The Yoruba have a wise saying: B’eti o ba gbo yinkin; inu kii baje (Nobody gets angry for no reason). Yoruba elders have multiple reasons to be angry at the abduction of Chief Olu Falae from his farm by suspected Fulani herdsmen, and the subsequent pillage of the same farm, also by suspected Fulani herdsmen, shortly after his release by the abductors. In a sane country and healthy economy, there would have been no kidnapping for ransom; and if there were, Falae would have been too big a fish in any kidnappers’ hook, for being a foremost Yoruba leader and a veteran statesman and politician — a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation; a former Finance Minister; a former presidential candidate; and the founder and National Leader of the Social Democratic Party.
It was despicable enough to have kidnapped Falae for having previously objected to the pillaging of his corn farm by Fulani herdsmen, who turned the farm to a grazing field for their cattle; it was callous to have done so on his 77th birthday. The action went beyond the destruction of his crops and the violation of his human rights to the violation of a cardinal code of conduct in Yoruba culture: You shall not insult an elder, let alone physically drag his name through the mud.
At moments like this, one is reminded of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s prophetic invocation of a similar injunction in Igbo culture in his response to Dr. Chuba Okadigbo’s description of his (Azikiwe’s) electoral complaints as the ranting of an ant. Said Azikiwe to Okadigbo: “… if it is not the tradition of our people that elders are roundly insulted by young men of the world, as you have unjustly done to me, may your reign come to an abrupt and shattering close … may the crown fall off your head and your political head fall off your shoulders.” It is very tempting to adapt Azikiwe’s curse on Falae’s abductors and their possible sponsors.
But then, we must pause to isolate the issues involved in Falae’s abduction. One is the menacing problem of using other people’s farmlands as grazing field for cattle by Fulani nomads, which is a serious economic problem but with serious security implications. Periodic conflicts between sedentary farmers, who own their land and farms, and nomadic Fulani, who allow their cattle to graze on the farmers’ crops, have been reported across the country. Equally reported, especially in the South, are cases of Fulani herdsmen raping women in the villages and hiding behind their cattle to rob travellers on the highways. I once abandoned a trip midway, when my driver had to make a sudden U-turn upon encountering an ongoing robbery on the highway. The robbers’ hats, bows, and arrows as well as the appearance of cattle by the robbery site led to the suspicion that the robbers were Fulani herdsmen.
Another problem is kidnapping, which is a serious security issue but with economic implications. Here again, we must recognise two types of kidnapping. One is carried out as a terrorist activity, associated with the Boko Haram insurgency, and it involves largely women. The most celebrated case in this category is the abduction of nearly 300 Chibok schoolgirls, who have been in captivity for over a year.
The other type of abduction is kidnapping for ransom, which predated Boko Haram’s abductions. This type of kidnapping has its origins in the Niger Delta, being used originally by the militants to draw attention to the ecological disaster in their region, due to oil exploration, and to press their demand for a greater share of the oil wealth. Today, kidnapping for ransom has become a major commercial activity. Over 100 kidnap cases have reportedly occurred within the past six months, involving over N1bn in ransom demands. While kidnapping by Boko Haram terrorists occurs largely in the North, kidnapping for ransom is very prevalent in the South.
True, both grazing and kidnapping problems were involved in Falae’s case, it is still unclear to what extent both are linked. Previous altercations between him and his workers, on the one hand, and Fulani herdsmen, on the other hand, over the destruction of his crops by the latter’s cattle heightened the suspicion that his abductors were Fulani herdsmen, especially when the abduction took place on the same farm, and when the herdsmen reappeared after his release, reportedly threatening his workers on the farm.
It remains unclear, however, whether the abductors, who conversed with Falae in “good English”, were the same Fulani herdsmen whose cattle plundered his crops. The reported arrest of some of the abductors by the police may provide necessary clues on the linkage. Assuming that his abductors were truly Fulani herdsmen, care must be taken to examine their backgrounds as not all Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria are Nigerians. The influx of Fulani herdsmen from other West African countries into Nigeria’s large land space has increased in recent years, being aided by the ECOWAS treaty which guarantees free movement of people and animals across international borders of West African states.
It is against the above backgrounds that solutions must be sought to kidnapping for ransom and the problems associated with cattle grazing on other people’s farms. As indicated earlier, kidnapping has become a billion naira commercial activity, raising the question as to whether it is not an organised crime. The arrest of some of the abductors in three different states and the controversy surrounding the payment of ransom for Falae’s release could only heighten this suspicion. The police, which claimed no ransom was paid, would tell us two weeks later that part of the ransom had been discovered, thanks to Falae who confirmed that ransom was indeed paid.
For the remainder of this essay, I will focus on possible solutions to the grazing problems, beginning with the communique issued at the end of a recent meeting of Yoruba elders in Ibadan, which contains two recommendations. One calls for the end of the lawless nomadic cattle grazing in Yorubaland, while the other implores those who want to engage in cattle business to establish ranches to avoid encroachment on other people’s farms. That was what Chief Obafemi Awolowo did in the old Western Region, when he introduced a breed of cows locally known in my neighbourhood as erinla.
There are constitutional and ECOWAS treaty restrictions against the enforcement of the first recommendation. No individual or group can unilaterally restrict the movement of another without violating the law. Besides, threats of self-help and what the papers reported as secession are no more than expressions of anger at the ugly treatment meted out to Falae and the plundering of Yoruba farmlands by the nomads’ cattle.
This leaves us with the second recommendation, namely the development of ranches as a solution to nomadic activities and its attendant problems. Femi Falana (SAN) has drawn our attention to an even more elaborate version of this recommendation in the 2014 National Conference report, which states that “… an integrated development and livelihoods modernisation programme should be designed and implemented to address the issue of settling nomadic herdsmen into settled communities based on established cattle ranches with fodder development technologies, and including abattoirs, processors and other businesses along the livestock value chain” (The Nation, October 12, 2015). The National Assembly could use this recommendation as the basis for a bill on cattle grazing.
The National Conference further recommends that states with large livestock populations should “endeavour to maintain grazing reserves”. The development and monitoring of ranches and grazing reserves by appropriate state governments may well provide a means of isolating foreign nomadic cattle rearers, who are suspected to be the ones plundering the people’s private farmlands and causing havoc on the highways.
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