Nigeria: In Search of Justice for Pastoralist and Farmers

The geographical area often refers to as the Benue Valley roughly corresponds with the present day states of North Central Nigeria and stretches up to the north eastern region including Adamawa and Taraba states. In the north central it comprises Benue, Nassarawa, Plateau, Niger and Kogi States. The Benue valley is home to several indigenous ethnic groups such as Tiv, Idoma, Igala, Jukun, Kuteb, Birom, Angas, Eggon, Nupe and Chamba.

The search for peace and justice for these ethnic groups dates back to the pre colonial era when the Fulani ethnic groups from the far north raided the Benue Valley for slave recruitment as well as export across the Trans Sahara in what was known as the trans Saharan slave trade. The Benue valley providing pool of slaves were often recruited through force conscription and exported across the Sahara to North Africa and the Middle East.

The Fulani and Hausa aristocrats from the far northern states of Kano, Gombe, Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara viewed the Benue Valley and her indigenous groups as sources of the slavery exploited by the ruling states of the far north. This negative perception of the Benue Valley has been carried over into the colonial era and reinforced by structures such as the northern region, the Sokoto Caliphate and nomadic institutions.

The Benue Valley has always been in addition to slavery, a rich source of market outlets by the aristocratic ruling class of the north as well as source for raw materials in agricultural products ranging from spices, grains, tubers, wood, fishes etc. the Sokoto Jihad of 1803 established an Islamic caliphate (Sokoto Caliphate) led by the Fulani ethnic group. The caliphate swallowed the existing Hausa aristocratic states and precipitated the beginning of the massive systematic expansion of the Fulani ethnic groups into the Benue valley. Before the British colonialism in the 20th century, the Fulani expansionism had established emirate systems such as the Mubi emirate, Jalingo emirate. Keffi emirate and a Kanuri emirate in Lafia. It is important to note that the Adamawa emirate was not consolidated until the 1940s when the Fulani from the Adamawa province became part of modern Nigeria. As a matter of fact, it was not until after independence that the Fulani from the Mubi province voted to become part of Nigeria. This development had far reaching implications in the search for peace and justice in north eastern and north central Nigeria. We shall keep this background in view as we look at the search for peace and justice for pastoralist and farmers in the Benue valley in contemporary Nigeria.

We have already established in our introduction that the Benue Valley was a source of slave raiding by the Hausa states and much later the Fulani caliphate. Scholars such as R.A Sergeant in Oral Traditions of the Benue Valley pointed out that the Benue Valley has always been viewed as a slave recruitment centre for the far north. This has coloured the perception of the indigenous populations of the valley as sources of forced labour by the Hausa aristocrat and the Fulani oligarchy. In the colonial era, the Fulani aristocrats under the northern regional framework depended on this framework for the recruitment of labour in the Benue Valley for the construction of public works such as railways, roads, tin mines and public buildings. In the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), it was the Benue valley that provided the pool of forced conscription into the army to fight or prosecute the “One Nigeria” agenda. From the foundations of modern Nigeria, the Fulani ruling class of the north has regarded the people of the north central Nigeria and the entire northern states as free of equal partners in the political and economic development of Nigeria. The project called Nigeria has always being defined as a Fulani aristocratic domination and control of northern Nigeria. Sir Ahmadu Bello pointed out clearly that:

Nigeria is an estate of their great grant father- Uthman Dan Fodio and they will never allow minority groups control and dominate. They will always use them as willing tools in the development of Nigeria.

In the history of modern Nigeria, the Sadauna’s statement highlights the challenge for peace and justice by minority ethnic groups of northern Nigeria. This statement revealed the deep seated prejudice of the Fulani ruling class towards minorities in Nigeria. As from the 1920s, up to the 1950s in the colonial era there were unequal policies that were targeted at the minority ethnic groups to deprive them of political and economic justice.

In northern Nigeria under the colonial system, nomadic structures were established that justified the existence of a pastoral economy at the expense of the survival of farmers. There was a deliberate policy in all emirates of northern Nigeria to carve out large hectres of land for Fulani settlements and pastoral edifices which are known as “Zangon Kataf.” The idea of cattle colonies, grazing reserves or livestock development for pastoralist began as far back as the colonial era. In this period, the government of northern Nigeria invested as much as 20 million pounds on the pastoral economy to establish nomadic settlements across northern Nigeria.

