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The brutal killings by men suspected to be fulani herders have left so many families in deep sorrow and anguish. It remains a major crisis in President Mohammadu Buhari-led administration in Nigeria. So many people have been sent out of their homes, and displaced from their communities. President Buhari's administration does not appear ready to deal with the herders, initiating a forceful action against them. Instead, they are requesting for pieces of land from states in order to provide the rampaging herdsmen with permanent feeding ground. Here is a look at the reasons why they are violent, among others.
1. Fulani Herdsmen: Who Are They?
They are largely nomads who go through towns with their cattle. In Nigeria, the Fulani and the Hausa people dominate the northern states, with a population of well over 30 million. Notably, people of the Fulani tribe rarely ever use artificial birth control methods and, as a result of this, the tribe is very fertile, hence their vast population and their presence in almost every state across the country.
2. Why are they violent?
A recent interview with Baba Othman Ngelzarma, the National Secretary, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, otherwise known as Fulani herdsmen, he said; 'We, too, have suffered immensely in the hands of these perpetrators because our cattle are lost in their thousands, Fulanis are always kidnapped – hardly a day passes and you will not hear that five or 10 Fulanis have been kidnapped for ransom. Only that it is a silent happening and the media is not covering it.'
Also revealing why the Fulani Herdsmen attacked the Agatus (an ethnic group in Benue) in February, Saleh Bayeri, the Interim National Secretary of Gan Allah Fulani Association, said it was a reprisal attack by his people, meant to revenge the killing of a prominent Fulani man. Mr. Bayeri said the killing of the man reverberated amongst every Fulani in West Africa. He insisted that the Agatu farmers were aggressors shedding crocodile tears, and wondered why former Senate President, David Mark, was only just realising the meaning of genocide.
Could this be a justification for their gruesome attacks? No.
Due to the nomadic activities of the herdsmen, moving from one place to another in search of pasture, they have reportedly encountered cattle rustlers and made complaints to the relevant authorities who fail to investigate the issue, hence their purported reason for carrying arms about.
3. Response From President Buhari?
Nigeria's President, Mohammadu Buhari is quick to react to tragic situations in far away climes, but here in his home, the President is silent and yet to address the issue of herdsmen attacks – that have claimed thousands of lives. The crimes committed by these herders are highly condemnable and should not be tolerated in any sane society. President Buhari's silence comes with many direct and indirect implications, most of which threaten Nigeria’s unity and breed instability. President Mohammadu Buhari, on May 29, 2016 while addressing Nigerians on his milestones in his one-year old administration touched on Boko haram, IPOB, Niger Delta Militants , but there was no mention of Fulani herdsmen attacks. He is being seen as bias because he continues to talk tough on the secessionists and militants in southern Nigeria, but the Fulani herdsmen from his own ethnic division are ‘spared.’
4. Dangers Of President Buhari's Silence:
The continued silence of President Buhari may fuel ethnic conflict in Nigeria. The criminals find it hard to know the gruesomeness of their attacks, and could lead to deadlier reprisal attacks and, in this way, Nigerians are further divided along ethnic lines. It will also lead to an unfulfilled mandate to tackle insecurity and an incompetent tough ex-military commander.
5. Responses from various stakeholders:
Many Nigerians believe the president has deliberately shied away from commenting on the crisis, as it is widely known that he comes from the Fulani ethnic group.
Ayodele Fayose, the controversial Ekiti state chief executive in May 2016 commissioned hunters to defend themselves against the "Unknown Herdsmen" that killed two people and wounded many others in Oke-Ako, town in Ikole Local Government Area of the State. He said he will provide anything they need to protect them and that he is behind them. According to him, “I will not fold my hands while armed herdsmen invade communities in Ekiti, killing people and destroying farmlands at will, like they did in other states.'
Other state governors too have responded and taken the bull by the horn.
Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state through the state Police Command averted a communal clash that could have turned bloody between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in Agbanda village, Ikoyi Ile in Ogbomosho.
Governor Willie Obiano: Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State paid a compensation of about 70 cows to 'appease' the herdsmen in the state. The cows were allegedly killed by a host community of Umumbo in Ayamelum Local Government Area of the state. The governor also paid compensation to a community in the state whose farmlands were invaded by herdsmen.
Sultan of Sokoto: In the heat of the herdsmen crisis, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III,advised Nigerians to stop attributing ethnicity and religion to the Fulani Herdsmen crisis, citing that such actions are not peculiar to the Fulanis.
6. What Should Nigerians Expect? There seems to be no end in sight with the havoc wreaked by the herdsmen. The inability of Nigerian Security Forces to contain their attacks may spell greater doom for lives in susceptible areas. The President need to take charge of the country now, and initiate military might as the Commander-in-Chief. The Fulani Herdsmen – who are deemed only less deadly than Boko Haram, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL), and al-Shabaab in the entire world – may be Nigeria’s worst nightmare.
7. The Grazing Reserve Bill: In a bid to curb curb the violent clashes by Fulani herdsmen in the country, a bill, sponsored by Senator Zainab Kure, representing Niger Central in the Seventh Senate was presented for consideration but was rejected by the last Senate. The Bill has however been revived in the present political dispensation and presently before the House of Representatives. Titled; “National Grazing Reserve (Establishment) Bill 2016”, sponsored by Hon. Sadiq Ibrahim, it provides for the establishment of the National Grazing Reserve Commission which shall have power to among other things establish at least one Cattle Reserve in each state of the federation.
