The Vice President of the Fulani (Fulbe) Development Association of Nigeria (FULDAN), who doubles as the chairman of the association in Kebbi State, Mohammad Bala Dan-Alli, in this interview by AYODELE AJOGE, speaks, among other things, on the laws banning open grazing in southern Nigeria.
Southern governors have enacted laws criminalising open grazing in their states but the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore said its members would not abide by such laws, which they threatened to challenge in local and international courts. Is this the kind of reaction you expected from that group?
The anti-open grazing law did not start with the Southern governors; it was started by the Benue State government about three years ago and we all know how hot the agitation was. Unfortunately, the situation has taken a dangerous dimension for the government and people of the state. It is not as if the law is bad because the open grazing system is bad in the real sense of it. But the issues have to go through a process and there must be a lot of preparations. Nigeria is going through a lot of difficulties right now and with this kind of laws will certainly add to the country’s problems. Definitely, such laws will not favour some people because you cannot tell people who are always on the move not to move again. You cannot tell them to remain in one place without making adequate provision for amenities like grazing lands, water, schools, etc. The decision of the governors to go ahead with such laws without ample consideration for the welfare of cattle rearers is the reason the laws met with lots of challenges and stiff opposition. And the action of the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore was not right. He (Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore leader) is not a resident of any part of southern states and any state in the country has the right to enact any law that is considered suitable for its people and their livelihood. In my own view, he is to offer advice to them (the southern governors). Definitely, there is no way these laws will be favourable to cattle rearers.
But some states have plans for the settlement of these herdsmen. Lagos State, for example, said it would allocate 5,000 hectares of grazing lands for them at Ikorodu and Epe where they can be settled and be accountable. But the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore leader said such an amount of lands was too small to be acceptable. What do you make of this?
This is one of the problems with not carrying people along. If you make such provisions, you have to know the number of people that would be affected. You need to have statistics on the population of the people that will occupy such lands and the population of their livestock. If you say 5,000 hectares of land, professionals need to determine the maximum grazing area per cow and per day. With this, you can know the number of cows and the exact amount of land that can accommodate them. My understanding here is that they have taken that step blindly and the person who has responded has responded blindly. It is not only Fulanis living in the South that are grazing their cattle in the South; there are also Fulanis from the North and the Niger Republic who move to the South during the rainy season to look for green pastures. This is not a problem of individual states; it is a problem that needs to take a national approach because there are Fulanis everywhere in this country. This is an approach that requires the collaboration of the federal, state and local governments. The three tiers of government need to sit down and solve this problem. The old grazing routes have been overtaken by urbanisation. There are houses built everywhere. This is why you see movement of cattle along major roads, causing accidents and other disturbances. It is very important to settle these people in one place where they can be fully engaged in their profession and have schools where their children can obtain education.
It is believed that Nigerian elites of Fulani extraction have ranches in their various villages or farms where their cattle are well kept, bred, fed and taken care of, as against nomads moving around the country. What is your view on this?
Everybody agrees that the modern system of rearing cattle is better but the question is: who will prepare these ranches and equip them for the purpose? For example, a few years ago, the Federal Government came up with the idea of creating ranches (ruga) across the country but it was these Southern governors that kicked against it, saying their lands would not be given out for ranching and this idea died. You see the problem? Therefore, when you come out with a policy, it is just natural that some people would agree and others would not. We just have to understand the type of country we are living in. These Fulani cattle rearers need to be properly educated on modern methods of rearing cattle. You can’t just wake up one day and say they should not move without having made adequate arrangement for their settlement. It is just like saying an Igbo man should not sell spare parts or do his other trades, or telling a Yoruba man not to come to the North and operate as a mechanic, panel beater or a businessman. How would it look like? I am not saying ranching is not good; it is even better for our security. What I am advocating is that let there be understanding, let there be education of these herders and let there be adequate arrangements for their wellbeing.
Many Nigerians believe that foreign Fulanis are the ones fomenting trouble but the indigenous Fulanis know them but will not fish them out for the authorities to prosecute. What is your take on this?
If you look at this issue critically, you will discover that these security breaches have to do with syndicates. The perpetrators are not necessarily foreign Fulanis alone; those supplying arms to bandits have been identified to be people of the different tribes in Nigeria. Hundreds of millions of naira is being taken to the bushes as ransom. Tell me, who are their collaborators? Have we not discovered that they are Bureau de Change owners, security personnel and all that? A lot of things have come into the open but those (the authorities) concerned are keeping quiet. Come to think of it again, millions of naira is being taken to the bush, who are those taking the money to them? People supply them with petrol to move their motorcycles around the bushes. People repair their vehicles. Who are those doing these things for them if not indigenous Nigerians? Or do you think there are mechanics among these bandits? Not likely. Therefore, the indigenous people are more complicit than foreign Fulanis.
The military is now taking the fight to bandits, bombarding them in their hideouts. How do you make of this development?
The importance of this development is that it is the way forward, but why now? Why not before now? These soldiers are meant to protect this country. Common bandits are allowed to stay too long and spread their wings all over the country. If they cannot tame bandits, how would they defend Nigeria if there is a foreign aggression? We are celebrating their victory over the bandits, something they ought to have done long ago. Banditry has been going on for more than ten years, why was it not nipped in the bud? Why couldn’t they stop them? Why now that the bandits have already sent thousands of Nigerians to early graves, destroyed livelihoods, shut down communications system and caused closure of markets? People cannot go to the market; nobody has access to telecommunications to assess the situation, only they can do that and tell us what they think they should tell us. They are inflicting pain on the citizens. Anyway, the development is okay, the people are happy but the question remains: why now?