A sobering loss
The House of Representatives revealed that farmer-herder clashes have resulted in 60,000 casualties since 2001. Speaker Abbas Tajudeen…
The House of Representatives revealed that farmer-herder clashes have resulted in 60,000 casualties since 2001. Speaker Abbas Tajudeen shared this during an interactive session of the House’s ad hoc Committee on recurring clashes in Gombe State and other regions. Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu stated that the lower chamber is actively examining the causes, impacts and actors involved in these conflicts to find national solutions. National Security Adviser (NSA) Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, represented by Prof. Abdullahi Mohammed Ya’u, emphasised the importance of dialogue, community engagements and collaborations with relevant authorities in addressing the ongoing insecurity challenges in Nigeria.
In Nigeria’s security issues, one would expect that Josef Stalin’s statement: “The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic” would ring true, but it does not. In Nigeria, all deaths are deaths, and all are statistics. That is a national tragedy, and the failure of successive national governments to find solutions to the country’s pastoral crisis is sad. Nigeria’s key post-independence problem is mainly its inability to share power or resources equitably, and as a result, it makes unforced errors. The farmer-herders crisis dates back to at least the 1920s, which the British sought to manage by designating grazing routes. The political elites who took over from the British had to deal with population explosion and climate change. As a result, many clashes blamed on the herders have occurred along water bodies. Equally worse is the dwindling availability of pastures, leading to herders’ encroachment of farmers’ lands. The biggest tragedy in all of these is the Nigerian justice system. Over the years, as community dialogue failed, the court of law, which used to be the place for seeking redress, failed to discharge its duties. This has made bad actors latch on to violence as the fastest route to justice. It has led to cattle rustling, ushering in gangs and vigilantes and a market for an unregulated use of firearms. The government has also compounded the problem by doubling down on socially unpopular policies such as ruga, further exacerbating the problem. The monstrosity of the victim list is concerning, meaning the government has a tough row to hoe. However, the Plateau and Benue events have shown that this is not a priority for the federal government, indicating that the proliferation of self-help groups is just in its infancy stage.