4.7 Pastoral Influx in Southern Host Communities
4.7.1 Changing Patterns of Pastoral Transhumance
The intensification of long-range southward migration explains the recurrent communal friction and conflict with the host communities across the southern guinea savannah and rainforest belt. According to Azuwike and Enwerem (2010), the increase in the scale of conflict is a result of changes in the nature and frequency of nomadic transhumance in recent decades. Migration over the years, have been planned in tandem with seasonal considerations for planting and harvesting periods, the risk of violence have been minimal. However, distortions in this sensitivity to crop timing have heightened the risk of violent conflicts.
Describing the annual grazing circle of Fulani nomads, Iro stated that:
[T]he herding season begins with southward movement of the herd and along rivers and stream valleys from October to December –marking the end of rainy season and beginning of dry season. January to February is the harmattan season that is characterized by longer grazing hours, herd splitting, and more frequent visits to stable water sources. These thus increase southward movement of the herds. The months of March and April are usually the toughest for the herdsman and his cattle, as it is the hottest period in the grazing calendar. May and June signify the end of dry season and vegetation begins to appear. This also marks the beginning of northward movement of cattle herds. From this period up till September, which is the peak of rainy season, though characterized by cattle-breeding, more milk production and shorter grazing hours, cattle herding coincides significantly with arable crop production (Iro, cited in Adekunle and Adisa, 2010: 2-3).
It is also against the backdrop of the transformation in both scale and form that Azuwike and Enwerem (2010) observe that:
...the northern Fulani cattle herdsmen, rather than maintain the transit orientation they have always been known for in most southern areas, appear to be turning sedentary in the south. The newly found tendency to establish permanent and semi-permanent camps comes at the cost of conflict with their farming hosts (Azuwike and Enwerem, 2010: 4).
In line with Azuwike and Enwerem’s exposition, one of the main sources of tension particular to those between sedentary farmers and the host communities revolve around land use and claims to such land after certain length of time. This also has to do with the
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contradictions in traditional and formal government structures and their roles in the management of land. While hereditary ownership of land obtains at the traditional community level with traditional adjudication still largely relied upon for settling local land disputes, government policy in the land use Act of 1990 gives right of allocation to state structures particularly, the state and local tiers of governments.75 The incongruities in the operation of this formal versus informal institutional processes impact on community perception and adherence to regulatory systems.
Given subsisting hereditary land ownership system at the traditional level, increasing demand for allocation of land for new sedentary settlements by herders, or the tendency to claim areas allocated by the community for temporary occupations often strains relationships with the host communities. Although all states in Nigeria have many designated areas allocated to herders for grazing, the arrival of new groups and the increasing population of existing herders often result in ownership tussles, herders’ demand for more space most of which are under cultivation or believed to belong to members of the local community. Such ownership tussles often follow long periods of temporary settlement by herders. This is further complicated by contradictory constitutional provisions which invest powers of control and allocation of land in the state, despite subsisting traditional and hereditary ownership at the community level. As such, disputes often end up in courts, leading to sustained hostility between herders and their hosts regardless of the position of the court.
Two patterns of pastoral presence are often noted in studies on pastoral migration and host community relations (see for example: Azuwike and Enwerem, 2010; Kratli and Schareika 2010; Kratli 2008). These include: (a) transitory migration in which herders are a continuous movement of cattle dictated by seasonal characteristics and availability of forage, and (b) sedentary movement in which there is either a permanent or semi-permanent relocation of herdsmen. While semi-permanent sedentary relocation often involves identifying an area for all-years-round grazing opportunities and the development of temporary huts until the need to move arises, increasing acclimatization to the environment and the cost of repeated resettlements has made permanent stays increasingly attractive to many herders.
