Are postoralists the new face of Boko Haram?

There has been so much emotionalism developing around the subject of the recent clashes between nomadic pastoralists and farmers, and the seeming emergence of the former as the new Boko Haram, forbidding not Western education this time, but the right of other Nigerians to live in peace and dignity, and to have control over their own geographical territory. From Benue, to the Plateau, Nasarawa, to the South West, the Delta, and the Eastern parts of the country, there have been very disturbing reports of nomadic pastoralists killing at will, raping women, and sacking communities, and escaping with their impunity, unchecked, as the security agencies either look the other way or prove incapable of enforcing the law.  The outrage South of the Sahel is understandable. It is argued, rightly or wrongly, that the nomadic pastoralist has been overtaken by a certain sense of unbridled arrogance arising from that notorious na-my-brother-dey-power mentality and the assumption that “the Fulani cattle” must drink water, by all means, from the Atlantic Ocean.

It is this emotional ethnicization of the crisis that should serve as a wake-up call for the authorities, and compel the relevant agencies to treat this as a national emergency deserving of pro-active measures and responses. It is not enough to issue a non-committal press statement or make righteous noises and assume that the problem will resolve itself. Farmer-pastoralist conflict poses a threat to national security. It is linked to a number of complex factors, including power, history, citizenship rights and access to land. Femi Fani-Kayode in a recent piece has warned about Nigeria being “on the road to Kigali”, thus referring to the genocide that hobbled Rwanda in the 90s as the Hutus and the Tutsis drew the sword against each other. Fani-Kayode needs not travel all the way to Rwanda. Ethnic hate has done so much damage in Nigeria already; all we need is to learn from history and avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

Ethnic hate, serving as sub-text to the January 1966 and July 1966 coups, for example, set the stage for the civil war of 1967 -70. The root of Igbo-Hausa/Fulani acrimony can be traced back to that season when Igbos were slaughtered in the North, the Hausa/Fulani were slaughtered in the East and Nigeria found itself in the grip of a “To Thy Tents, O Israel” chorus. Ethnic hate also led to the Tiv riots, crisis in the Middle Belt since then, and the perpetual pitching of one ethnic group against the other in Nigeria’s underdeveloped politics. We should be careful.

We need to remind ourselves that the current friction between the pastoralists and their farming host communities is one of such potential factors that can further tear the nation apart. Nigeria cannot afford a second civil war or mass-scale genocide. Today, every other Nigerian is afraid either of the Boko Haram or the nomadic pastoralist.  It is not likely that the populations south of the Sahel will continue to stand idly by and allow herdsmen to trample upon their lands, destroy their crops, kill, maim and rape and then get away with it. A resort to self-help such as occurred in 1966 could have serious national security implications. With the economy in crisis, with anger in the land, and the people feeling disappointed, we cannot afford any evil trigger to deepen the nation’s woes. So, the state cannot afford to be aloof or indifferent.

Nomadic pastoralism is at the heart of the Fulani cultural lifestyle, and that is why there has been so much labeling of the Fulani in the emerging narrative, whereas the violent herdsmen certainly do not represent Fulani interest. For centuries, the Fulani, living across West Africa, have herded cattle from one part to the other, across borders. In Nigeria, the migration is seasonal or cyclical: as the dry season begins in the North, the herdsmen travel with their livestock down south in search of pasture and water, and to avoid seasonal diseases. After about six months, with the onset of the rainy season and farming in the South, they travel back to the North. Along the route, they sometimes settle down, develop a relationship with the farming communities and function as transhumance pastoralists, in fact, many herders used to pay homage to the local hosts, but over time, the politics of power, identity, and access to land as well as differences in culture, lifestyle and religion began to cause friction. It is an old problem that has gotten worse as the sedentary farmers whose land is violated by the nomads complain and the local power elite who are soon displaced by the settling nomad fight back in protest, thus creating a relationship fuelled by fear and mutual suspicion.

The new phenomenon of the nomadic pastoralist now behaving as a conquering group of invaders, ready to inflict terror, and not ready to ask for permission for land use, is where the big problem lies.  The bigger problem perhaps is the refusal of the nomadic pastoralist to give up an old tradition that....read more here


Source: The Guardian.

Herdsmen, Boko Haram endanger Nigeria, say Soyinka, Ohanaeze

Nigeria is heading towards the precipice if insecurity, reflected in the activities of Boko Haram and herdsmen, is not caged, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko, South East senators and some major groups in the country warned yesterday.

The groups included Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Enugu State chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN).

However, Arewa Consultative Forum and a Fulani group urged caution on the part of critics of the herders’ actions, the latter saying that about 16,000 cattlemen have been killed in conflicts with farmers and others.

