Tackling the Rising Security Challenges of Pastoralists, Farmers’ Feud
05 Jul 2014
Collins Edomaruse
Nigerian ThisDay
The relationship between herdsmen and farmers is legendary. I remember vividly growing up in the late ‘60s and in the ‘70s in my village in Edo State, one of the exciting moments, especially at the farm areas, was the cascading movement of the herdsmen and their cows each time they came around in search of greener pastures.
I also recall with nostalgia the conviviality associated with their arrival in our community community - they had always struggled to engage themselves in some form of interaction with the locals by deploying signs and other gestures to pass their desires across. For example, if they needed some water, they would simply dangle their Jerry cans at the locals, and stuffs like that.
There was no friction, not any that I can easily recall as I write this. The first Hausa word - aboki - that I heard and spoke in my life was learnt from the herdsmen. Because, any time they came around they would joyously say aboki and a reply from us in the same form, would instantaneously be exchanged with them. They were not hostile to us and we did not have any need to push them out of our sight, as it were. The same I am sure is true of the experience of several other rural folks across the country that had the opportunity of interacting with the herdsmen that traversed all nooks and crannies of this country during the period under review. But all that sadly have become history as time and seasons keep changing.
It is disturbingly ironic that the same guys we had often called our aboki have totally assumed strangely different personae.
Rather than the convivial atmosphere that had existed between the herdsmen and the locals, we now hear stories of killings and maimings and even destruction of properties in the name of seeking greener pasture for grazing.
Disturbed by the menace of the activities of the present day herdsmen, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) recently put together a colloquium of security experts from within and outside the shores of the country to ponder on the issue and come out with plausible ways to deal with the challenge. The event was held at the 17th Hotel, Kaduna.
Tagged International Conference on Security and Development Challenges of Pastoralism in West and Central Africa under the theme: “The Role of Pastoralist for Sustainable Peace and National Security,” the seminar was timely in many respects.
The organiser of the seminar and National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), while setting the tone of the talkshop, assured that the federal government in collaboration with state governments and other stakeholders were doing all they could to tackle the frequent conflict between pastoralists and farmers in the country.
Dasuki said several measures have been put in place to bring a lasting solution to the crisis that claimed many lives in different parts of the country.
He explained that the government encouraged dialogue between the pastoralists and farmers so as to promote peaceful co-existence between them. He said: “Such crisis is mostly between Fulani, Kanuri, Tiv, Jukun and other ethnic groups. But effort have been made by the federal government in collaboration with state governments and other stakeholders to evolve permanent measures to bring an end to such crisis or conflicts. I will like to commend the recent initiative of the Inspector General of Police for bringing all aggrieved persons to a round table so as to discuss a way out.
“The crisis has nothing to do with religion against what other people think. Some believe that Fulanis are Muslims and farmers are non Muslims which is not truth because when the cows come to your farm they don’t differentiate a Muslim or Christian farm they will just destroy them but people will always attribute the incident to religion or ethnic which is not so,” he noted.
President Goodluck Jonathan at the event warned that terrorists were introducing a new dimension to their attacks by masquerading as pastoralists in order to inflict maximum damage to the peace, stability and security of the country.
He had revealed that insurgents now hide under the umbrella of the Fulani herdsmen to exploit the conflict between the pastoralists and farmers in Nigeria to propagate their terrorist activities.
According to him, the intensity and dimension of the conflict over the last few years had reached an alarming proportion with the attendant and unfortunate loss of lives and properties.
He said: “Terrorists capitalise on the lingering pastoralists-farmers conflict to form a hybrid type of insurgency whereby they masquerade as pastoralists to wage war against the state”.
He warned that “such a development should it be allowed to materialise will be at a great cost to our country.”
Also speaking at the seminar, Chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, branded those with extremist ethno-religious views as members of the Boko Haram group, saying that Islam as a religion emphasises moderation. Aliyu clarified that Boko Haram was un-Islamic and must be condemned, adding that the right Jihad in this 21st century was the one that improves the standard of living rather than those that seek to destroy lives.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, lamented that pastoralism, which had over the years been seasonal and mutually beneficial to traditional livestock management and production system that worked well between Fulani herdsmen and local farmers had become a conduit to security threat.
According to Adesina, pastoralism is today a worrisome practice characterised by incessant clashes of unimaginable proportions usually resulting in huge losses of lives and property.
He said previous interventions to curb pastoralists-farmers clash had been largely unsuccessful because of growing foreign dimension to the conflict.
The minister noted that there had been reports of some of these foreign migrant pastoralists carrying dangerous weapons and assault rifles.
He said: “This is not the usual pastoralists that we know in Nigeria, who for decades have lived in harmony with their communities. criminality has increased especially with the menace of cattle rustling.
Participants called on alll stakeholders, community leaders, religious leaders, youth groups must continue to promote the course of peace rather than resort to conflict and violence, which serves no useful purpose.
The participants were of the view that the rising challenge of modern day herdsmen is no longer an agriculture problem but national security issues which require integrated set of solutions that includes agriculture and security.
They said old traditions must give way to new realities and challenges. Specifically, they said the current practice of moving animals instead of beef, can no longer be sustained. Because, according to them the movement of animals without tracking systems or record of the animals, for traceability, can no longer be sustained in the face of the rising conflicts, criminality and insecurity associated with the modern day pastoralism in parts of the country.
