Date: 2018-04-04

The clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the country have become a recurring decimal with the attendant loss of lives and property. In this report, AHMED 'LATEEF, who attended a maiden symposium convened by Kwara State University, Malete on the menace, writes on the perspectives of experts at the forum through which the crises can be resolved permanently.

Nigerians are alarmed in recent times on the sustained conflict between herdsmen and farmers across the country. No one would have been taken aback if the frequent strife between the two indispensable segments of the society ends in mere confrontation and verbal assault, for crisis is part and parcel of the society.

Like the common saying that where is there no law, there is no sin. Certain legal provisions have been set in motion to primarily dissuade unwholesome activities among the people and on the other hand, instil punitive measures against violators of the law.

It is against this background that people, irrespective of their differences, philosophical beliefs and ideologies must co-exist peacefully and harmoniously and whoever found to have contravened some principles of the law would consequently be made to face the music.

On the basis of this, crisis is apparently a daily occurrence as people continue to live, and it is a usual practice across the globe, particularly in countries populated by people of different ethnic backgrounds.

And in Nigeria alone, people of different ethnic groups form her various components, thereby making her current population to presumably stand at about 190million. There were predictions from global organisations including United Nations that the figures would increase in large proportions as time goes on.

But in spite of the glaring differences in terms of religions, cultures, norms, traditions and values, peace has never eluded Nigeria like what is being experienced at the moment. It is an indisputable fact that Nigeria has had fair share of social vices such as robbery, banditry, smuggling kidnapping, pipeline vandalism and other forms of violence and economic sabotage.

These menacing situations, in their dimensional forms, have become synonymous with each component of the country such that a geo-political zone would be pointed at if one of them is mentioned.

For instance, in South Eastern part of the country, kidnapping has become order of the day. It is oil bunkering and pipeline vandalism in the South-South, banditry in the South West and North Central, insurgency and cattle rustling in the North East and North West respectively.

Notwithstanding the problems in their manifolds, Nigeria has been in the forefront of finding lasting solutions to them. While efforts are being to tackle the subsisting social challenges, another reared its ugly trend. The trendy menace in the society now is herdsmen and farmers conflict. What apparently began as a mere altercation and verbal assault has assumed a dangerous dimension with attendant pogrom.

There were areas in parts of the country that had been experiencing the frightening situation silently but similar scenarios akin to massacre reported in Benue, Taraba, Plateau, Nasarawa made the matter worse. No fewer than 73 people allegedly murdered in cold by suspected herdsmen in Benue community were given mass burial in early January. A typical of such genocide was also reported in Taraba and Plateau States.

Unlike other States, Benue massacre was believed to have been accentuated by the anti-open grazing law, which specifically sought to proscribe open rearing and grazing of livestock and provide for the establishment of ranches and livestock administration, regulation and control. States like Taraba, Ekiti and Edo have also legislated or in the process of enacting a law prohibiting open grazing.

In some of the affected states, the legislative framework was initiated and enacted to check the excesses of some herdsmen, who callously invaded farmlands and caused wanton destruction on farms. The resultant effect of such destruction is economic loss and above all threat to food security.

While the legislation appeared to have checkmated the activities of the herdsmen in Ekiti, the case of Benue and Taraba has left much to be desired with claim and counter-claim that the law was conceived out of political vendetta. The opponents of the anti-grazing law perceived certain undercurrents with the fear that if allowed to pass, they would be at the receiving end.

Following the war of words between protagonists and antagonists of the anti-open grazing law, Nigerians became jittery with mass killings allegedly perpetrated by herdsmen, especially in some communities in Benue, Taraba and Plateau States.

The Governor of Benue State, Mr Samuel Ortom, who expressed his displeasure over the lingering killings, alleged that leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore was behind the onslaught and called for their arrest. He noted that leaders of the group, had in their separate comments, instigated their members to openly violate the law.

The deployment of armed security personnel to the troubled spots has not brought the situation under control with reported pockets of attacks allegedly at the behest of the herdsmen. And the conflict has attained a proportion that certain ethnic group was being portrayed as behind the dastardly act.

However, as part of efforts to find practical solutions to the incessant clashes between herders and farmers, experts including diplomat, varsity dons, legal practitioners and top government officials converged on the mini-convocation arena of Kwara State University, Malete, on Wednesday at a symposium organised by College of Agriculture of the University.

It was at the forum themed "Pastoralists and Crop Farmers' Crisis: A Discourse on Proactive Measures to Prevent Conflict in Nigeria", that lead speakers and participants took turns to dissect and appraise the adverse effects of the frequent conflicts between the two and proffered practical solutions to bring the menace to a halt.

In his lead paper, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, regretted that the crisis between farmers and herders has grown and heightened over the years, warning that it has posed a threat to the existence of the nation.

"Pastoralists-farmers conflicts in Nigeria have grown, spread and intensified over the past decade and today poses a threat to national survival. Thousands of people have been killed, communities have been destroyed and so many farmers and pastoralists have lost their lives and property in an orgy of killings and destruction that is not only destroying livelihoods but also affecting national cohesion and food security.

