THE ongoing atrocities being perpetrated by some herdsmen across the country should be a cause of concern to every peace-loving Nigerian. Just last week, some herdsmen attacked Enugu State again, the second in a spate of three months, killing and maiming innocent people.
Despite these criminal acts, I believe the herdsmen involved are in the minority, and they can be sensitised on the need to forge a peaceful relationship with people in the communities where their cattle graze. However, the easiest way to reach these herdsmen is through the radio because Fulani people can’t do without their radios.
I hope the National Orientation Agency (NOA) can get prominent Fulani people to speak directly to these herdsmen, telling them that it is against the law of Allah and that of Nigeria to kill innocent people.
The messages should, therefore, be broadcast on radio stations across the country several times a day. What comes to mind now are the anti-HIV/AIDS messages and the ‘Tobacco Kills’ messages. The issue of herdsmen attacking communities is a big problem on our hands, and we must do everything possible towards reaching out to the perpetrators to stop their heinous crime.
We mustn’t wait until communities begin to attack herdsmen before we know how serious the situation is. The truth is that once the reprisals begin, then innocent herdsmen will also suffer for the activities of their fellow herdsmen who have been killing people.
Therefore, the NOA should take it upon itself, through the radio jingles, to sensitise the herdsmen who are in the habit of killing people to desist henceforth before the situation degenerates into reprisals.
- Oge Okechukwu,
Ogeoke77@yahoo.ca
and then