75 The Land Use Law of 1990 vests the control of land in the formal governments at state and local governments levels, for the control of urban and local areas respectively. (see Land Use Act 1990 at http://www.nigeria-law.org/Land%20Use%20Act.htm)
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While the first form of transit movement appears to have increased in intensity, extending into the planting season and thereby constituting a higher risk for the farmers’ crops, the latter has increased in size and demand with claims to land and community rights emerging as new challenges to the host communities. More so, stays beyond the post-harvest season has meant increased risks to damage crops in the planting season breeding conflicts as a result (Azuwike, and Enwerem, 2010). Concerns also arise in some communities with the trend of pastoral-farmer militancy, as the herders increasingly adopt the practice of bearing sophisticated guns and arms rather than the herding staff, ostensibly for protecting themselves—a practice farmers often claim, was to make their resistance impossible or to overpower whatever resistance arises when Fulani cattle are left to wander into farms causing destruction of crops. Such transformations have altered the traditionally cordial relationship between the migrant and the host.
In addition to natural resource contestations, the influx of migrants in the host communities also generates tension and often results in violence between herders and community youths.
Ofuoku and Isife (2009) note allegations of cattle theft and harassment often brought against youths in their host community as well as allegations of female harassment, armed robbery, rape and kidnap alleged by community members against the herders in addition to damage to farmers’ crops, pollution of community water sources and encroachment of lands. By and large, the presence of pastoralists is often seen as disincentive for agricultural activities which constitutes the mainstay of economic productivity in the rural areas across Nigeria. Some of these tensions are seen as hampering youth retention in rural areas, heightening rural outmigration and increasing urban unemployment rates which also leads to increased city crime rates (Ofuoku, 2009: 49-51). The incumbent President, Mohammadu Buhari also acknowledged the menace in his inaugural speech when he noted that:
Boko Haram is not only the security issue bedeviling our country. The spate of kidnappings, armed robberies, herdsmen/farmers clashes, cattle rustlings all help to add to the general air of insecurity in our land. We are going to erect and maintain an efficient, disciplined people–friendly and well–compensated security forces within [an]
overall security architecture (President Buhari’s inaugural speech, on May 29, 2015). 76
Given the atmosphere of ethnic and tribal suspicion (this is fully discussed in the next section—section 4.7.), criminal acts and related social disturbances have often acquired
76 See full speech at <http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/05/read-president-buhari-inaugural-speech/>.
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colourations that lean towards ethnic or tribal in-group versus out-group differentiations in Nigeria. The ethnicisation of social problems further aggravates hostilities between migrants and host community adversely affecting intergroup relations in the country. In the south west region, where cases of kidnapping has been rife in recent months, the alleged involvement of a Fulani migrant in the kidnap of a former Minister and one-time Secretary to the Federal Government, Chief Olu Falae stirred intense ethnic furore between the Yoruba and the Hausa Fulani. Elite altercation along ethnic lines dominated news media with some leaders of the southwest region threatening to secede from the Nigerian federation or wage war against Fulani influx.77
The levels of apprehension that have arisen in the south with the conflict transformation in nomadic herdsmen migration are summed in thus:
The Fulani markets in the south are no longer simply places where cattle exchange hands but have now turned into major grazing bases.
They have also become havens protecting pastoralists against irate crops farmers. Increasingly, mere calves are brought to the south to be nurtured to commercial size. This has also necessitated major Fulani settlements around the so-called markets. Southern governments have had to pass laws restraining herders to newly carved-out grazing zones in reaction to incessant conflicts with local people. Fear of Fulani cultural domination is common in many places leading to deadly ethnic clashes and cases of social isolation. Communities like Uturu (Abia State, southern Nigeria) have in place, standing orders restraining property owners from renting out rooming apartments to Fulani herdsmen. It is also quite instructive that the Fulani herdsman who has not demanded rooming apartments for rent is now making this demand in southern communities (Azuwike and Enwerem, 2010:
4).
