Staff and students of the University of Jos (UNIJOS) are lamenting the invasion of the university’s permanent site by cows. YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU reports.
Cattle grazing is now threatening the peace of the University of Jos (UNIJOS). The management has been looking for a solution to the matter to avoid a breakdown of law and order. Some students have described the campus as a “grazing reserve” or “cattle ranch” following the campus’invasion by cattle.
The sight of cattle grazing on the campus and hostels is now a daily routine. Investigation revealed that the cattle rearers come from as far as Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State and other communities close to the university.
The herdsmen have found the campus at Naraguta Village the best ground for grazing. Daily, they lead their cows to the grassy field.
The university got the 4,000-hectare land permanent site from the Plateau State government.
The university took off in 1975 from a temporary campus on Murtala Muhammed Way, Jos. It later moved to another site on Bauchi Road, which became its main campus while it continued operating the temporary campus.
However, the campuses became unconducive following security threat caused by the ethno-religious conflict in Jos, the state capital, in 2001.
That was when it became imperative to look for another site for the academic well-being of the institution, staff and students. This led to the relocation to Naraguta Village.
Deputy Vice Chancellor (DVC), Administration, Prof Teresa Mwuse Nmadu, said the gradual pace of development at the new site was part of the reasons it was encroached upon. She said only four of the institution’s faculties had relocated to the permanent site.
“The permanent site was acquired and the school began to develop the phase one of the site, which is about 446 hectares gradually within the last decade. So far, the Faculties of Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences and Education have moved to the permanent site, leaving the Faculties of Medicine, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Management Sciences, Natural Sciences and others at the main campus. Since the larger portion of land at the permanent site remains undeveloped, the expansive plain grassland has become an attraction to herdsmen in recent times.
“The university would have worried a little if the cows were only grazing on the phase two of its site, which has not been developed, but the university worries more because the cattle breeders are also grazing within the phase one, which has already been developed into full school campus and students’ hostels.”
The DVC said the grazing had caused a lot of damage to the university.
She said: “The cows have brought us so much destruction of our facilities, especially our electricity facilities. They have ignorantly uprooted our armored cable, which serves as a major electricity line to the Naraguta hostels, Abuja hostel and Babylon.
“It is even difficult to hold any of the herders responsible for that damage because it is not just one herder that grazes there; there are so many of them. We only come to see that the cable was removed by cows.
“Apart from that, the cattle have created roots within the campus, causing soil erosion and degradation. They had tampered with the lawns which the university spent funds to lay in order to give the environment a very pleasant look.”
The invasion of the campus, according to findings by The Nation, may not be unconnected with the herdsmen taking advantage of the nationwide four-month strike by the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) between November last year and last February.
Also, the situation is worsened by the campus not being completely fenced.
A 300-Level student resident of Naraguta Hostel estimated that just about half of the school’s land was fenced.
“If I am to put it in percentage, I can say only 60 per cent of the permanent site is properly fenced. So, 40 per cent of the school is left with no fence,” he said.
The institution has been partly fenced from the angle of Bauchi and Zaria roads, where the entrance gates to the hostels and the campus are found. But the rear of the institution, which connects it to Naraguta Village has not been fenced. The unfenced portion has made the school unsecured. Herdsmen invade the school premises through that point.
To complicate the matter, the Fulani community still regards the land as theirs. The permanent site used to be their grazing field. They are still feigning ignorance that it had been allocated to the university by the Plateau State government.
Nmadu said the university did not complete its perimeter fencing due to boundary issues and paucity of funds.
“The entire land space is divided into two phases. Where we are developing is Phase One, which comprises 446 hectares. The Phase Two of the land is still being expanded. So, since we are yet to ascertain our boundary at that end, we cannot fence it. Secondly, is the issue of funds. The university is so poor financially. This is the only second generation university that has no subventions from the Federal Government, and it will require huge funds to fence the areas in dispute. In fact, the huge capital requires an appropriation at the federal level. The university does not have such huge capital to fence that portion. Maybe we should use this opportunity to cry to whoever that is ready to help us in fencing the school. Any help from individuals and organisations in this regard is highly solicited,” she said.
While the school management is looking for funds to fence its property, most of the students are not finding the situation funny. The lowing of the cows alone scares them.
“As the cows feed around the hostels, the cry of the cow is a sort of nuisance to us. They litter the environment with their faeces and urine. This continues on daily basis and makes the entire surrounding impure, said one student.’’
