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The Oracle Today Wednesday February 21, 2018
BOLD n BLUNT
A
ll herdsmen are farmers (animal farmers) but not all farmers are herdsmen. Crop farmers consider livestock farmers worthy allies in the whole process of making food available. The waste from livestock provides a veritable source of manure for crops. It is one of the best kinds of organic fertilisers. So good is it that crop farmers even pay for it. Similarly, livestock farmers depend on the waste from crop farmers for the feeding of their livestock. They buy grass and unused crops, after harvest, from crop farmers to feed their livestock. At times, crop farmers even reach an agreement with their livestock counterparts for the animals to move through their farms during years of fallow to allow the land to rest and be re-energised. The movement of the herds through the land, during those periods enables the herds eat up the remnants of crops and grass in the land and directly defecate on the land, thereby giving the land the desired manure and making it richer and better prepared for greater yields when the crop farmers resume the cultivation of the land. Such was the symbiotic relationship that existed between the crop farmers and herdsmen, whether local or foreign. This relationship ensured bumper harvests for the crop and livestock farmers in those days and made food available for all at very cheap prices. Everybody benefited. There had always been herder/farmer clashes that drew no blood As expected, just as it happens in all other existing relationships of mankind, there is bound to be clashes between these sets of farmers. Every once in a while, some herds (cows, sheep, even local goats) would stray into lands with ripe or unripe but unharvested crops and eat them up without the authority of the farm owners. Every once in a while too, farm owners would rise in anger and harm some herds that make such unauthorised foray into their lands. But, the beautiful thing those days was that the world of farmers had traditional ways of peacefully resolving those conflicts among them. They knew they needed each other, so they guarded their relationship jealously. No conflict was too big to be settled peacefully. No blood was ever shed or even contemplated to be shed as a means of resolving any crisis. The Fulani herdsmen and their lifestyle were particularly intriguing and fascinating. Apart from the Igbo, the herdsmen were the most travelled of the other tribes. That’s why the herdsmen and the host communities in those days were natural allies. Whereas the host communities dwelt in cities or rural areas, the Fulani herdsmen dwelt in bushes; indeed they were the bush masters. So skilful were they in the management of their forest life that they earned the admiration of the host communities in Nigeria. They were simple, not greedy, in love with their cows, strong and untiring, not violent (in fact largely unarmed with only staves and knifes for domestic use), What happened to the friendly herders that had myths woven around them? As children, we were always captivated by the many myths woven around these people, myths that made us rush outside to watch them with admiration in Nsukka land, the land of my nativity. We were told that they lived in bushes, that they understood the languages of animals while the animals also understood the herdsmen’s language, that snakes and other animals in the forest dared not attack them because they had the juju that enabled them to morph into any animal species and live peaceably with all animals; that when they were hungry and had run out of food in the forest, they would morph into cows and eat grass before morphing back to human beings. To convince us about the veracity of this myth, we would watch to our chagrin how a boy of five would be commanding cows with only a staff and the cows would be obeying him while whenever we got close to the cows, they would send us running away with a mere roar. We will voluntarily offer them water to refresh themselves. We thought then that they owned the cows and marvelled at how rich they were yet how loving and caring they were to the cows that made
Truth about constant blood on trails of ‘Fulani herdsmen’
KENNETH OKONKWO (ANDY) posits that the herdsmen that unleash terror on farming communities across Nigeria aren’t necessarily ‘Fulani’, but hardened terrorists and criminal elements who have infiltrated the herders and are using them as a cover to continue Boko Haram’s mission of terrorism, conquest and expropriation of regional and or national resources. The solution, he says, lies in the government dealing decisively with these anarchist tendencies. house was crashed by patriotic US citizens inside the plane who got information that the plane was heading towards the White House to destroy it. President George Bush called them terrorists. He refused to attach any ethnic and religious colouration to their action. This is in spite of the fact that they belonged to one religion and were predominantly from one ethnic group. This strategy helped him to isolate the terrorists and enlist the support of the Arabs and Moslems in America and abroad to the fight against terrorism. Those terrorists were part of AL Qaeda based in Afghanistan, which had no government that controlled the whole country. In other words, terrorists operate better and freer in places where there is anarchy or a friendly dictatorship.
• Kenneth Okonkwo them even sleep with them in the bush. The Igbo were so thrilled by this lifestyle that they composed Igbo poems in admiration. Let me state one poem. “Anyi na aga ebe Anyi na aga, Anyi wee nepu anya n’iro, Anyi wee hu ka efi na aga, Anyi wee tie okokoko!!!, efi awusa nine ebuka, efi Igbo nine epeka”. Translated in English, it reads, “We are passing by and just looked around and saw cows passing and we screamed okokoko!!! Hausa cows are so huge and admirable, while Igbo cows are so small”. Anybody that understands the Igbo knows that they don’t like to play second fiddle in most things. But when it comes to the issue
of nomadic cattle rearing, they concede to the Fulanis. Such was the beauty of the relationship those days. Indeed, Fulani herdsmen were regarded as the most peaceful partners to their host communities, their only red line being the protection of their cows. The question, then, is, what has gone wrong today? Need to properly identify these anarchists On September 9, 2001, a group of 16 young men hijacked 4 US planes and in daring terrorist attacks brought down the twin world trade centres, damaged the Pentagon and attempted attacking the White House. The plane that was heading to attack the white
Anybody that understands the Igbo knows that they don’t like to play second fiddle in most things. But when it comes to the issue of nomadic cattle rearing, they concede to the Fulanis. Such was the beauty of the relationship those days. Indeed, Fulani herdsmen were regarded as the most peaceful partners to their host communities, their only red line being the protection of their cows.
Just who is a terrorist? The dictionary defines him as a person who terrorizes or frightens others. It defines terror as violence or threat of violence used for intimidation or coercion. From this definition, we can see that the whole idea of terrorism is the quest for power and resources using intimidation and coercion. That is why they invade cities, communities, kill, maim, destroy mercilessly so that victims, out of fear, would surrender their power and resources to them. In order to achieve this, they need to first instigate anarchy. These terrorists use falsehood and the media to cause confusion and mutual suspicion among prior established peaceful relationships in order to cause infighting among the groups and foment anarchy, which enables them to move in to take over power and the resources of both parties. This modern version of terrorism became known and popularized in Nigeria around 2009, when a group emerged and proclaimed that Western education is an abomination. They were nicknamed Boko Haram in line with their ideology. Initially, they unleashed unprecedented violence on their fellow Moslems who subscribed to Western education. They were roundly defeated with their leader killed because Nigeria rose up with one voice and attacked them. This was possible because they were given a name in line with their ideology devoid of any ethnicity or religion. When the terrorists saw that they had failed to instigate anarchy and were roundly defeated, they headed into the forest and took over the forest highways with their capital in Sambisa. The forest welcomed a new host and with their superior firearms and training, it was easy for them to overthrow the original bush masters, the Fulani Herdsmen. They became the new bush masters and their first victims were the Fulani herdsmen and their herds. That was why they manifested first and foremost as cattle rustlers. They killed the herdsmen and stole their cattle to feed their fighters in the forest and sell the rest to enable them raise money to buy weapons. From their forest hideouts, they started planning on how to instigate anarchy so they could take over territories. They tried interreligious conflict, where they started killing Christians in churches and their homes. With this, they attracted the sympathy of some un-
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