Danger signs: Giving thought to proscribing untraceable nomads

The misadventure of herdsmen across the Country has become a worrisome phenomenon, causing endless agony whose heavy consequences are spreading across the entire Federation. The shovelling of their misadventure on farms and their settlements is one of the character of the troublesome radars of their misconducts which has been recorded to be bearing huge blow on the Country. The menace of their conducts which for years have lingered without appropriate intervention has led to the point where their flagrant misdemeanor has begun to raise concerns most recently. While there are a number of inhumane misadventures which have been connected to their idiosyncratic disposition in their nomadic voyage, the destruction of farmlands and the attacks on farmers are two corresponding troubles whose effects on the entire Country bear resonance on both economic, social and political architectures. The negative walls of defects which these have borne on the Country remains a subject of frustration to productive groups and citizens in the Country.

The continuity of the misadventure, left unchecked, has recently begun to raise concerns and threats of ethnic war. Such rancour merely compound potently the evocation of an already disastrous fire, capable of burning down the workings of societal fabrics in the Country. The economic losses accruing from the attacks on farm settlements and farmers across the Country have had  wobbling effects with negative impacts on the economy. This has occasioned records of lamentable human and economic losses with unsavoury narratives. Acute hunger in the face of gross economic recession has worsened living conditions amidst troubling inflation of food prices in the Country. The scarcity of food amidst erosion of purchasing power in recent times, holds its nexus to the dislodging of farmers and destruction of farms across farming settlements in the Country. The threats which have left many farmers displaced, is pushing the Country to the edge of unfavourable living condition; the escalation of which constitute portent threats against peace and order in the society.

On Tuesday, it was aired that a multi-million naira maize farm belonging to members of the Maize Growers Processing Marketer Association of Nigeria (MAGPAMAN) in Ekiti state, was destroyed by suspected Fulani herdsmen. The farm spanning about 235 hectares of land is at the State forest reserve in Aduloju farm stead located along Ado-Ijan road in Ado local government area of the State. Narrating the ordeal, the State Secretary of the Association, Mr Tope Emmanuel, speaking to journalists in Ado-Ekiti, the State Capital, said the herders had been terrorising the farmers in the last one week leading to the destruction of the maize farm. The farmer who narrated that the nomads stormed the farm at night with dangerous weapons to feed their cows said, “all efforts to stop them have been rebuffed.” According to him, members obtained about N6.6 million loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the anchor borrowers’ programme in September 2020 to plant the maize.

Stating that the 160 members had been left with nothing to cultivate from the expected proceed worth N10 million, he said: “Last year, we approached the CBN as a group to obtain loan worth N6.6 million for the maize farm and we planted the maize covering 235 hectares of land of the farm. But unfortunately when we were preparing for cultivation, the herdsmen came and destroyed everything in the farm with nothing for us again. Those herders always go there during the night with dangerous weapons in the last few days and nobody can challenge them because of the arms they are holding. We can’t go to the farm now. Don’t forget that government always say we should go to farm and we approached bank for loan hoping to pay back after cultivation but nothing to cultivate now as these herders have destroyed everything in the farm. We are begging the State government to save us as members are really in difficult situation now in view of the loan and you can predict what might follow if nothing is done.”

The threats that the menace poses to  harmonious existence and cohabitation in the Federation are simply too dangerous to ignore. The trend, if left unchecked, may degenerate, spark calamitous manifestations in the Country and leave all parties involved broken and in despair. The recent face off experienced in some South-west States is a pointer to the looming crisis, should the phenomenon be left unaddressed. It is time the Federal Government put the interest of the nation first, while jettisoning every iota of sentiments. The inproactivity of the Government and silence posturing have seemingly made it be perceived by the aggrieved masses as showing preference for a group whose conduct border on outright terrorism of industrious citizens in their own land.

Taking decisive actions , is a key move the Government needs to consider with utmost alacrity. It is imperative that a forceful campaign be launched for strategic operation towards identifying and prosecuting criminal elements among nomads in the Country. It is essential for the Government to embark on an identification campaign under which only licensed nomads can be allowed to operate in the Country. This is important to track down criminality as well as bring up a system where every unlicensed nomad is treated as a potential threat to be apprehended and prosecuted appropriately. It is important that the Federal Government take the defects of the Nigerian porous borders  which have been permitting easy access of foreigners into the Country, seriously. It is essential to tighten up security architectures at every entry point through land and water to forestall the influx of foreigners whose identity remain untraceable as nationals of the Country, and therefore posing threats to the bona fide citizens of the Country. It is high time all unregistered group without proper identity be proscribed in the Country. This is paramount to prevent a catastrophic trouble that the Federation risks falling into, should the prevailing situation be left to degenerate to the elastic point of explosion.