Fayose’s ban on cattle grazing

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has established a reputation for himself as Nigeria’s most reckless governor in terms of actions and utterances but his latest antic cannot be overlooked because it has grave implications for national security and inter-communal co-existence. He said he has banned grazing and cattle rearing in the state. Fayose said […]

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has established a reputation for himself as Nigeria’s most reckless governor in terms of actions and utterances but his latest antic cannot be overlooked because it has grave implications for national security and inter-communal co-existence. He said he has banned grazing and cattle rearing in the state.
Fayose said this when he visited  Oke-Ako in Ikole Local Council Area of the state where two people were killed and many others were injured, allegedly by herdsmen.  He said the state government would henceforth seize any cattle seen anywhere in the state apart from those in ranches. Fayose also said people interested in cattle rearing should set up private cattle ranches, and that a bill to make the movement of cattle from one location to another criminal in the state would soon be sent to the state House of Assembly.
To begin with, Governor Fayose greatly overreacted to the situation. We condemn the killing and injuring of anyone anywhere in Nigeria but the first thing to do is to encourage the security agencies to fish out the culprits and charge them to court for the offences. It is totally improper to leave that and go fishing for trouble by roping the crime committed by a few people on their entire ethnic group in the state. If that is the way to go, then state governments all over the country will be banning whole trades anytime a member of an ethnic group that dominates the trade commits any outrage in the state.
Fayose did not even stop there. He went a crazy notch higher by giving N2.5million to local hunters, whom he then asked to enforce his crazy ban. He told the hunters, “Before any herdsmen kill you, kill them! Before they rape your wives, kill them and before they rape your children, kill them! I am giving you this order; before they kill you, kill them. You have to defend yourselves. Before they get you, you must get them down and take them out. You should pursue them, go and search for them inside the forest. Anyone who comes to take your life, you must take them out. We will not leave our lands for Fulani herdsmen and in a system where the leadership of the country looks the other way while our people are being killed, we will have no option than to defend ourselves.”
Fayose’s central grouse can be found in the last two sentences. His irrational action is motivated by politics, his almost irrational opposition to President Muhammadu Buhari’s government and his personal hatred for the president. By blaming all herdsmen for a crime allegedly committed by some of them, he believes he is settling a score with Buhari’s ethnic kinsmen and he is doing so in a most irresponsible manner totally unbecoming of a state governor.
Fulani leaders have already said they would take him to court. Alhaji Bello Ardo, former president of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association (MACBAN) said cattle rearers, like all Nigerians, have a right to move freely and conduct their business across the nation. Anyone who commits a criminal offence anywhere in the country should be apprehended and punished according to the law but no one can be expelled from any state on the grounds that his ethnic kinsmen allegedly committed an offence.
We urge the Federal Government and the Council of State to have a serious discussion of this matter and to find lasting, country-wide solution to it. Meanwhile, we urge the police to step in and disarm Fayose’s “hunters” before they commit any atrocities under the belief that the governor has given them a blank cheque to commit murder. Ayo Fayose may have immunity from prosecution today but he will one day answer for the crimes he incites today.