It is a Repressive Way of Depriving us Our Livelihood – Bayeri
Alhaji Saleh Bayari is the secretary general, member and secretary of the board of trustees of the Gam Allah Fulani Development Association. In this interview with our correspondent, he spoke on the antigrazing law in some states, how it will affect the c
What is your association’s take on the new antiopen grazing law signed by the Benue State government?
The whole problem started in Ekiti State where the anti-grazing law was first enacted and we taught that Ekiti, being a state in the South, was just testing the waters but when it moved to the North that is basically the home of herdsmen who moved to the South as a result of desertification and global warming. We taught it won’t get to the North but unfortunately it came and they also started clamouring for ant-grazing law. We felt it was not going to be possible in such a swift manner it took in the state. We also know that they cannot make a law that will be a breach to the constitution of Nigeria. From our little understanding, this law is a direct confrontation with the constitution of Nigeria because every Nigerian has an inalienable right to move from one part of the country to another without seeking for a visa. We are baffled, and very surprised to find a state like Benue, which from time immemorial, has been the home of the herdsmen enacting such law. Benue State, from beginning of time, has been a state that has water, grass and other pastures that are not found in other parts of the country.
We learnt that Plateau and Taraba states are also planning to make the same laws. Tell us how these laws will affect Fulani herders in these states.
It will affect us very adversely because as you may know Plateau, Taraba and Benue states are part of the Savannah Grassland of the North-Central zone of Nigeria and they are homes of herdsmen because of the pasture, as a result of abundance of water in those states. Banning grazing in these states will spell doom for the Nigerian agricultural sector, as far as production of beef, milk, cheese and other things we derive from cattle are concerned. In effect, it is going to put a final stop to the means of livelihoods of a generation of hundreds and thousands of people who have a mono-trade of rearing cattle. From the time of the first herdsman, who is Prophet Musa, up till now the Fulani have remained herdsmen doing no other side business.
Is it possible to have your people rear their cattle in grazing reserves and would it solve the problem of herders/farmers clash in the country?
The first time this type of efforts were made in the country was around 1965 under the leadership of the Sardauna of Sokoto in the North and places like Wase, Dangarigari and Wawasange grazing reserves were quite attractive when they were first established because government then was serious and ready to do everything in those places to make the reserves habitable to the herdsmen. But after the First Republic, the noble programme was abandoned and that was the beginning of the problem. I don’t know any grazing reserve that has amenities that the herdsmen will find palatable and habitable for them to say, ‘this is home.’ Even in advanced countries that are being cited for mischief reasons to justify the banning of our traditional way of grazing, they do not have laws banning grazing in this form that some governors are doing in Nigeria. Even where the cattle ranches started, like in America around 1886, the cowboys and Texas rangers move their cows, riding horses through California to new Mexico, to San Juan - a journey of not less than 5000 kilometres - and back, for pleasure, as a tradition, as tourism, as education and adventure.
Would ranches solve herders and farmers clash?
To provide ranches for herdsmen, you will need seven times of Nigeria’s landmass for them to be in their natural environment, to satisfy the conditions that the animals can feel that they are in an ideal condition to produce what they have been producing. Ranches are fine if we can afford them but I know we don’t have more than seven people in Nigeria today who have ranches. I know Obasanjo, President Buhari, Murtala Nyako, Rafindi, Abdullahi Adamu and I know that none of them spent less than N5 million to establish a ranch. In fact, I know a ranch that is worth N25 million. If you sell all the cows belonging to the herdsmen in Kwara, for instance, the money won’t be enough to establish a single ranch. In advanced countries, they have a nuclear family of one or two people. In their own case, 15 cows are enough to sustain the family. But in our own case, it is entirely different because we have an extended family where you find a herdsman with 60 dependants, including grand and great grandchildren. It is the quantity of the cows that take care of the large family’s needs. We can’t compare Nigeria with other countries doing ranches because their governments give them loans and they have insurance cover. We don’t have mechanised farmers in Nigeria but in those countries, one mechanised farmer can supply you with animal feeds for your ranch. So, give the herdsmen alternatives and the alternatives are there.
What are the alternatives?
