Fulani herdsmen: What’s their beef?

According to the Global Terror Index regular mass murders by Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen have combined to give Nigeria the dubious distinction of hosting the first and fourth most homicidal terrorist organizations in the world. A report by SMB Intelligence, a research firm which analyses Nigeria’s socio-political and economic situations, claims the Fulani are […]

According to the Global Terror Index regular mass murders by Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen have combined to give Nigeria the dubious distinction of hosting the first and fourth most homicidal terrorist organizations in the world. A report by SMB Intelligence, a research firm which analyses Nigeria’s socio-political and economic situations, claims the Fulani are just as deadly as Boko Haram and scathingly describes the attitude of the Executive arm of government as “head-firmly-in-the-sand”.
Throughout Nigeria Fulani militia erroneously called “herdsmen”, hide amongst grazing cattle while openly carrying AK-47 rifles which they use for pillaging, raping, abducting, and murdering innocent citizens. Their numbers have increased dramatically and they have become a law onto themselves. Security reports claim that Fulani are in conflict with host communities in 30 out of 36 states and apart from terrorizing agricultural communities they routinely commit armed robberies on most major highways especially the Okene- Abuja road.
The Delta State Commissioner of Police stated that Fulani nomads are “a problem” in the state and many have been arrested for armed robbery. They are averse to the rule of law. As an excuse for their recent massacre of indigenes in Agatu local government area of Benue State, they claimed that over 10,000 of their cattle had been killed. Claiming that cattle have been rustled or killed is no justification for murder. Intriguingly rather than masses of dead cattle, the media reported masses of rotting human corpses. Perhaps unlike the human corpses, the mysterious 10,000 dead cattle were buried!
The reluctance of authorities to apprehend those Fulani guilty of murder is strengthening the conviction of those who believe the unrestrained murderous behaviour is part of a grand plan to Islamise the nation. The contention that the killings are due to farmer/herder conflicts isn’t a tenable explanation for the wholesale slaughter. Christian farming communities have been victims of the daily escalating carnage. Between 2010 and 2013 Fulani militia killed approximately 80 people, but by 2014 they had killed 1,299 innocent citizens including police officers and traditional rulers.
Although President Muhammad Buhari (PMB) denounced lawlessness by herders during his campaign, he has neither said, nor done, anything about it since assuming office. In a situation where horrific atrocities are committed regularly against farming communities and innocent travellers, it’s incumbent upon PMB to dismiss accusations of partiality by openly condemning the bloodshed in no uncertain terms. The actions of the herders are the result of failure to modernize the cattle rearing industry. The Fulani are the largest pastoral nomadic group in the world, but the idea that nomadic grazing must be a permanent socio-cultural means of survival for them, and that stopping it will bring them into extinction, is sheer bunkum. Culture is not static and the world has moved beyond nomadic lifestyles. Indeed there are many Fulani multi-millionaires settled into mansions enjoying the benefits of modern technology.
Paradoxically, cattle rearing is a multi-billion naira industry in which all the workers are poor. It’s a commercial enterprise which must move with the times. All developed nations eat beef but cattle don’t roam everywhere. Nomadic grazing is simply an outdated means of maximising profits by defying public health regulations, inconveniencing the general public, and minimising feeding, transportation and labour costs. Rather than modernize the industry and pay for the inputs required for ranching, Fulani cattle owners feel “entitled” to appropriate to themselves fertile land belonging to others in order to feed cows basically free of charge.
Romanticising nomadic life is deceitful. Instead of remaining unschooled and herding cattle inside the bush, Fulani youth should be emancipated and educated to become experts in animal husbandry, vet medicine, agricultural economics, equipment maintenance, cattle ranch management, and so on. There is a clear difference between cows kept in one place and fed well, and the anaemic looking creatures herded round the bush. If it means paying more for beef so be it.
A Bill before the National Assembly seeking to establish a National Grazing Commission to acquire grazing lands all over the nation isn’t the solution. It will not assuage the feelings of the many ethnic nationalities who are tired of the systematic killings and invasion of their land in the name of cattle grazing. Why should the Fulani should be treated as a special case? Businessmen of other ethnic nationalities aren’t given free land on which to carry out commercial activities even when they wish to open factories that generate employment and create wealth for others.
Quite frankly if the consumption of beef is the cause of all this bloodshed then Nigerians should change their tastes. Medical Doctors’ continuously counsel that eating chicken or fish is healthier than red meat. Predictably a movement seeking to boycott beef is gaining increasing support. Its effects will be felt in the medium and long term, then perhaps the Fulani will have no beef with anyone.