"Each day, we witness more reprisal killings that are simply making the possibilities of peaceful resolution more difficult. Rural banditry is becoming the norm in the Nigerian hinterland and has been transformed into a vicious criminal activity. The result is that the scale of loss of both herds and human life has been escalating and the victims are on all sides- subsistence farmers, commercial farmers and pastoralists. Nonetheless, proffering solution to internecine crisis has become urgent", Gambari said.

The former Nigeria Ambassador to the United Nations identified politicisation of requisite legal framework as one of the challenges confronting the establishment of grazing reserves, which could been used to end hostility between herders and farmers. "One of the greatest difficulties in addressing and resolving issues surrounding pastoralism is the politicisation of legal regimes and the blockages to the enactment of or implementation of laws that can redress the key challenges posed.

"In 2016 for example, a bill was proposed- "A Bill for an Act to establish Grazing Reserve in each of the states of the Federation Nigeria to improve agriculture yield from livestock farming and curb incessanr conflict between cattle farmers and crop farmer in Nigeria".

"The National Assembly on the basis that the Bill appeared to be seeking to favour one particular profession carried out by mainly one ethnic group, the Fulani, threw it out. The problem is that if we cannot have grazing reserves and if pastoralists cannot move, how do we expect the 19 million cattle grazing in the country to survive and how do we protect our Constitutional principle of free movement", he queried.

Blaming phenomenal increase in population of Nigeria as putting enormous pressure on land and water resources used by farmers and herders, the political scientist called for revival of 1965 grazing reserve law based on section 315 of the 1999 Constitution in the 19 northern states

He also said the revival of the law should be complemented with a national review and protection of traditional stock routes.

"The demographic increase has led to an expansion in cultivated farmland and a reduction in available grazing land for pastoralists that is characterised by competition over dwindling resources. In the far North, the impact of desertification as well as the crisis of energy, which has resulted in deforestation, coupled with climatic uncertainty and lower rainfall have made it more difficult to sustain increasing populations, pushing many farmers and pastoralists with livestock Southwards. This has happened gradually over a period of decades- with an apparent increase over the past decade- and has added to pressure on land and water in central and Southern Nigeria.

"One of the outcomes of this process has been the blockage of transhumance routes and loss of grazing land to agricultural expansion and the increased southward movement of pastoralists has led to increased conflict with local communities. This is particularly the case in the Middle Belt- notably in Plateau, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Benue, Taraba and Adamawa States. The conflicts often have localised dynamics, but primarily involve Fulani pastoralists and local farming communities", he said.

To end the lingering skirmishes, Gambari, who is also the Chancellor of Kwara State University, Malete among other suggestions, called for the establishment of commercial ranches in some of the sparsely populated zones in the North East and North West, adding that business community should also be encouraged through policy measures to invest in the establishment of modern dairy farms.

Corroborating the position of Gambari, an Ilorin based legal luminary, Mallam Yusuf Olaolu Ali, who also presented a paper, advocated development of a new policy framework that would be mutually beneficial to pastoralists and farmers, cautioning that any policy that does not take cognisance of the welfare of both sides would fail or meet resistance by either side.

Ali, who called for the establishment of grazing reserves, canvassed abolition of indigene/settler syndrome, which he described as unhealthy ethnic-based divergent interests.

"Once a person has settled in a place for a specific number of years, he should enjoy all the rights and privileges enjoyed by the indigenes. This is the practice in all developed countries of the world. Since the settlers have some responsibilities they render to the societies, they should also be made to enjoy the privileges like others.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria warned against selective application of the law in the case of anyone found to have committed crime.

"Sanctions for offences committed should be applied accordingly. Where a pastoralist kills in the course of grazing, he should be treated as a murderer. No one should be allowed to escape justice. Laws should be applied irrespective of colour, tribe or religion", he said.

The Vice-Chancellor of the Kwara State University, Professor Abdulrasheed Na'Allah, said the essence of establishing Universities was to bring about peace and development, which informed the decision to convene the symposium.

He stated that the institution was determined to ensure that Nigeria has peace, saying there would be no development if clashes pervade the society.

Na'Allah identified as a tragedy the situation where farmers and herders engage one another in violent clashes, adding that the nation's food security is threatened if the crisis continues unabated.

In his address, the Provost, College of Agriculture of the University, Professor Olawale Mashood Aliyu, said the symposium was organised owing to its urgency, importance to food security and threat to national survival.

He noted that pastoralists and crop farmers' conflicts have been on the rise and spreading at disturbing rate, pointing out that no agrarian community was immune from the crisis if proactive measures were not taken to abate the problem.

The symposium was attended by senior government officials and monarchs including Elerin of Erin-Ile, Oba AbdulGaniyu Ibrahim Olusokun; Olosi of Osi, Oba Saliu Abdulkareem Adasofegbe; Emir of Okuta, farmers and leadership of Miyetti Allah across the state.