File photo: A herd boy fully armed

By Rasheed Akinkuolie

The news of the rampages of fulani herdsmen is currently the hottest in the Nigerian media and of great concern. The herdsmen are at loggerheads with several communities in the Middle Belt and Southern parts of Nigeria over grazing land.

This had not always been the case, the herdsmen have for almost a century been grazing their cattle around Nigeria without getting into conflicts with the local population.

The demand for more land for agriculture, urban expansion, desertification and degradation of the traditional grazing areas in the Lake Chad Region in the North Eastern parts of Nigeria have forced the fulani herdsmen to move to greener pastures down south of the country.
What is happening today is the outcome of failures of past administrations to foresee and take creative actions to prevent the ongoing herdsmen/farmers clashes.

This crisis seems to be escalating and getting to a secondary phase which may involve the herdsmen and more hostile tribes as they move deeper into the southern states of Nigeria.
The herdsmen will be outnumbered and overwhelmed by these hostile communities and in the event of an armed conflict, genocide may occur, if urgent precautionary measures are not taken. This situation can still be salvaged, if the following suggested measures are taken to douse the current tension and avert a future crisis which may be of unimaginable proportions.

On the short term, the herdsmen should be evacuated to states which are ready to accept them. The government of Kano has graciously agreed to provide grazing land for their livestocks. Other willing states should emulate this noble gesture, if it is compatible with their state interests. However, no state should be coerced to provide land under any circumstances.

On the medium term, the education of the herdsmen must be taken very seriously. The nomadic school system is palliative, unviable and not a solution. The children of the herdsmen must attend proper and organized schools. And it is only through education that the cycle of poverty can be broken.

The long term solution would be to settle the herdsmen into dairy farm cooperatives where their rustic skills would be improved upon to complement modern dairy farming. The milk industry is a cash cow for countries which have identified the potentials and invested in it. Nigeria should seize the opportunity of this crisis to develop a comprehensive milk, dairy and animal husbandry industries, which may eventually replace oil as source of revenue in the life after crude oil.

China, India, USA, EU and countries with large populations are literally run on milk. India produces about 163 million tons of milk annually, with a revenue of over 165 billion usd a year, which is about four times Nigeria’s revenue from crude oil.

The profit in dairy farming is not in the cow meat, but the milk and other derived products, such as infant milk formulae, yogurt, cheese and butter which are consumed worldwide.

A cow in a European dairy farm produces an average of 40 liters of milk a day which at the mean cost of 1 usd a litre, may yield an annual income of about 14,000 usd. The cow is then culled for its meat after 5-7 years of producing milk.

The raising of cattle in Nigeria is more for the meat, than milk production. The average daily milk production of the Nigerian herdsmen cow is about 2 liters a day, which is still shared with the calves. The development of the dairy industry in Nigeria is therefore necessary at this critical time for the immediate and long term economic and social benefits.
The government must, however, take the lead in this enterprise, partially as a social responsibility and for profit.

It is misleading that government cannot go into business ventures of any kind. This doctrine had been promoted for a long time by oligarchs for selfish reasons, and they have been succeeding in hood winking the government and the larger society.

Every country has its own dynamics and peculiarities and there is no fixed singular formula which fits all situations, and all nations. In the case of Nigeria, the private sector should complement government efforts and not the other way round.

However, if as usual, the private sector is to take the lead in this case, the waiting will be long and nothing will be achieved at the end of the day, thereby compounding a pressing problem. Past government ventures have failed because of incompetent and corrupt managers. In this case, the management should be drawn from trusted members of the civil society.
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The plight of fulani herdsmen in Nigeria should weigh heavily on the conscience of all Nigerians and the fulani elites in particular. The fulani herdsmen as an itinerant tribe are permanently on the move, always exposed to inclement weather, lack access to potable water, medical care, good food and clean environment.

The fulani herdsmen are a helpless group with no one to plead their case; except the minimal support the Miyetti Fulani Community leaders are able to offer. The fulani herdsmen are an ostracized group, even by their kinsmen who are governors, ministers, senators, business moguls, as if they are not part of the fulani ethnic group.

Are these excellencies happy to see their kinsmen plodding along the highways following the cattle, while they live in great comfort and opulence with their families? If cattle herding on the trail is such a good way of life, why are the fulani elites not leading this romantic way of life with their children?

The ‘other’ fulanis have ruled this country as President or Vice President, five times and for 22 years, and yet cannot find a solution to the very simple problems of their own kinsmen. The fulani elites in Nigeria should remember the teachings of Sheik Usmanu Dan Fodio on injustice, which is a crime that cannot be forgiven, except there is repentance and reparation. The Sheik was a great scholar, author, poet, cleric, philosopher and promoter of education for all genders. The children took after him, including the daughters. Hajia Asmau, one of the daughters also wrote books in Arabic, Hausa and Fulfude Languages. It is unimaginable that after over 150 years in Nigeria, there are fulanis who are still herding cattle and languishing in abject poverty

The fulani nation is a small minority in Nigeria, whereas they are the majority tribe in Guinea-Conakry, where they constitute over 40 % of the population. In Guinea-Conakry, they dominate the academia, businesses, real estate, petty trading, with the exception of cattle herding. In Northern Cameroon, where the fulanis are also predominant, they are cotton farmers and industrialists.

Among prominent fulanis in Africa was Diallo Telli, the first Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU- AU) Thomas Sankara, former President of Burkina Faso, one of the most progressive African leaders, Ahmadu Ahidjo, the former President of Cameroon.

The fulanis in Guinea, Senegal, Cameroon are very proud of their heritage and would readily say , ‘’Je suis Peul’. to introduce themselves to a stranger. Can the fulanis say the same today in Nigeria ?

The herdsmen will never revolt against their kinsmen, like the Kanuris/ Buras who are now engaged in full rebellion, first and foremost against their leaders before the Nigerian State. Sadly enough, the herdsmen are not even aware of the extent of their deprivation. If there had been errors in the past, this is the time to make amendments.

Ambassador Akinkuolie Rasheed was the Director of Trade, Investment and Policy in Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

akinkuolie. rasheed@ gmail.com