Why the blame game in Benue crisis won’t help

Today, that picture of harmonious interaction has been shattered; any mention of Tiv/Fulani these days likely would be in the context of the crisis of cattle theft, destruction of farmlands, and bloody engagements that have led to hundreds of deaths, loss of thousands of cattle and displacement of whole villages. This is an alarming and […]

Today, that picture of harmonious interaction has been shattered; any mention of Tiv/Fulani these days likely would be in the context of the crisis of cattle theft, destruction of farmlands, and bloody engagements that have led to hundreds of deaths, loss of thousands of cattle and displacement of whole villages. This is an alarming and unfortunate turn of events for which the logical question to ask would be: ‘What are the root causes of the breakdown of the historical relationship between the Tiv and the Fulani?
In assessing some of the comments and reactions that I have read so far, I believe that the most sensible thing to do in the circumstance is to advise everyone to be wary of jumping to conclusion and hastily apportioning blame as to which party is responsible for the mayhem that is going on right now. It is critical that we should look dispassionately and with a sensitive eye at the issues in order to locate the basis of this crisis. This is very imperative because one of the notable causes of crises today is what Professor Umaru Pate of University of Maiduguri termed ‘shadow source of crises’, where people who are the major instigators are ignored and the spotlight placed on otherwise innocent people as scapegoats. Not only that but also, in the occurrence of any crisis, directly or indirectly, it is innocent people who are mostly affected.
Stereotyping particular groups in situation like this does not help either.  
Crop farming remains a great source of income to farmers; so does cattle rearing to Fulani herdsmen. Therefore, this clash of interests must be given due cognisance in any discussion of the issue. Unless this is applied, the killing of people in Benue State between the farmers and the Fulani herdsmen will snowball into a very dangerous conflagration. If nothing is done and urgently too, Nigeria should be ready for a full-blown of war. This is not a prophecy of doom, but the way this crisis is developing if foreboding.  As a matter of urgent policy, the authorities must spring into action to stop it.
In every crisis, there must be a root cause. What then is the cause of the problem between the Tiv and the Fulani herdsmen? Perhaps, one may look at it from the perspective of farm destruction and the rustling of grazing cattle. But the question is how did the Fulani herdsmen come to settle in these Tiv villages in the first place?   
  The truth is that the traditional rulers and the village heads in these communities, perhaps unwittingly, contributed to the crisis. In many of these communities, like Makurdi the state capital and other local government areas, these traditional rulers and village heads collect huge sums of money from the Fulani herdsmen to provide pieces of land to settle on, but on a temporary basis. The big question is, ‘where would the Fulani herdsmen graze their cattle having in mind that the small pieces of land they had paid for would not be enough for the purpose? And graze the cattle must or the herds would die.
There lies a source of friction, and potential point of departure in finding the solution.
In the search for this, the traditional rulers in these areas have a great role to play.  Therefore, we must be conscious of what we do, how we do them in order to avoid causing trauma. As one can see, this crisis is a setback, and does not bring glory, to the people of Benue State.
The media and civil society organisations must be alert in order to expose people that are involved in fuelling the crisis and supplying arms. Corrupt officials and greedy merchants of death usually do not harbour any compunction in facilitating the illegal purchase and distribution of war materiel that could lead to massacres.
   
 Msughter is of Department Mass Communications, Bayero University, Kano <[email protected]>;