ICC Note: The State Governor of Kebbi makes assertions that the lingering conflict between farmers and herdsmen is not religious, ethnic, or regional in nature. Instead he claims that the reason behind the attacks is that there is too little land in the nation of Nigeria, as there is not enough sea for the fishermen, there is not enough land for the farmers and the herdsmen. The town hall meeting went on to evaluate potential solution to end the attacks between the Christian and Muslim groups in the region.

05/21/2018 (The Guardian) – Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu and some groups at a town hall meeting have advanced different reasons as the root causes of the lingering farmers-herdsmen clashes nationwide.

According to the governor, the problem was connected with the challenge of inadequate land in the country.

He argued that the farmers face crisis of inadequate land to cultivate, the fishermen contend with insufficient water as well as the herdsmen that equally experience shortage of land to graze their cows. All of these, Bagudu submitted culminated in the ongoing clashes between the parties.

The governor, at the parley in Abuja, insisted that the crisis was not religious, ethnic or regional in outlook, adding that perpetrators were rather cashing in on the situation to foment troubles across the federation.

Bagudu tasked the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the relevant authorities on the judicious deployment of the N10 billion released by President Muhammadu Buhari for procurement of seedlings, fertilisers and other farm inputs for displaced farmers.

However, other speakers differed. While some blamed the crisis on the encroachment of grazing reserves, and thus demanded the immediate restoration to end the chaos, others urged the herdsmen to adopt modern ranching.

In his keynote address, the Birma of Biu and Chairman, Council of King Makers, Alhaji Ibrahim S. Birma, blamed the situation on encroachment on grazing reserves “earlier designed for herders who were cattle rearers by nature.”

He therefore canvassed grazing reserves as opposed to ranching, urging governors to identify the grazing routes within their states, and provide herdsmen with irrigation and other facilities to enhance their only known source of livelihood.

…

[Full Story]

For interviews with Nathan Johnson, ICC’s Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: [email protected]