77 Fulani Herdsmen Kidnap Former SGF, Chief Olu Falae On His Birthday
<http://www.360nobs.com/2015/09/fulani-herdsmen-kidnap-former-sgf-chief-olu-falae-on-his-birthday/>
How Fulani herdsmen abducted Olu Falae <http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/how-fulani-herdsmen- abducted-olu-falae/> How I was abducted, tortured, released—Olu Falae
<http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/190728-how-i-was-abducted-tortured-released-olu- falae.html> Olu Falae: 'Our people did not kidnap ex-SFG' - Fulani herdsmen <http://pulse.ng/local/olu-falae- our-people-did-not-kidnap-ex-sfg-fulani-herdsmen-id4229660.html> Olu Falae’s Abductors Are Not Herdsmen – DSS <http://www.channelstv.com/2015/10/12/olu-falaes-abductors-are-not-herdsmen-dss/>
Femi Falana: That Fulani herdsmen kidnapped Olu Falae, is doubtful <http://www.thescoopng.com/femi- falana-that-fulani-herdsmen-kidnapped-olu-falae-is-doubtful/> Fulani Invasion: Yoruba leaders threaten secession <http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/fulani-invasion-yoruba-leaders-threaten-secession/> My Death Would Have Ignited an Ethnic War between Yoruba and Fulani – Falae
<http://www.theheraldng.com/my-death-would-have-ignited-an-ethnic-war-between-yoruba-and-fulani- falae/>. Falae’s Abduction: Yoruba Elders Want Fulani Herdsmen Out of the Southwest
<http://www.informationng.com/2015/10/falaes-abduction-yoruba-elders-want-fulani-herdsmen-out-of-the- southwest.html>. Falae’s Abduction: NANS issues four-day ultimatum, declares war on Fulani herdsmen in Akure <Falae’s Abduction: NANS issues four-day ultimatum, declares war on Fulani herdsmen in Akure>.
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Recent violent conflicts in communities across the country have seen a heightened tension nationally. In a recent spate of attack, an incident in Nimbo—a community in Enugu State on April 2016, left about 46 community members were dead and several other injured while properties were also destroyed. The frequency of such attacks have elicited widespread criticism with leaders from across the country accusing the federal government of indecision on herders violence, an attitude that some commentators attribute to the President’s Fulani ethnic origin. Some analysts have argued that increasing frequency of these incidences poses a threat to Nigeria’s corporate existence especially at a time of ethnic and religious tension in some parts of the country (http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/fulani-herdsmen-attacks- threaten-nigerias-existence-nass/).
Some state Governors have, in response to growing insecurity, introduced measures that many fear, may further escalate intergroup conflict. For example, Ifanyi Ugwuanyi the Enugu State Governor placed a ban on razing and rearing of cattle in the state (http://sunnewsonline.com/herdsmen-violence-enugu-bans-night-grazing/). Another incident in Oke-Ako in Ekiti State which saw two people dead also resulted in the state Governor, Ayodele Fayose banning cattle grazing in the state while challenging local hunters to prepare for war against any Fulani herdsman found grazing cattle in any part of the state. Calling for war, the State Governor charged:
This killing of our people must stop…It is deliberate and we must take all actions to stop it…They have killed two, they have killed all of us.
A fight against one Ekiti man is a fight against everybody, the President must rise up to the challenge and stand this decaying security situation in the face, we cannot continue like this…This is Ekiti Parapo war and it must be fought in the totality of our spirit (Governor Ayo Fayose on herdsmen attack in Oke-Ako, Ekiti State).
(http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/203970-fayose- vows-equip-ekiti-hunters-war-fulani-herdsmen.html).
According to a newspaper report, the Governor had warned that “On no account should anybody come to sack our communities again, rise up against them. Before any herdsmen kill you, kill them, before they rape your wives, kill them, and before they rape your children kill them” (http://thenationonlineng.net/fayose-kill-erring-herdsmen-cows/). There is no gainsaying that the implementation of such confrontational approach in managing the herdsmen-farmer crisis could result in reprisals against citizens of the state involved, especially those who reside in Fulani/Hausa dominated regions in the country. Since such a
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crisis easily acquires ethnic and religious dimensions, it could escalate into much larger conflict.