The president must face the reality of the danger the killer herdsmen portend to the existence of Nigeria, and the fact that it provides ready ammunition for militants and activists in the South, who are also waging a low intensity warfare against the state. One can hope the president would see the need to restructure his national security team if they are proving incapable of properly advising him on how to resolve these recurrent crises…
The Boko Haram insurgency, and many perceived wrongs under President Goodluck Jonathan paved way for a former dictator, Muhammadu Buhari, to be elected as the fourth democratic president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the Fourth Republic.
President Buhari campaigned on the basis of three objectives: the anti-corruption war, security and the economy. While he has made attempts through the EFCC to fight corruption, the other two objectives have remained problematic for his government. The economy is widely regarded as not his forte, and he was celebrated as someone who was going to deal with insecurity decisively, owing to his experience as a former military officer. That appears not the case, one year after his administration.
People often talk about the steady progress of the military against the Boko Haram terrorists as a sign that President Buhari is succeeding on the level of security, but it does not make up for the rising hostility of the herdsmen who are on a killing spree across the country. Also, the renewed militancy/insurgency in the Niger Delta creeks, which is bent on grounding Nigeria’s crude oil production; the widespread kidnapping for ransom across the federation; and the intermittent clashes between a South-East based separatist group, the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), and the security services, which have resulted in the death of many, thereby creating a security problem in the East. There was equally the military confrontation between the Shiites sect, an Islamist religious group, and the army in Kaduna state, which has remained an existential threat.
Of particular concern to the nation is the threat of the killer herdsmen to the corporate existence of Nigeria and the lack of a comprehensive approach by the Buhari’s government to resolve the situation. These cattle rearers have invaded farming communities across the country, especially in the North-Central, South-West and the South-Eastern states, hacking men, women and children to death, looting and destroying these communities, with survivors left to a life time of penury and mental illness, as observed in Nimbo and Agatu communities in Enugu and Benue States respectively.
The herdsmen, largely of the Fulani ethnic stock, crisscross the West and northern parts of Central African countries, with their cattle, in search of greener pastures, while not acknowledging borders in doing so. In short, they behave like stateless peoples of the world and do not see the difference between Sudan, Niger, Chad or Nigeria, and consider all routes they pass through as fair game for their enterprise. Still, any attempt to intercept or question their trespass is met with vicious resistance and murder. In their trade of herding, they move around with AK-47, which they often claim to only be for use against cattle rustlers, but which they have now trained against the hapless communities who dare challenge them for encouraging their cattle to feast on farmlands.
President Buhari does not appear to understand that the country has evolved, and that Nigeria and Nigerians of the First Republic are no longer the same entity and people of the Fourth Republic that have regarded each other with mutual, if not fatal, suspicion since the end of the civil war. The reasoning behind the president’s proposal negates the call for a law and order approach to the crisis…
Why is President Buhari, a Life Patron of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, incapable of stopping the menace of these killer herdsmen? Many citizens and state governments have expressed outrage at the Federal Government for not acting to curtail the attacks, which have now become recurring murderous invasions. The attacks have prompted some governors to form vigilante groups, arming them to defend vulnerable farming communities, but still the situation is worsening.
Part of President Buhari’s lethargic response to the problem can be found in his answer to journalists during the UK hosted Anti-Corruption Summit in May, 2016.
The, he had opined that the herdsmen, during the First Republic, moved around with the seasons and did not stay in one place and averred that there were cattle routes and grazing areas which were officially gazzeted for the purpose. The former military leader concluded by referring Nigerians to the study he did on the cattle routes and grazing areas as a former Petroleum Task Force (PTF) Chairman, charging the Governors Forum and the minister of agriculture to look at the report and come up with present solutions. Nigerians also found out that the Federal Government earmarked the sum N940 million for grazing reserves in the 2016 budget.
The above response came on the heels of the herdsmen’s attacks that had maimed hundreds of citizens across the country and saw to the substantial destruction of properties, to which the president had initially kept silent about, until public outcry forced him to respond. By proffering the above solution, the president kicked the can down the road, which may have emboldened the herdsmen to go about their businesses with renewed deaths and destruction. That proposal has led to many representatives and governors of the South and North-Central states totally rejecting the president’s call for the marking out of national grazing routes.
President Buhari does not appear to understand that the country has evolved, and that Nigeria and Nigerians of the First Republic are no longer the same entity and people of the Fourth Republic that have regarded each other with mutual, if not fatal, suspicion since the end of the civil war. The reasoning behind the president’s proposal negates the call for a law and order approach to the crisis, and the proposition by many influential citizens and governors that the business of herding be structured as a proper corporate one would, and not one that visits death and destruction on vulnerable communities.
Let it be placed on record that President Buhari, a former major general and head of state, one who campaigned on the very area of his strength, is failing in this task of ensuring the stability of internal and national security. That the president often ignores or refuses to acknowledge these attacks and the carnage on communities is even more worrisome.
If president Buhari’s lethargy and inaction exacerbates the crisis, what about those he has entrusted with the internal, national and state security? It is very important to note that the president appointed two retired military officers to handle these roles. One, a former chief of army staff who was given the task of internal security as a minister of the interior, and the other a former brigade of guards commander who is the president’s security adviser, and also double as the coordinator of national security. The state security role was given to a former Department of State Service official, who was recalled from retirement.
These officials have not been seen in public trying to reassure the country on the steps to curb these attacks but have remained silent like their boss, leading to conclusions in many quarters that Buhari and his security chiefs are either partisan or indifference, knowing they are all from the same region, and the president from the same ethnic fulani group of the violators. All we have reading are reports of in-fighting amongst these security chiefs and attempts to upstage each other roles within the estate of state and national security. It also calls into question the capacity, professionalism and patriotism of these officials, who cannot provide the president with wise counsel on a realistic resolution of these crises other than the president’s solution of returning to grazing routes.
Let it be placed on record that President Buhari, a former major general and head of state, one who campaigned on the very area of his strength, is failing in this task of ensuring the stability of internal and national security. That the president often ignores or refuses to acknowledge these attacks and the carnage on communities is even more worrisome.
The president must face the reality of the danger the killer herdsmen portend to the existence of Nigeria, and the fact that it provides ready ammunition for militants and activists in the South, who are also waging a low intensity warfare against the state. One can hope the president would see the need to restructure his national security team if they are proving incapable of properly advising him on how to resolve these recurrent crises, or he should come to the full realisation that he has to take another view towards the resolution of the problem, and not through the national grazing routes proposal which has the potential to tear the country apart in an explosive manner.
Nnamdi Anekwe-Chive writes from Lagos.
