clashes between herdsmen (if they
\nare really herdsmen) and indigenous populations, which have laid waste to
\nmany communities. The setting up of ranches remains the most feasible
\noption.<\/p>\n
As suggested, the grazing reserves should be jointly managed by the
\nFederal Ministry of Agriculture, National Livestock Association,
\nuniversities of agriculture and the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle
\nBreeders Association.<\/p>\n
Above all Senator Sani\u2019s suggestions, my attention was particularly
\nattracted to what he described as the need to document, register and issue
\nidentification cards to herdsmen. He suggested the federal government,
\nthrough federal and state ministries of agriculture and the Cattle
\nBreeders Association, should embark on this on a national level as this
\nwill stem the activities of violent criminals who masquerade as herdsmen
\nto unleash violence against innocent and vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n
This is what the government would not want to hear but it\u2019s the absolute
\ntruth: violent criminals and terrorists -on -the -run are masquerading as
\nherdsmen to unleash mayhem on innocent and vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n
Now we have a president who himself is a cattle breeder and reportedly the
\nLife Patron of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, the pan-Fulani
\nherders\u2019 union. He should rise above all prejudice and discountenance the
\nhitherto government\u2019s nonchalance in this evolving national security
\nchallenge address these incessant bloody clashes involving Fulani herdsmen
\nand indigenous communities across the country? President Buhari is the
\nbest -suited man to address this issue. We are watching!<\/p>\n
(IFEANYI IZEZE lives in Abuja and can be reached on: iizeze@yahoo.com;
\n234-8033043009)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n