Ex Governor Blames Poor Planning For Farmers/Herdsmen Clashes

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By; BALA B. BITRUS, Minna
Failure in proper national planning through successive governments in the country is to be blamed for the spate of killings and destruction in farmers, herdsmen clashes in parts of the country, former Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State has said.
He said poor planning and projections were the bane of the country’s administrative managements by those in positions of authority across the states of the federation and those at the centre.
”Our planning are usually not scientific, pragmatic nor dynamic to take into cognisance the possibilities of the dynamics of materialism, dialectics and changing times and places” he reasoned.
He said the problem of farmers/herdsmen clashes in the country was long foretold as the indices were glaring but governments in it’s plan, had always failed to take certain variables into consideration while planning ahead.
The former governor argued that resorting to ranches where cattle would be confined to a place at the moment was not tenable in many parts of the country because the places once designated as ranches and grazing fields have since been taken over by growing population, villages and communities either for farming, residential homes or other forms of habitations due to increase in population and desert encroachment in parts of the northern flanks of the country.
He suggested that the federal government, through the country’s apex bank should set aside funds to support herders stay on designated places to domesticate their flock at such places with good pastures, water bodies and provide amenities and infrastructure for the herders and their families.
He said herding flock by patoralists from state to state, from season to season by Fulani herdsmen with it’s attendant frictions could be redressed by allowing the trains or trailers to convey such large flock on transit to areas with enough green pasture in order to avoid confrontations and clashes with farmers and local communities.
Dr. Babangida Aliyu argued that because the relationship between the two was a symbiotic, socio economic interdependence, such frictions were often likely and should not be dismissed because the two need each other even as tolerance should be encouraged amongst them rather than fanning the embers of discord between the two.
He recalled that as Chairman of the forum of nineteen states’ governors for eight years, between 1999 and May 29th 2015, he and his colleague governors had envisioned the way to redress the possible clash areas between farmers and pastoral herdsmen and produced blueprint for the federal government to intervene through the instrumentality of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) which was expected to provide funds required to assist Pastoralists as social security in fending for their flock throughout the year to stem confrontations with communities over farmlands invasion.
He regretted however that the blueprint on the modus oparandi of the decision by the governors which was submitted to the federal government during a national economic council meeting was probably rested in the portorcabin of the presidency as it never saw the light of day.
“We once had a national conference with the then Minister of Agriculture in Abuja on the issue of having grazing reserves in different parts of the country. We had observed that the once peaceful coexistence amongst farmers and herdsmen had since given way. The problem between them is that of economic considerations and not ethnic or religious.”
He said all over the world, countries have found ways to domesticate their flock at particular places to stop movements and herding flock around cities and communities.
The former governor disclosed that findings had revealed that because of the life styles of pastoralists and the nature of the Fulani herdsmen movements, they are bounded to each other no matter their locations and environment and would therefore take up vengeance for the pains of any one of them who is aggrieved no matter the distance and location between them.
He said some of the attacks and mayhem including arsons committed were probably carried out by Pastoralists herdsmen from other climes outside Nigeria due to the blood ties and affinity between herdsmen which they usually call ”colanuts bonds”.
The former governor of Niger state argued that the obvious answer to the current state of affairs where security of lives and properties were under constant throes was for the federal government to ensure that funds were released for controlled ranching within good fields of pastures, support to the herdsmen to enable them continue to contribute to the national economy as much as ensure that the farming communities across the country are protected from invasion by herdsmen and their flock.
Dr. Babangida Aliyu advised the federal government to however deploy it’s security apparatus to check who are the real forces behind the ceaseless attacks on comnunities in parts of the country even as he insinuated that the attacks could be the handiwork of mercenaries and foot soldiers of some forces behind the scenes.

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