The apex Igbo socio-cultural Organisation condemned the attack on some communities in Enugu State by suspected herdsmen and urged the Federal Government to urgently address the problem to avoid a situation where ethnic militias will emerge to ensure safety in their environments.
The organization also dismissed the proposed Grazing Bill as anti-federalism and unconstitutional.

The President-General Ohaneze Ndigbo, Dr. Gary Nnachi Enwo- Igariwey, noted in Abuja that the incessant attack on communities by heavily armed herdsmen all over Nigeria threatened national unity and peaceful co-existence as they can destablise the country by a synchronised action if they so decide.

He stressed: “Why is it that the herdsmen are so heavily armed, who is arming them and where are they from? It is time to have proper identification of herdsmen so that they can be tracked. The security challenge is enormous, how do we now know when it is herdsmen and when it is not Boko Haram spillovers from their dislodged bases because the style of attack in some of these communities is the same style of attack by Boko Haram? They sack villages and withdraw. The Federal Government should pay attention to these actions. Government should investigate and find out those behind these killings and bring them to book.”

But the Arewa leaders have asked Nigerians to resist attributing ethnic and religious connotations to the various crises.

They unanimously condemned the attack by some herdsmen on the Ukpabi Nimbo Community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, as “most unfortunate and barbaric.”

They ACF, in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim, said “criminals hiding under whatever guise and committing heinous crimes against innocent people and the state should be treated as such and in accordance with the law.”

ACF called on Nigerians “to be more patient and show understanding with one another, especially now that President Buhari is determined and committed to the war on insurgency and corruption”.
According to the Nobel laureate, the Federal Government’s quest to diversify the economy through culture and tourism is endangered by insecurity.

The literary giant spoke yesterday in Abuja at the National Summit on Culture and Tourism in his capacity as the chairman of the first plenary session with a presentation entitled, ‘‘The killing culture of the neo-nomadic.’’

Soyinka, represented by the Director, Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU), Osogbo, Osun State, Dr. Wale Adeniran, located insecurity as “principal enemy” of the quest.

He noted that “culture is closely intertwined with tourism – the former, in fact, often drives the latter,” stressing that “the destination uppermost in the minds of most tourists we know is  – Culture.” Soyinka insisted that both share friends and – enemies.

He went on: ...read more here

Same sex marriage legalized in Colombia

Colombia became the fourth South American country to allow same-sex marriage when the constitutional court definitively legalized it on Thursday.

The Catholic country follows Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay in formally recognizing the rights of same-sex couples to marry.

“The judges affirmed by a majority that marriage between people of the same sex does not violate constitutional order,” presiding Judge Maria Victoria Calle told the court.

“The current definition of the institution of marriage in civil law applies to them in the same way as it does for couples of different sexes.”

Although previous rulings allowed gay couples to formalize their unions before notaries and judges, same-sex marriage had remained a legal gray area and appeals had been launched against it.

Many officials had refused to register such marriages since congress had failed to pass legislation enshrining equal marriage rights in law, prompting protests from gay rights campaigners.

On April 7, the constitutional court dismissed a petition against equal marriage rights for heterosexual and homosexual couples.

That paved the way for Thursday’s ruling, which definitively establishes that the constitution guarantees such equality, giving gay couples the legal right to marry.

The decision is set to be recorded as an irrevocable constitutional ruling within a month, making it legally valid.

Six of the court’s nine judges approved the ruling that “all people are free to choose independently to start a family in keeping with their sexual orientation… receiving equal treatment under the constitution and the law.”

State judges, notaries and clerks “must ensure that citizens’ fundamental rights are observed and that they are all granted equal treatment,” the court ruled.

– Honeymoon at last –
Some 70 unions previously registered only as civil partnerships will now be automatically converted into full marriages under the new ruling, the judge who presented the motion, Alberto Rojas, told reporters.

Same-sex marriage supporters applauded the decision.

“Today we can say with certainty that the Colombian courts have approved equal marriage rights,” Marcela Sanchez, leader of the campaign group Colombia Diversa, told AFP.

“We are very happy because Colombia has taken a step toward diversity,” said Adriana Gonzalez, who had campaigned for the right to marry her female partner.

“These have been difficult years of uncertainty and frustration, but at last we are going to have the honeymoon we have longed for.”

The constitutional court had already ruled last year that same-sex couples may adopt children even when neither member is the biological parent.

Argentina became the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage in July 2010 with a vote in parliament.

Lawmakers in Uruguay followed in 2013.

Brazil authorized same-sex marriage under a court ruling the same year.

In Mexico, gay marriage is legal in the capital and a handful of states. The Supreme Court there has also offered its de facto backing by declaring it unconstitutional for Mexican states to ban same-sex marriage.

Same-sex marriages are also legal in various other countries including Britain, Canada, South Africa and the United States.

Australia’s attorney-general said last month that the government would hold a plebiscite on legalizing same-sex marriage this year if re-elected.