The implication of these pastoral policies against the indigenous populations of northern Nigeria was obvious and subjective. The minority groups suffered massive displacement and conscriptions of farmlands to nomadic grazing in emirates like Adamawa, Zaria and Keffi etc where large parcels of land gazette as grazing routes for cattle nomads as well as grazing reservations areas. The policy of the Rural Grazing Reservation Areas (RUGA) existed as far back as the colonial era as structures of the northern regional government under the Sadauna of Sokoto. The implications of these policies were that they created a sense of an unequal development between the pastoralist and the farmers’ economy. This has continued up to the present era were thee is more focus on how to develop the pastoral economy and less attention on the development of the farming economy. There are state policies that protect and defend pastoralist or justifies nomadism, but there are hardly policies and institutions that protect farmers against the harsh exploitation and injustice of nomadic groups.

The state of peace and justice in the Benue valley is the outcome of deliberate policies of the political class in the north to keep the Benue Valley in a state of servitude and underdevelopment. The valley has being a point of isolation by the political ruling class of the north to the keep the region backward using divisive politics that has not helped ethnic groups along the lines of the state beginning from 1967 to 1976 up to the 1990s, state creation in modern Nigeria partitioned ethnic groups to substantive populations in different states. For instance, the Tiv ethnic group of north central Nigeria is virtually found across all the north central states but with little political backing to compete with other ethnic groups in such states. States creation was exacerbated by the idea of settler-stranger dichotomy; a divisive tool that has always being exploited by the political ruling class to cause ethnic and religious control of the Benue valley.

Scholars like Justine Aper, factors the existing political and economic crisis in central Nigeria as a direct outcome of underdevelopment of the region. The pastoral and the farming economy remain backward and has continued to depend on crude forces of production. In developed economies that enjoy the large scale resources, there is hardly conflict between pastoralists and farmers that may result in killings and displacement of populations as is the case in Nigeria. The crisis in Nigeria is a direct consequence of underdevelopment and it also indicts the political class for failure to develop these sectors of the economy. As long as Nigeria depends on the use of primitive crude forces of production in the pastoral and farming economy, the killings and displacement of populations as well as the contest for land will continue.

Setting an Agenda for Peace and Justice

In recent times in Nigeria, there has been an outburst of hostilities between farmers and herders that has led to the near collapse of north central Nigeria. In response to these challenges, both states and the federal government have come out with several policies to reconcile the two economic and social groups. These policies are:

üThe establishment of Rural Grazing Reservation Areas (RUGA) in 774 local government areas of Nigeria. This is to be use as settlement areas for the Fulani pastoralists. The policy has been met by a long list of criticisms some of which are:

a.It isolates farmers.

b.It creates the fear of control and domination.

c.It is unequal and unjust in terms of development.

d.It fuels the fear for the fulanization of Nigeria.

e.It does not address the fundamental problem of the agricultural economy in  Nigeria

f.It does not address the fundamental question of rural economy in Nigeria where different social and economic groups coexist.

üThe Livestock National Transformation Policy. This policy has been met with criticisms too:

a.It is a recycled version of RUGA.

b.Only targets to develop the pastoralist economy alone.

c.Does not protect rural farmers.

1. Does not develop other pastoralists except those of Fulani extraction.

ü Several state governments have enacted policies to protect their rural economies and create an equal sense for all social and economic groups particularly to protect both farmers and pastoralists. States like Benue and Taraba have taken a lead in this direction. However, there are also criticisms like:

1. It does not allow for free movement.
2. Does not provide for the establishment of ranches by the respective state governments.
3. Does not address the fundamental challenge of both pastoralists and farmers.
4. Does not address the fundamental challenge of the agricultural rural economy.

The policies we have on the table so far to reconcile pastoralists and farmers have their weaknesses and strengths. But each of the policies comes short of addressing the fundamental challenge of development in Nigeria. What then is this fundamental challenge? The posers are key:

• The politics of accumulation of development?
• What is happening to poverty?
• What is integrated development?
• What is happening to unemployment?
• What is the state of the forces of production using the agricultural sector?
• What is the politics and prejudice, hate or divisive politics?
• What is the role of civil service organizations?
• What is the role of religions (Christianity and Islam) in development?

Way Forward

Ø             The challenge of pastoralists and farmers is basically environmental and must be addressed from that angle. There is need for more economic development of the two sectors than politicized the conflict.

Ø             There is need for the mechanization of both the farming and pastoral economy by setting up industries in the two sectors in using mechanized instruments in the production processes of these economies.

Ø             There is need for cultural orientations that will enable pastoralists accommodate ranching and also farmers to set up farm settlements. The two economies can co exists in the rural areas if properly organized and structured. Cultural values are the biggest obstacle in reconciling the conflict between pastoralist and farmers.

Ø             The urgent need to invest in environmental and ecological challenges such as engineering practices in irrigation, dam, building of canals and dredging of rivers.