Government should establish grazing But because some people are trying to establish the anti-open grazing law, they decided to attribute every killing done by Ghana to the herdsmen. They are trying to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. They make sure they created unnecessary animosity and bad blood between the people of Benue State and herdsmen
reserves with proper infrastructure. That will solve the problem because it will be more profitable. By the time a herder with 150 cows realises that the milk he is producing is less than that of his mate who has 50 cows in a reserve; by the time he realises that the cows are stressed by movement that is making them less productive, he will want to settle in a place than be moving around. Let the open grazing continue because it is the culture of some people and stopping that abruptly will be difficult. Let the alternatives be there: allow open grazing for those who have not realised it’s stressfulness to the cow; make reserves available for those who will stay there while they may be thinking of having their own ranches after realising the benefit of staying in one place. It is reckless, repressive and uncivilised to decree that some people should not have a legal and lawful means of livelihood because of the danger their profession posses to society.
Herders associations have been complaining about the Benue State law. What step did you take when the bill was initiated?
We have different associations for herdsmen and ours is one of them. When the matter first came up in Ekiti State, one of our organisations was the first to kick against it by legally challenging the bill but they ended up driving some wedge into our way and at the end of the day they didn’t do anything until it became a little too late for us to do anything. There is a possibility that most, if not, all in the North-Central and other states that may not be able to tolerate the encroachment of the herdsmen will displace them from these places. Even some far northern states will make such laws to prevent open grazing. We know there is no way you can stop any group of Nigerians from earning a living in a constitutional way, by going out to mischievously make a law by turning your state into a country and if they do that there would still be an international law that will check the state. We tried to participate in the public hearing before the enactment of the law but because they knew there were questions we were going to ask them that they would not be able to answer and we would expose this hatred-driven agenda against herdsmen, they held it secretly with like minds and before we knew it, the law was in place. Farmers and herdsmen have been fighting since.
The agenda is being driven by religious, political and tribal sentiments, which is what we are beginning to know as a fact. There is no way we will fold our arms and be gotten rid of from this country because it will be very serious to get rid of our means of livelihood. We are going to resort to legal means to see that the outrageous, hate and brutal law does not see the light of the day.
Are Fulani herders actually troublemakers and why are they having problems with farmers around the country?
Fifty years ago, there were farmers and herdsmen and there were no problems between them. From our investigation, from 1999 every struggle for power has had its foundation in ethnicity, religion, sectionalism and others. People have realised that the easy way to access political office and to make money is to set one people against the other so that you will be seen to be a hero in the exploit of the division. Robbers and cattle rustlers made our people turn violent when they started kidnapping their relatives and demanding for ransom. These acts made the Fulani man to become aggressive and bear arms for selfdefence and because of the need to have a balance of terror, to be able to survive. I also suggested during one of our meetings with the Inspector General of Police and commissioners of 36 states that you legally provide arms to the Fulani men to protect their means of livelihood and family or they get them by any means to defend themselves. Are Fulani herders actually behind the
killings in Benue State?
The killings in Benue are as a result of religion and ethnicity and they have been mostly done by a Tiv man who has a strong terrorist political pressure group and he is called Ghana. He has been terrorising people in Benue, Nasarawa and even in Taraba state and he has become the equivalence of Osama Bin Laden, Muhammad Yusuf and Shekau. But because some people are trying to establish the anti-open grazing law, they decided to attribute every killing done by Ghana to the herdsmen. They are trying to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. They make sure they created unnecessary animosity and bad blood between the people of Benue State and herdsmen.
The truth also is that the Tiv, Idoma, Agatu and other people in Benue are farmers but with the introduction of religion into politics and economy the Fulani people have been at the receiving end of these so-called natives. The bill is an accumulation of the failed effort of driving the herdsmen out of Benue State through the use of force. Now they feel the best way to go about it is to use the law in such a way that the herdsmen will have no say in the law. These people have been attacking the Fulani and the Fulani have been attacking back in selfdefence. The fear of the unknown is also making them to want to send them out of the state, alleging that they are planning to create an empire of Usman Danfodiyo. If not for mischief, why would they be talking about an empire that took place in the 17th century in the 21st century? We have read the law but there are no provisions on how we can access the ranches. Is it through the local government chairmen, village heads, district heads, ward heads, Tor Tiv or the governor? They have not told us how and where to get the land because an average Tiv man that I know can never leave his land for any amount for any herdsman.