The Commission is also mandated to:
1. Fulani Herdsmen: Who Are They?
They are largely nomads who go through towns with their cattle. In Nigeria, the Fulani and the Hausa people dominate the northern states, with a population of well over 30 million. Notably, people of the Fulani tribe rarely ever use artificial birth control methods and, as a result of this, the tribe is very fertile, hence their vast population and their presence in almost every state across the country.
2. Why are they violent?
A recent interview with Baba Othman Ngelzarma, the National Secretary, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, otherwise known as Fulani herdsmen, he said; 'We, too, have suffered immensely in the hands of these perpetrators because our cattle are lost in their thousands, Fulanis are always kidnapped – hardly a day passes and you will not hear that five or 10 Fulanis have been kidnapped for ransom. Only that it is a silent happening and the media is not covering it.'
Also revealing why the Fulani Herdsmen attacked the Agatus (an ethnic group in Benue) in February, Saleh Bayeri, the Interim National Secretary of Gan Allah Fulani Association, said it was a reprisal attack by his people, meant to revenge the killing of a prominent Fulani man. Mr. Bayeri said the killing of the man reverberated amongst every Fulani in West Africa. He insisted that the Agatu farmers were aggressors shedding crocodile tears, and wondered why former Senate President, David Mark, was only just realising the meaning of genocide.
Could this be a justification for their gruesome attacks? No.
Due to the nomadic activities of the herdsmen, moving from one place to another in search of pasture, they have reportedly encountered cattle rustlers and made complaints to the relevant authorities who fail to investigate the issue, hence their purported reason for carrying arms about.
3. Response From President Buhari?
Nigeria's President, Mohammadu Buhari is quick to react to tragic situations in far away climes, but here in his home, the President is silent and yet to address the issue of herdsmen attacks – that have claimed thousands of lives. The crimes committed by these herders are highly condemnable and should not be tolerated in any sane society. President Buhari's silence comes with many direct and indirect implications, most of which threaten Nigeria’s unity and breed instability. President Mohammadu Buhari, on May 29, 2016 while addressing Nigerians on his milestones in his one-year old administration touched on Boko haram, IPOB, Niger Delta Militants , but there was no mention of Fulani herdsmen attacks. He is being seen as bias because he continues to talk tough on the secessionists and militants in southern Nigeria, but the Fulani herdsmen from his own ethnic division are ‘spared.’
4. Dangers Of President Buhari's Silence:
The continued silence of President Buhari may fuel ethnic conflict in Nigeria. The criminals find it hard to know the gruesomeness of their attacks, and could lead to deadlier reprisal attacks and, in this way, Nigerians are further divided along ethnic lines. It will also lead to an unfulfilled mandate to tackle insecurity and an incompetent tough ex-military commander.
5. Responses from various stakeholders:
Many Nigerians believe the president has deliberately shied away from commenting on the crisis, as it is widely known that he comes from the Fulani ethnic group.
Ayodele Fayose, the controversial Ekiti state chief executive in May 2016 commissioned hunters to defend themselves against the "Unknown Herdsmen" that killed two people and wounded many others in Oke-Ako, town in Ikole Local Government Area of the State. He said he will provide anything they need to protect them and that he is behind them. According to him, “I will not fold my hands while armed herdsmen invade communities in Ekiti, killing people and destroying farmlands at will, like they did in other states.'
Other state governors too have responded and taken the bull by the horn.
Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state through the state Police Command averted a communal clash that could have turned bloody between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in Agbanda village, Ikoyi Ile in Ogbomosho.
Governor Willie Obiano: Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State paid a compensation of about 70 cows to 'appease' the herdsmen in the state. The cows were allegedly killed by a host community of Umumbo in Ayamelum Local Government Area of the state. The governor also paid compensation to a community in the state whose farmlands were invaded by herdsmen.
Sultan of Sokoto: In the heat of the herdsmen crisis, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III,advised Nigerians to stop attributing ethnicity and religion to the Fulani Herdsmen crisis, citing that such actions are not peculiar to the Fulanis.
6. What Should Nigerians Expect? There seems to be no end in sight with the havoc wreaked by the herdsmen. The inability of Nigerian Security Forces to contain their attacks may spell greater doom for lives in susceptible areas. The President need to take charge of the country now, and initiate military might as the Commander-in-Chief. The Fulani Herdsmen – who are deemed only less deadly than Boko Haram, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL), and al-Shabaab in the entire world – may be Nigeria’s worst nightmare.
7. The Grazing Reserve Bill: In a bid to curb curb the violent clashes by Fulani herdsmen in the country, a bill, sponsored by Senator Zainab Kure, representing Niger Central in the Seventh Senate was presented for consideration but was rejected by the last Senate. The Bill has however been revived in the present political dispensation and presently before the House of Representatives. Titled; “National Grazing Reserve (Establishment) Bill 2016”, sponsored by Hon. Sadiq Ibrahim, it provides for the establishment of the National Grazing Reserve Commission which shall have power to among other things establish at least one Cattle Reserve in each state of the federation.
The Commission is also mandated to:
- Manage, control and maintain the Cattle Reserves;
- Prescribe the persons who may be licensed to use the Grazing Reserves and determine the type and number of stock permitted therein;
- Prescribe the manner in which the Grazing Reserves may be put to use;
- Fix charges for the Grazing Reserves;
- Maintain and Ensure, in co-operation with the Nigerian Police, the security of lives and property within the Reserve;
- Provide for and issue grazing permits to persons grazing within the Reserves;
- Develop infrastructure and basic amenities such as clinic, schools, etc within the Reserves;
- Demarcate the land boundaries of the Grazing Reserves;
- And prosecute persons who graze outside the Grazing Reserves and other offenders of the Regulations of the Commission.