The fodder war in Nigeria There is a war over fodder in Nigeria. The constant bloody clashes between farmers, whose crops are either eaten up or destroyed by cattle driven by Fulani herdsmen, technically referred to as cattle Fulani in High School agricultural science textbooks, has reached endemic proportions. These clashes occur in practically all the states of Nigeria. According to Dr. Ismail Iro, the cattle Fulani traditionally accompany their animals, on foot, moving from place to place, seeking for “pasturage, water sources, salt licks, or livestock markets… avoid(ing) tsetse flies, harsh weather, tribal enemies, livestock bandits, tax assessors, and hostile social environments.” Because of their migratory nature, sociologists and anthropologists refer to cattle Fulani as nomads. The Nigerian state, recognising this migratory tendency, introduced nomadic education to cater for their school age kids. This way, the kids get to learn Western education, like their contemporaries who live a more sedentary life. Down through the ages, herdsmen and farmers have always had spats over land and or engaged in mutual jealousies. Cowboys of America’s frontier days had a gayer time than their farm folk compatriots. The Bible records the unhappy relationship between Abel, the keeper of sheep, and his older brother, Cain, a tiller of the ground. Cain killed Abel because God accepted the offering of the firstling of Abel’s flock, over the offering of the fruit of the ground of Cain. Because Nigeria’s migratory herdsmen are usually of the Fulani stock, this throws an ethnic spanner in the works: The ethnic colouration makes the matter, not only sensitive, but erodes its economic implications. That may explain why government agencies, the police especially, are gauche at handling the constant face-off between the cattle Fulani and the farmers whose crops they destroy. They often ignore the complaints or just find a way to placate the warring parties. This shouldn’t be so. A more permanent solution should be found to avert or contain future occurrences of this dangerous trend. The Yoruba would say, “Owo kii f’owo l’orun.” (One trade should not suffocate another). According to Rekpene Bassey, Security Adviser to Cross River State Government, “Our people are mostly agrarian, and when these (Fulani) herdsmen allow their cattle to graze on their crops, the people will not like it… This is often the cause of friction with the locals.” Migrant cattle herdsmen, be they Fulani or whatever ethnic group, should not be allowed to provoke others. The law, and the law enforcement agents, like the police, the courts, etc., must protect the economic interests of all Nigerians. The Minister of Agriculture, Akinwunmi Adeshina, must also be an active partner in sorting this matter. He must recognise the matter as a crucial economic issue, engage all parties concerned, and urgently evolve a way to provide grazing fields for the cattle of the Fulani herdsmen, without compromising the security of the communities that provide the grazing fields. Pastor Ayo Oritshejafor, the National President of Christian Association of Nigeria, has expressed concern that if grazing fields are provided in the south, the Fulani herdsmen may claim territorial rights over those fields, install emirs over them in future, and cause more tension. Oritshejafor’s legitimate fears should not be dismissed as alarmist or ethnic jingoism. The Fulani, one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, are about 40 million, with nearly half of them resident in Nigeria. They are widely dispersed over a vast geographical expanse immediately south of the Sahara, and just north of the coastal rain forest and swamps, in about 16 countries ranging from Mauritania, through Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger Republic, Northern Nigeria, The Sudan, to Central African Republic. About 13 million of them are nomadic. This makes them the largest pastoral nomadic people in the world, more than the gypsies of Central Europe. From the 16th Century, when the Fulani settled in Jos Plateau and the Adamawa Plateau, there has been perennial contention over territorial rights between the Fulani and their host tribes of Plateau State. That must be why delegates of the North-Central Zone, at the ongoing National Conference, forwarded a National Grazing Commission bill to the National Assembly– for the establishment, preservation and control of national grazing reserves and livestock routes. According to Dr. Iyorcha Ayu, a former Senate President, and Magdalyne Dura, this should help reduce conflicts caused by the continuous search of the cattle herdsmen for grazing fields and water. Iro suggests that the causes of the failure of current public policy on nomadic pastoralism in Nigeria are: “First, the difficulty the Fulani have (in) adapting to rapid successive pastoral migrations. Second, the misjudgment (by) government about the effectiveness of traditional form of raising livestock and the lack of understanding of the mechanism and rationale of traditional livestock enterprise. Third, the non-involvement of the pastoral Fulani in the design and implementation of development programmes.” Yet, there must be a way to provide grazing fields for these livestock that feed northern and southern Nigerians alike. The minister for agriculture may also consider other options of moving cattle across the nation, if not live, then, maybe, slaughtered, in refrigerated railway coaches and trucks. Though this may disrupt the migratory nature and culture of the cattle Fulani, it should definitely provide a way out of the incessant bloody clashes. It should also provide a more efficient way of doing this business. The argument here is that the minister will have to evolve a brand new industry to move slaughtered cattle from the North, to Southern Nigeria. It is good that the minister has said that “under the Agriculture Transformation Agenda, we place much premium on the use of appropriate technology as (a) key to reversing the low agricultural productivity.” The use of this new technology must not be limited to producing only hybrid rice and the mechanisation of the planting, harvesting and processing of high yielding cassava. The minister should seek closer ties with Kenya-based African Agricultural Technology Foundation in order to “access, develop, adapt and deliver appropriate agricultural technology” in the cattle rearing business of Nigeria. But he should also consider alternative perspectives, like Iro’s submissions that “the traditional method is still efficient and ecologically sensible for raising livestock in Nigeria; (and) that state interventions and technology-driven approaches are not necessarily the best solution to pastoral problems in the country.” The minister has responsibilities for halting the perennial clashes between the cattle Fulani and farmers, whose crops are destroyed. It is a net loss to the economy, if government’s efforts to increase farm yields, are subverted by pests, in the form of cattle. It’s like putting good money into a leaking pocket.
Posted on: Tue, 27 May 2014 08:44:30 +0000
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