LIMAN: It Is A Problem Govt Must Address

Knowing that there have been persistent clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in various states of the federation, how do you assess the situation?

IT is a migration issue for the herdsmen as a result of climate change, particularly in the Sahel savanna, an environmental challenge facing us today. There is massive movement of cattle especially from the north east, also due to insecurity, to seek pasture and market in the south of the country. The big markets are in Onitsha, Port Harcourt, Lagos and so on. Along this route are certain communities through which they pass as they do their business.

Government needs to look at this issue of grazing reserves and avoid this massive movement and make them sedentary. There is also the matter of cultural and economic changes; these are not really as simple as they appear.

As a short term palliative, there should be a route for the cattle, but then how do they feed along the way? They may veer off the grazing path to feed and this is also an issue. It is also an issue that some of the cow tracks of the past have been converted for residential and other commercial uses.

Another area to consider is like in the past, when the cattle is brought together at places like in Nguru, Kano and Maiduguri to get to the market by rail. It is a whole lot of development issue to look at, namely, the grazing reserves, rail transport, market and community relationship between the nomadic herdsmen and sedentary farmers and people.

The grazing reserve development is a long-term issue. It has been scientifically identified that cattle in the reserves are healthier and have more meat yield than that those that malinger through the bush and walk long distances. Inevitably, the government has to look at its animal husbandry policy.

Cattle rustling, as a result of insecurity in the northeast, have become a big business and it is a problem that should also be addressed by government. The security elements have to be well structured and handled.

Increasingly, it is being observed that herdsmen are being armed, quite unlike in the past. What could be the cause?

I think it is a protective position, which they have taken. Rearing a cow is a very capital intensive venture with price range from N100,000 – N200,000 each; for example, losing 10 cows would amount to N2m-N3m. So, criminal elements have found stealing from them quite lucrative business and the herdsmen have to fall back on these defensive arms to survive.  That is also in the face of not being able to get the kind of security they expect from the government due to the Boko Haram insurgency.
If the herdsmen in the case of Jos were mobile, nomadic as should be, it is expected that they would move on after some time. How come the Jos clashes remain frequent?

The Plateau crisis also had a political angle and the economic side of it. Over the years, the non-indigenes like the Fulani, who were economically empowered, ended up buying a lot of land from the Birom locals.

On the whole, it comes to the point, where the sedentary farmers and cattle rearers would learn to ‘live and let live’ in the communities. On the part of government, there should be swift transportation means like the railways to move cattle to market; it is frustrating for a farmer to plant, labour and while waiting for harvest and discover that the cattle have eaten up the crops. It has to be addressed in order to bid the cantankerous situation bye.

What would be the economic cost of building the infrastructure needed to manage the livestock value chain and bring sanity in this frosty relation between the herdsmen and farmers?

It can be made an economically viable project and with respect to Plateau State; there is a lot of good grazing land and the animal husbandry project could be mechanized. Government and other stakeholders can be involved, provided there is an enabling environment.