Incontrovertibly, the recently suspended Ruga Settlement project was an
\ninitiative of President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration. The
\nrationale behind such project was to help eliminate the age-long
\npractice of open grazing of cattle by Fulani pastoralists, which has
\nbeen the cannon fodder for farmer\/herder clashes.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the announcement of the program, different shades of
\nopinion sprout into the open, with some believing that it was a
\ndeliberate effort by Mr. President to favour his Fulani ethnic group.
\nJust as others saw the move as leeway for the president to compensate
\nthe rampaging bandits or more commonly tagged as \u2018Fulani herdsmen\u2019,
\nbecause he shares the same ethnic lineage with them.<\/p>\n
These Fulani herdsmen are so criminalised to such an extent that the
\nrecent killing of Mrs. Olufunke Olakunrin, the daughter of Reuben
\nFasoranti, the leader of the Yoruba socio-political group was linked to
\nthem. Such development generated a lot of controversies across Nigerians
\nwith different persuasions. Colossal of these allegations was the one
\nshared by the brother to the late Olafunke for claiming to have been
\nreliably informed that attackers who shot his sister were Fulani
\nherdsmen.<\/p>\n
However, the police commissioner, on the other hand, had said that the
\nattack was carried out by bandits who came to the road and fired
\nsporadically at motorists. From the foregoing, Fulani ethnic group seems
\nto have become an endangered species. Aside from the fact that most
\nsecurity challenges have been blamed on Fulanis, anytime a herd of
\ncattle is sighted roaming the streets of our towns, the submission by
\nmany people, especially on social media, is that these people do what
\nthey do because their brother is the one at the helms of affairs.<\/p>\n
What a blatant misrepresentation! As far as I am concerned, the people
\ndon\u2019t give a hoot who the president is. They only are concerned about
\nwhere to locate a greener pasture. If we must tell ourselves the truth,
\nin as much as these people remain, wanderers, no amount of
\nmisrepresentation or stereotyping can change the lot of these Fulanis.<\/p>\n
Truth be told, the Ruga settlement project is impressive but the mode of
\ndelivery and the time of the project was wrong. I mean, why should the
\ngovernment introduce such an impressive policy when the atmosphere is
\nwell charged with mutual suspicion, Fulaninisation and Islamisation
\nagenda claims?<\/p>\n
Similarly, failure on the part of the government to provide a holistic
\ndocument to explain the Ruga policy and its benefit received a backlash.
\nThe denial by Professor Yemi Osinbajo, saying his office has absolutely
\nnothing to do with the project, and is not under the supervision of his
\noffice, was also unwholesome.<\/p>\n
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
\nDevelopment, Mohammed Umar, had attempted to shed more light on the
\ndebacle, but it seems that these words have been falling on deaf ears.
\nMr Umar was quoted as saying: \u201cIt is one project that will help to
\ntake them away from our streets and stop them from wandering in the
\nbush. And in the next five to ten years, you will never see a nomad
\nmoving about, wandering or kidnapping. And this will help to address
\nsome security challenges we are contending with now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The perm sec\u2019s verbiage never dropped down before various
\nsocio-cultural groups started coming out to express their displeasure
\nwith the programme. They described the establishment of cattle-rearing
\nsettlements for herdsmen as a move to colonize the country.<\/p>\n
Another reason why the Ruga kite did not fly is that the nation is now
\nfragmented along ethno-religious lines, a situation which will make it
\ndifficult to build consensus around important things that matter for our
\nsocio-economic progress. Also, the realisation that the Ruga settlements
\nwill cater for the livelihood of herders, while neglecting farmers, who
\nmany believe are the main victims of the conflict between both groups,
\nhas also elicited scathing condemnations from the majority who
\nunabashedly opposed the idea.<\/p>\n
I think the call for the suspension of Ruga project stemmed from the
\nage-long rivalry with farmers. While herders are feeling relieved from
\ntroubles of farmers, farmers are however feeling cheated by the program
\nbecause they own the lands. As expected, Governors Samuel Ortom of Benue
\nand Arc. Darius Dickson Ishaku of Taraba state were the first to reject
\nthe move for setting up Ruga settlement in their states. This stemmed
\nfrom the fact that the indigenes of this states are predominantly
\nfarmers, who could not stand the sight of settler-herders in their
\nstates.<\/p>\n
By and large, I want to believe that it is only an incurable optimist
\nwould have concluded that debates on the project will not assume a
\nregional, religious and ethnic dimension, right from the outset. In the
\nmeantime, it behoves on the Federal Government to go back to the drawing
\nboard, re-strategize, brainstorm and redesign the sacred objectives they
\nseek for the programme. They should be clear-cut visions, not ones that
\nwill be greeted again with an unmitigated uproar. Otherwise, the project
\nwill be dead on arrival whenever it is relaunched in the sooner or later
\nfuture.<\/p>\n