THE killings did not start today, but in its characteristic manner, the government turned a blind eye to everything. As men, women and children were mowed down in some parts of the country, we only heard the wailing of the bereaved and not the action taken by the government to stem these killings. Until now, herdsmen and farmers skirmishes were a rarity. How and why things changed still remain a mystery. But some highly placed people seem to know more about the genesis of these clashes than what is in the public domain.
If we are to believe what the Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi 11 told the Sunday Punch a few days ago, the herders are on a revenge mission. According to the emir, they are avenging the killing of their fellow herdsmen in some states. These killings, he said, were not reported by the media nor did the states where the dastardly acts occurred take any action against the perpetrators. As a respected monarch, Sanusi cannot lie, but it is worrisome that he is saying this at a time like this.
Sanusi’s remarks were revealing even though he said he was not justifying the herdsmen killings, but merely providing background information for what led to their action. From what he said, it is clear that some powerful people in the north are abreast of what the herdsmen are doing. If anything, the January 1 Benue killings have shown that we can only keep quiet over this issue at our own peril. The herders – farmers clashes will not disappear if we continue to look at them from ethnic or religious prism. Naturally, Emir Sanusi spoke like a Fulani whose kinsmen were being killed in some parts of the country, according to him, without the law enforcement agencies and the media lifting a finger in their aid. As he said in the Sunday Punch report, this is no time to play the blame game, but to look for a way out of these incessant skirmishes.
These clashes will continue to fester if the herdsmen continue to take out their cattle for grazing as they presently do. Even those of us living in cities like Lagos, Port Harcourt, Benin, Enugu, Ibadan and Calabar shudder at how these herdsmen rear their cattle in full public glare without a care for others feeling. From nowhere, these herdsmen and their cattle will invade public places under the guise of grazing. In such a situation anything can happen if the herdsman loses control of his cattle.
And this is what has happened in some instances when cows invade farms and eat up everything in sight. What should the farmer do in such a circumstance? Embrace the herdsman and his cows? A colleague of mine nearly lost his life a few years ago when a straying cow ran into his car in the wee hours of the night after he closed from work, damaging his windscreen. And on several occasions, motorists have had to compete for the right of way with cows on the Long Bridge on the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway. In most cases, these herdsmen feel that they can let their cows loose on the highway without a consideration for the lives of other road users.
This is where trouble starts from. Rather than admit their wrong, the herdsmen will claim that they also have the right to put their cows on the road. But cows are not meant to be on the road fighting for space with man and machinery. We have gone past that age of nomadic grazing. That kind of grazing was excusable in the Nigeria of the sixties, seventies and perhaps, eighties. Nigeria has reached a stage where we can no longer allow cattle rearers to move about town, doing whatever they like.
It is unfortunate that some people had to die before we woke up to the reality of the herdsmen menace. I do not have anything against herders, but truth be told their mode of operation is not the best at all. They feel that they have the right to graze anywhere even on private properties. Unfortunately, those who should call them to order do not see anything wrong in what they are doing. If these people love them that much why did they not release their own land to the herders for grazing? It is one thing to support the herders with words of mouth, but another when it comes to walking the talk. These powerful people have all it takes to give these herders grazing land. They have vast land not only in their domains, but also elsewhere in the country.
Will they have kept quiet if they were in the shoes of those whose farmlands these herders’ cattle destroyed? I believe we should not be emotional in our quest to find a lasting solution to the problem. Let us forget whether we are Fulani, Hausa, Yoruba, Efik, Igbo, Bini or Idoma and do what is right and just to ensure peace in every part of the country. There will be danger, serious danger, if any part of the country bleeds again from this crisis. Things started like this in 1967 before we slid into a three-year civil war in which one million people died. We do not pray for such a bitter enterprise again.
What has happened has happened – 73 killed in Benue on New Year’s day; scores killed in Enugu, Adamawa, Plateau and Nasarawa not too long ago; while a former presidential candidate, Chief Olu Falae, was kidnapped on his farm. He paid an undisclosed ransom before he was released. These are annoying acts, which could lead to one section of the country rising against the other. Let us put all these behind us and chart a new path forward. Establishing cattle colonies is a good idea, but we should think the matter through before embarking on the project because of the cost implication.
Is appeasement the solution? For how long will we watch people break the law – wanton killing and destruction of properties – and allow them to go scot-free? Should not those who kill intentionally be made to face the music? What happens to the bereaved families? Is the government considering compensating them? If we are thinking of building colonies for cattle rearers, we should also be thinking of what to do for the families of those killed and others whose farmlands were destroyed.
