The Menace of Herdsmen and the Hypocrisy of Government and Citizenry
The subject of herdsmen and farmers clashes has been a recurring decimal in most parts of Nigeria. This crises origin is as old as Nigeria and yet, no Nigerian leader has been able to solve it because of lack of political will and the fear of being in the bad books of the players involved. The issue of farmers and herdsmen clashes intensified within the Plateau, during the erstwhile administration of President Goodluck Jonathan; with millions of Nigerians calling for his resignation in the period under review.
I have chosen not to tag Fulanis to the herdmen issue like most Nigerians, because Nigerians are quick to unjustly stereotype ethnic nationalities and their Commerce. If there is a crises at Ladipo market in Lagos, the headlines would be a typical Naija headline " Igbo Traders Run Riots at Ladipo". In a market that has a yoruba as "Iyaloja". Let me not dive into the hypocrisy of Nigerians.
Nigerians have decried the activities of herdsmen in recent times, most especially in southern parts of Nigeria, leading to protests and few pocket of violence in some parts of Oyo state. Residents have often complained of the nefarious activities of the these set of people from incessant rapes, kidnappings, armed robbery, killings, among others. What's interesting is that, these herdsmen carry unlicensed modern and sophisticated guns around to carry out these crimes unabated.
We already know the effect of this crises, and well informed about the subject, so I would not bore you with too much rhetorical expressions about it, but would rather beam the search light of my reportage on arears and issues around this topic that is under reported.
The government is not powerless about this issue, e shock u abi. Yes, they are not. The government, like every other constitutional democracy around the world is scared of losing political goodwill, because the next election matters more than the problems of the society. Cattle rearing is a deep cultural practice among the Fulanis, an average Fulani man, no matter how highly place, has a herd of cattle and not all of them commit these crimes Nigerians now tag "Fulani herdsmen menace" . So our government and Nigerians must realize this fact first, moving forward.
In the same vein, cattle rearing is a private business; and should be treated as such. Government should create enabling environment for these businesses to thrive. Miyetti Allah is a multi billion group, their members are so wealthy that they can buy lands and build their private ranches. Nigerians who are not Fulanis are practically angry that if government must provide ranches at government cost, then like every representative government, it should be ready to invest in the Commerce of other ethnic nationalities too.
By and large, they are saying, as the government is building ranches across the country for members of Miyetti Allah, they should also build more bigger and saner markets for Igbo Traders across the country, build modern dye centers for yoruba "adinre" specialists to do their trades, divest billions of dollars into the fishing industry in Niger Delta among others. Wahala for country wey no be like Nigeria ooo.
The contending issue now is, just like a polygamist, Can the government treat all the commercial interests of his wives (Tribes) fairly without others getting jealous? The administration of president Muhammadu Buhari can not and presidents after him can not either. Because we are the most culturally diverse black race on earth and government cannot meet up with all our ethnic demands and agitations, in areas of commerce, trade, politics and otherwise.
Way forward
Nigeria is a fantastically great country to do anything and get away with it. The laws are only applied when the proletariat are involved, the masses just like the elites take delight in flouting our "expensive laws". If you know how much we pay a lawmaker in Nigeria, I don't think we will flout the laws made by them. Wisdom no go kill me. Until we entrench the rule of law, strengthen our security structure to be less reactive and focus more on "preventive policing", we will still be here. It's glaring, we do not have the gunpower, man power and technology to fight crime, so before they occur we can prevent them. In preventing crimes, there should be a special relationship between security operatives and the citizens which is conspicuously absent in Nigeria. I no fit go police go report crime and them go say make I pay to write statement, o wrong now.
Additionally, the laws should strictly take it's full course. Every Nigerian has the right to reside and do business in any part of Nigeria, guided by Nigerian laws. So if an herdsman goes to Oyo and cause trouble there, our laws should handle such a person.
Interestingly, the Nigerian Press like our government, is enmeshed in corruption. This has further weaken her position as the mouthpiece of the society, the way brown envelopes fly around the media space leaves more to be desired. Until the media is fully positioned to be independent, we will continue to live in a society that is ill informed about issues, policies and actions of government which will breed a safe haven for ethnic jingoists and separatists that are currently making waves in the media.
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