*Herders should embrace ranching to end killings, says Gov. Ganduje

The Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar has said Nigerians are angry and hungry, hence the need to look for ways of dousing tension in the country.

Also, Kano state Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said there was need to persuade the pastoralists to move their cattle into ranches and grazing reserves across the country in order to end perennial crisis between the farmers and herders.

The two leaders spoke Monday in Abuja at a National Conference organised by the Kano state government on “Livestock Reforms and Mitigation of Associated Conflicts.”

 The conference is expected to come up with a blueprint on the farmers-herders clashes in the country and proffer lasting solutions.

Speaking at the conference, the Sultan said the clashes between farmers and herders in Benue state had continued because all the suggestions made to the government were not implemented.

Sultan Abubakar said: “Let’s keep politics aside. The issues of development especially for the common man (should be prioritised). These people that God Almighty gave leadership over, one day, God forbid, will rise up (against us).

“After all these English by professors (at the conference), how do we get these developments down to the common man who is a farmer, the common Fulani man who doesn’t know anything about development in his life, he only cares about cattle. 

“I have been to Benue at least two times as Sultan to sit with the governor and traditional rulers to discuss peace in the Benue valley. At the end of it, the suggestions, we throw them away. Nothing is done and we are back to square one. Let this conference not be in the same manner, let’s do it and let’s do well and now.

“The people are hungry – is there money? Akawi kudi? No cash! People are angry and hungry; let’s see how we can douse the tension.”

Ganduje

Also speaking at the event, Governor Ganduje said there’s need for aiding information, education and strategic communication on the development of grazing reserves to mitigate the consequences of these conflicts.

He said modernising the livestock sector is not only key to resolving the herder-farmer conflict, but was envisaged that this economic investment pillar would support and strengthen the development of market-driven ranches for improved livestock production through breed improvement and pasture production.

He said the Rural Grazing Areas (RUGA) or ranching, which he said had been deliberately politicized, remains the only option that would go a long way in mitigating existential problems, “as pastoralists would have lands to graze without cattle encroaching on people’s farmlands. Because, herders need fodder for their cattle and promoting alternative means of producing feedstock, which reduces the need for grazing land.

“It is also very important that we must also avoid the dangers of allowing these conflicts to harden to religious or ethnic conflicts. This is the responsibility of political, religious and all other parts of our leadership elite in Nigeria.

“We must also intensify existing collaboration with our neighbours, especially border communities, to prevent the movement of small arms, and disarming armed pastoralists and bandits who go through our borders day after day.

“Predominantly nomadic pastoralists should be persuaded to move their cattle into established ranches and public grazing reserves, where breeding farms and other mechanized livestock management practices would bolster the sector’s productivity. 

“Hand in hand with this, government should rebuild social capital at the community level to promote mutual trust, confidence building, and consolidate the peace process, while the law and order pillar would support the strengthening of legal frameworks for improving livestock production, peace and harmony.

“It is my hope that this conference will produce a working document that would go a long way in mitigating conflicts between herders and farmers in this country.”

On his efforts to settle the pastoralists in Kano, the governor said: “We have gone far in the establishment of RUGA Settlement in Kano. Already, 25 housing units out of the projected 500, situated on 4, 413 hectres of land at Dansoshiya Forest in Kiru local government have been completed and handed over to the herders. Replica of the houses will be displayed during an exhibition planned as part of this conference.”

IDB president

In his keynote address, Vice President Islamic Development Bank, Dr. Mansur Mukhtar, said various farmers-herders clashes that took place at various times across the country had claimed the lives of 4,000 people in seven years, with several thousand others sustaining injuries.

He said while fatalities were initially confined to the North Central, it has since spread across the country, increasing pre-existing religious and ethnic tensions. 

Muhtar said the Northern parts of Nigeria had been the epicentre of this conflict, noting this also spread to other regions. 

He said: “Conflicts between farmers and herders/pastoralists have been an issue of national concern in recent years. Perhaps the most significant issue of concern is the growing number of casualties associated with it.  Between 2016 and now, at least 4000 people lost their lives in these conflicts, with several thousand others sustaining injuries, both physical and emotional. While fatalities were initially confined to the north central, they have since spread across the country increasing pre-existing religious and ethnic tensions. 

“In addition to the unfortunate loss of lives, this conflict has often been manifested by an increasing number of internally displaced persons, leading to the breakdown of family units, the bedrock of our society, and disruption in education, especially for young girls. This crisis has also undermined agricultural production compromising our nation’s food security, especially during these periods of rising food prices.”

Jega

In his opening remarks, chairman of the organising committee and former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Atairu Jega, said the conference was designed as an all-inclusive process to generate ideas that would contribute to addressing an acute national problem.

“As Nigeria searches for sustainable ways and means of diversifying its economy, becoming self-sufficient in food production as well as a major competitive exporter of Agro-allied products in the global economy; and becoming a stable, more cohesive developing democracy, a national strategic focus on the Livestock sector and its perennial challenges is an imperative that has assumed significance,” Jega said.