I HAVE A FEW SUGGESTIONS
There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when shown, and those that do not see. Leonardo Da Vinci
We are at war and we are losing. The Boko Haram insurrection has now lasted for more than ten years, and a country with a professional army as ours has not been able to exterminate ‘mere’ insurgents. There are different theories why this is the case and the government itself has given endless excuses and claimed false victories but we know there are still displaced citizens who cannot return to their previous lives yet. That is the single evidence of failure.
Our troubles keep piling higher. The Fulani Herdsmen menace is starting to add intense strain to our already fractious security situation, add to that its deleterious effect on national unity. What is most painful is that lives and livelihoods are being lost every day. What is going on?
The Nigerian space has become a playground for lawlessness and brigands (Boko Haram, criminal herdsmen, the secessionists, cultists, lurking Niger Delta militants, and so on). Yes, we have been told not to include the suffix — Fulani, perhaps criminal will suffice. But how far will this political correctness take us?
No one bat an eyelid when the agitators in the south-south took to violence and pioneered the now-common trend of kidnapping. We called them Niger Delta militants. Even now we refer to them as Niger Deltans why then should we not call criminal herdsmen by their true identity? It doesn’t mean all Fulani are herdsmen nor does it mean all Fulani herdsmen are criminals. It only establishes the fact that certain herdsmen are criminals, just as certain criminals pretend to be herdsmen.
To solve a medical problem, a doctor has to get precise diagnosis and call a problem by its proper name. The people of the hinterland who are mostly ravaged by the activities of these criminals don’t have the fancy vocabulary to avoid the name Fulani: just as no one thinks of a man in a suit when he hears the word mechanic, these provincial Nigerians attribute cattle herding to Fulani — an eternal fact in these parts. So far with the ‘work’ of Sheikh Gumi, there is ocular proof that these criminals are Fulani and they are herdsmen who have now chosen to be sedentary hijackers of innocent travelers and schoolboys and schoolgirls.
Meanwhile, the president has kept mute. His silence on such a monumental development is befuddling, it isn’t golden. But does it mean he consents to the actions of his kinsmen? His continued silence is open to wilful interpretation.
In 2015, the Fulani militants were ranked the fourth deadliest terror group in the world. Due mainly to the activities of the Fulani extremists and Boko Haram, Nigeria was ranked third out of the ten countries most impacted by terrorism in 2020. The herdsmen attacks accounted for 325 deaths or 26 percent of terror-related attacks.
Things could get worse, but they could also get better. Whatever happens, good or bad, depends primarily on the actions of the president, first, then the federal government and all other levers of power in the country. There are many things that can be done.
Communication
The president must communicate. It is in his job description to do so. It’s a weak sentiment to say that he doesn’t have to comment so long as the appropriate agencies are doing their job. Well, he has to comment in spite of that. We did not vote for Magashi or Mohammed, we voted for him and it is at times of national upheavals as this that his comments matter most. As stated earlier, he is Fulani and it behooves him to disown their actions from his high perch. He addressed the country when he returned from a sick leave during the heady days of the Niger Delta Avengers, he must speak and act now so we can prevent the rise of warlords like Sunday Igboho who at times like this are seen as veritable alternatives of the state.
Political Responsibility
Mr. Bala Muhammed, the Bauchi state governor has made one of the most irresponsible statements of 2021 and has stubbornly refused to back down instead saying he spoke in figurative terms. It is not figurative to assert that herders deserve to carry guns for their protection from cattle thieves. Many of the victims of these herders are hapless villagers and farmers who never stole any cattle and by the governor’s odd logic also deserve automatic weapons to protect themselves from criminal herders who plunder their crops.
Mr. Magashi’s charge to Nigerians to be brave and face gunmen is equally despicable. It is a subtle acknowledgment of failure by his ministry. If he is out of depth he should resign, many public officials ought to have resigned anyway.
Stop Amnesty
In 2009, President Yar’adua started the amnesty program for Niger Delta militants. That was a bad idea then and it has, unfortunately, become de rigueur for solving violent uprisings in Nigeria. The militants were reacting to decades of neglect in their region, the state failed to address these concerns and sought the easy way out, now everyone wants to harass the state and eventually seek forgiveness.
It is wrong to equate the militants to the violent herdsmen who happen to be located across the country. The state gets weaker every time it yields to the menace of a handful of renegades, in the near future there would be an army of militants baying for the soul of the country if criminals continue to get a slap on the wrist.
Ranching
Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano has been saying the right things. Pastoralism is not fit for these times. It is a tradition that has outlived its time. Fulani leaders know this and must educate their kin. The cattle industry is dominated by the Fulani but they are not indispensable. Nigeria is not even among the major beef-producing countries of the world yet we lose so many lives and stir up so much political strife for meat.
Brazil, Australia, U.S. A, New Zealand, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Argentina were the major exporters of beef in 2018 accounting for 55% of total exports. Each country sold between 350, 000 tonnes and 1.3 million tonnes of beef earning substantial revenues. We are not also in the lower league of countries like Canada, Germany, or Uruguay with under 350, 000 tonnes of beef exports. Even South Africa, our economic rival, finished 12th in the 2020 beef production rankings. Nigeria is also not in the top 10 countries for dairy production in the world. The ubiquity of cattle on Nigerian roads does not also mean beef is as cheap as it ought to be.
So why should a sector that doesn’t earn that much money for the country nor employs that many people cause so much ruckus? Cattle cannot be more important than people, they cannot be more important than the overall economy and the well-being and security of the country.
The Fulani will become richer and more influential when they adopt modern means of agriculture. The big names in animal agriculture don’t herd livestock across long distances. I already wrote about ranching here.
Border Control
As if to excuse the government from its responsibilities some people claim that many of the criminal herders are not Nigerians. This does not make the government look good. It is evidence of failure. We have had unmanned and unsafe borders for decades and the government has always been aware. There is a ministry and there are government departments and agencies for this purpose. There is abundant technology to solve this problem if only we are ready to get serious.
Good neighborliness requires tolerance and respect, and the old order must give way to new ways of doing things. The government must show up for every citizen.