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| Animated illustration of the Nigerian civil conflict. |
Collins Edomaruse
Nigerian ThisDay
The relationship between herdsmen and farmers is legendary. I remember vividly growing up in the late ‘60s and in the ‘70s in my village in Edo State, one of the exciting moments, especially at the farm areas, was the cascading movement of the herdsmen and their cows each time they came around in search of greener pastures.
I also recall with nostalgia the conviviality associated with their arrival in our community community - they had always struggled to engage themselves in some form of interaction with the locals by deploying signs and other gestures to pass their desires across. For example, if they needed some water, they would simply dangle their Jerry cans at the locals, and stuffs like that.
There was no friction, not any that I can easily recall as I write this. The first Hausa word - aboki - that I heard and spoke in my life was learnt from the herdsmen. Because, any time they came around they would joyously say aboki and a reply from us in the same form, would instantaneously be exchanged with them. They were not hostile to us and we did not have any need to push them out of our sight, as it were. The same I am sure is true of the experience of several other rural folks across the country that had the opportunity of interacting with the herdsmen that traversed all nooks and crannies of this country during the period under review. But all that sadly have become history as time and seasons keep changing.
It is disturbingly ironic that the same guys we had often called our aboki have totally assumed strangely different personae.
Rather than the convivial atmosphere that had existed between the herdsmen and the locals, we now hear stories of killings and maimings and even destruction of properties in the name of seeking greener pasture for grazing.
Disturbed by the menace of the activities of the present day herdsmen, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) recently put together a colloquium of security experts from within and outside the shores of the country to ponder on the issue and come out with plausible ways to deal with the challenge. The event was held at the 17th Hotel, Kaduna.
Tagged International Conference on Security and Development Challenges of Pastoralism in West and Central Africa under the theme: “The Role of Pastoralist for Sustainable Peace and National Security,” the seminar was timely in many respects.
The organiser of the seminar and National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), while setting the tone of the talkshop, assured that the federal government in collaboration with state governments and other stakeholders were doing all they could to tackle the frequent conflict between pastoralists and farmers in the country.
Dasuki said several measures have been put in place to bring a lasting solution to the crisis that claimed many lives in different parts of the country.
He explained that the government encouraged dialogue between the pastoralists and farmers so as to promote peaceful co-existence between them. He said: “Such crisis is mostly between Fulani, Kanuri, Tiv, Jukun and other ethnic groups. But effort have been made by the federal government in collaboration with state governments and other stakeholders to evolve permanent measures to bring an end to such crisis or conflicts. I will like to commend the recent initiative of the Inspector General of Police for bringing all aggrieved persons to a round table so as to discuss a way out.
“The crisis has nothing to do with religion against what other people think. Some believe that Fulanis are Muslims and farmers are non Muslims which is not truth because when the cows come to your farm they don’t differentiate a Muslim or Christian farm they will just destroy them but people will always attribute the incident to religion or ethnic which is not so,” he noted.
President Goodluck Jonathan at the event warned that terrorists were introducing a new dimension to their attacks by masquerading as pastoralists in order to inflict maximum damage to the peace, stability and security of the country.
He had revealed that insurgents now hide under the umbrella of the Fulani herdsmen to exploit the conflict between the pastoralists and farmers in Nigeria to propagate their terrorist activities.
According to him, the intensity and dimension of the conflict over the last few years had reached an alarming proportion with the attendant and unfortunate loss of lives and properties.
He said: “Terrorists capitalise on the lingering pastoralists-farmers conflict to form a hybrid type of insurgency whereby they masquerade as pastoralists to wage war against the state”.
He warned that “such a development should it be allowed to materialise will be at a great cost to our country.”
Also speaking at the seminar, Chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, branded those with extremist ethno-religious views as members of the Boko Haram group, saying that Islam as a religion emphasises moderation. Aliyu clarified that Boko Haram was un-Islamic and must be condemned, adding that the right Jihad in this 21st century was the one that improves the standard of living rather than those that seek to destroy lives.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, lamented that pastoralism, which had over the years been seasonal and mutually beneficial to traditional livestock management and production system that worked well between Fulani herdsmen and local farmers had become a conduit to security threat.
According to Adesina, pastoralism is today a worrisome practice characterised by incessant clashes of unimaginable proportions usually resulting in huge losses of lives and property.
He said previous interventions to curb pastoralists-farmers clash had been largely unsuccessful because of growing foreign dimension to the conflict.
The minister noted that there had been reports of some of these foreign migrant pastoralists carrying dangerous weapons and assault rifles.
He said: “This is not the usual pastoralists that we know in Nigeria, who for decades have lived in harmony with their communities. criminality has increased especially with the menace of cattle rustling.
Participants called on alll stakeholders, community leaders, religious leaders, youth groups must continue to promote the course of peace rather than resort to conflict and violence, which serves no useful purpose.
The participants were of the view that the rising challenge of modern day herdsmen is no longer an agriculture problem but national security issues which require integrated set of solutions that includes agriculture and security.
They said old traditions must give way to new realities and challenges. Specifically, they said the current practice of moving animals instead of beef, can no longer be sustained. Because, according to them the movement of animals without tracking systems or record of the animals, for traceability, can no longer be sustained in the face of the rising conflicts, criminality and insecurity associated with the modern day pastoralism in parts of the country.
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