By Christel Odili
The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), has said that the sporadic and ongoing violent conflicts between herdsmen and farmers
in rural communities in Nigeria are a serious threat to economic development and human security in the country.
This is as it noted that such conflicts also have a strong potential to spread to other neighboring countries in West Africa.
The Resident Representative Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES),Nigeria, Mr. Ulrich Thum disclosed this during a 2-Day workshop, with the theme: “Dynamics of Farmer-Herder Conflicts: Its Implication on Nigeria’s Foreign Policy”, in Abuja.
He noted that though there are also ethno-religious interpretations of the conflict the cattle herders are predominantly nomadic Fulani Muslims, the sedentary smallholder farmers are from other ethnic groups and are predominantly Christians or of other religions.
Mr. Thum stated that, the current administration has conducted various security interventions in communities undergoing violence from cattle rustling, but has not intervened in the herder and farmer violent clashes.
Taking cue from the various presentations, he disclosed that, it was clear that in many of the affected rural communities, farmers are driven out of villages, ultimately becoming refugees in neighboring states. Those that remain in the villages are afraid to travel to farms in remote locations due to fear of violence from herdsmen.
According to him, “The implication of this situation is ominous on food production. Already, there are reports that prices of foods have increased in some of the affected states while refugee problems have escalated.
In his remarks, Professor Nuhu Yaqub noted that the end of farmer-herders conflict is not in sight, as there is no coherent policy framework to end the problem.
According to him, “The federal government is proposing to establish what it described as “cattle colonies,” in all states across the country to accommodate nomadic cattle herders. The nature and shape of such colonies are still not clear”.
“On the other hand, most state governments are opposed to the policy due to fear that it could cause a land use crisis between host communities and cattle herders. Already farmers are occupying most arable lands in the states and persuading them to cede such lands for grazing could be difficult”.
He recommended that, the international community and civil society organizations should pay attention to ongoing herdsmen and farmers conflict, which has the potential to spread throughout West Africa.
Prof. Nuhu further advised that, it is better to take pro-active action now in order to prevent a conflict that could possibly engulf a whole sub-region, and become a humanitarian crisis in the world. All hands must be on deck in order to address the farmers-herders conflict in Nigeria, as it is happening now.