Another student called Michael said: “The situation became worse as we resumed school from the last strike in February. We came back to discover that herdsmen had turned the school to their grazing reserve. We thought they would cease coming as the students have resumed; but they kept coming and the things are beginning to provoke the students mostly because the management seems to be doing nothing to stop them.”
At the female hostel known as “Babylon”, a student, simply called Amina, said the cows spoil their laundry.
‘’We used to dry our cloths on the grasses. We can no longer do that because these animals will mess them up. At times you come and meet heavy load of cow dung on the clothes you laboured to wash. We are not finding it easy here; something has to be done about it,” she said.
When the university’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of the University (ASUU) organised a public symposium on the theme: “Herdsmen-Farmers clash today: Ecology, Class and Categorical Politics in contemporary Nigeria” last month, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Sebastine Maimako, used the opportunity to cry to the government and security agencies to come to the aid of the university in curbing the impending clash between the herders and students.
Maimako said: “The constant encroachment of the herdsmen, if not stopped, has the capacity to cause major conflict in the school. We need the security agencies to stop these herdsmen by the use of force because all my appeal to their leaders to talk to these herdsmen has failed.
“Our campuses are being encroached on constantly by herdsmen; they bring their cattle to graze on the campus and in the process litter the campuses with dungs in a manner that the students are getting irritated.”
Maimako added that a student was using the social media to mobilise others to action, the repercussion of which he feared.
“If the students are allowed to confront the herders, there could be security implications to it. That is why I am using this opportunity to call on security agencies to come to our aid. They need to stop these herders as soon as possible. I need peace in the university, which is why I am raising this alarm and calling for help.”
Maimako said he had approached the Fulani community about the matter, but they denied being responsible.
“The university authorities have reached out to the Fulani Ardo in charge of the Fulani community around the university, but they have told us that the Fulani that are grazing in the campus are not those within the community, that they are coming from somewhere else. The Ardo promised to help identify the Fulanis and tell them to stop the encroachment, but the herders have continued to graze there non-stop. The only option we have now is to cry to security agencies for help,” he said.
Responding to students’ concern that the management was not doing anything to solve the problem, Nmadu said: “Management has been doing its best. In fact, we are more worried that if we did not do anything the students may take the law into their hands and it could be very disastrous. So, we have been trying to locate who the herdsmen are and where they come from. During the last meeting we discovered that not less than nine Fulanis are the owners of the cows that are grazing here. Some are coming from Yelwa, some are coming from Toro (Bauchi State) some are from the university community. In fact, the Fulani camp behind the university stadium belong to the Ardo of the university. The Ardo lived in Yelwa but his cattle are camped on the university premises.”
On efforts to get the herders out, Nmadu said the university has been meeting various herder groups.
“At the moment, we are talking with all the Fulani herdsmen and their leaders that we can see. We are talking with the Ardo of Jos North, Fulani youth leaders, the one of Naraguta, the one of Yelwa. Last week, we summoned the meeting of all these Ardos. You meet one set, they will tell you the Fulani that are grazing there are coming from so and so village. We meet another set and they will refer you to another group somewhere. So, last week, we met with a larger stakeholders’ group, including the special task force. And we are hopeful that the Fulani community will be able to respect our boundary and stop encroaching,” she said.
While the negotiations with the herdsmen last, the security staff of the university may continue to bear the brunt of the hostile herdsmen.
It was learnt that one of the security guard got injured in an attempt to confront the herders recently.
“We are not armed like the Fulani, so we have resolved not to risk our lives anymore because the school management appeared not ready to tackle the issue with the seriousness it deserves. We are even suspecting that some members of the management could be the owners of these cows,” said one of the guards who asked not to be named.
But Nmadu denied the claim.
“You see, at our last meeting with the Fulani community, we discussed the issue of the herders attacking our security. The understanding was that the boys grazing the cattle are not the owners of the animals. They are too minor to even understand that they are encroaching on the university premises, so they won’t understand why the guards are chasing them away.
“As far as they are concerned, they are only grazing the grasses. To avert any further attack, the Ardos have appealed that our guards should stop chasing the herders and allow them time to talk to the real owners of the cattle who will then ask their boys to stop the grazing.
“Meanwhile, the military guys from the special task force have also volunteered to assist us in patrolling the campus in the day so as to drive the boys when they come, pending when the owners of the cattle finally withdraw them from grazing here. The presence of the soldiers will also give the students the confidence that the management is doing something about their concerns,” she said.
