By Eddy Odivwri

Sometime in early January 2019, the presidency, I think, sent some top government officials to meet with the Editors of various Newspaper houses in Lagos. There were two ministers: Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation) and Chris Ngige (Labour and Productivity); a serving governor, Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna); and a few other officials.

The meeting was to explain what they described as the “misconceptions” in the public domain. Predictably, the issue of security was one of the major concerns that engaged the meeting that night.

Like many others at the meeting, I was shocked when Gov El-Rufai, in his explanations, declared that the typical Fulani man values his cattle much more than human being. The Fulani cattle rearer, according to him, has nothing else in the world but his cows, and so will defend the welfare and life of the cows with all he’s got, even if it means laying down his own life for the safety and preservation of the cows.

But beyond El-Rufai’s prognosis, I sense some feeling of pride and undue arrogance, predicated on the altar of entitlement, on the part of the Miyetti Allah, who seems to be flaunting the fact that the President is a Fulani man. Thus, they seem to be saying, albeit quietly, that “if the president be for us, who can be against us?” Were it not so, even the association of cattle rearers itself (now upgraded to Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria– MACBAN ) which was little known until the advent of President Muhammadu Buhari, suddenly became a frontline association in Nigeria seizing the headlines most of the time, albeit for the wrong and heinous reasons.

Government concedes so much and too much to the association, which I am not sure even pays tax. I recall that, perhaps in a bid to please his boss, the former Agriculture Minister, Audu Ogbeh, was contemplating importing certain type of ‘special grass’ that can quickly grow the local cows.

There is profound evidence of bias on the part of the presidency in favour of Miyetti Allah and its members. Were it not so, by now, not only would so many members of the Cattle rearers have been arrested, prosecuted and jailed, the association itself would have long been proscribed with a steely seal. We have not forgotten the irredeemable havoc they wreaked in Benue State. The picture of those 73 coffins lined up for mass burial in Benue, January 2018, still rankles me, Nobody was arrested. Nobody was prosecuted. Nobody was jailed. Not even a rebuke. We simply carried on as if nothing happened.

There is hardly any part of the country which has not suffered deadly attacks in the hands of the so-called Fulani herdsmen. It is either they are engaging in banditry in the North west or kidnapping and killing in the south.

But it is gratifying that last Monday, when the Southwest governors met with the leaders of the Miyetti Allah, along with two governors from the north— Mohammed Abubakar (Jigawa) and Abubakar bagudu (Kebbi), the MACBAN was not only declared as a peaceful organisation, both sides agreed to flush out the criminal elements in MACBAN as well as the criminals hiding under the auspices of MACBAN to be committing havoc. And great has the havoc been. Many lives have been lost. Huge sums have been collected as ransom to secure the freedom of those kidnapped by these criminals masquerading as herdsmen.

Indeed, many southern communities have lived with Fulani herdsmen over the years without any clash. In Warri, the Hausa quarter, right in the middle of the city, near Igbudu market, has remained a standing settlement of the Hausa/Fulani men and women, without any tension.

Their (herdsmen) trademark were just the long slim sticks they held, to control their herds and sometimes catapults. Not anymore. These days, herders have AK 47 and other lethal weapons sometimes tied to the back of one of their cows. With these, they have raped, and ripped many lives apart.

The south west “summit” on cows and their owners became an imperative following the expiration of the deadline given by the Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akerodolu to Fulani herdsmen to quit the Ondo forests.

He had asked them to be registered and be known if they wanted to continue to graze their cattle in Ondo State.

But the presidency, too soon, intervened harping on the constitutional provisions that allows any Nigerian to live anywhere within the country to do his/her legitimate business.

The presidency failed to understand that the legitimacy of the business to be done is important. The kidnappers have seen the business of abduction as great business as they harvest millions of Naira every week from their victims who do not want to be killed. Yes, it is business, But how legitimate is it?

Can non-Muslims, in exercise of their constitution-guaranteed freedom, begin to trade openly in alcohol in a state like Zamfara, for instance?

So why would Miyetti Allah refuse to adhere to local guidelines issued by state governments, especially as such guidelines are aimed at securing and protecting human lives?

So, if a governor elected to secure and provide for his people sees that his people are being threatened and killed on a daily basis by certain people, wont such a governor need to take action? That was what prompted Gov Akeredolu to issue the quit order to those who would not come out of the government reserved forests and get registered by government.

It is the failure of some governors (especially in Oyo) to rise to the defense of his people that produced the Yoruba activist called Sunday Igboho, who had led some youths to chase out Fulani men in some parts of Oyo State. That had sent disturbing signals as it was bound to trigger negative and worrisome reprisals from other parts of the country. Thankfully and hopefully, the summit has quenched that ire.

Seye Makinde, the Oyo State governor had denounced the Igboho strategy, stressing that we cannot tackle criminality with another criminality. Perhaps as a measure of the fire he ignited, his (Sunday Igboho’s) house was set ablaze in Ibadan on Tuesday morning. He claimed that he lost properties worth N50 million.

Beyond the understanding reached at the “South west cattle summit”, the Miyetti Allah members must realize that Nigeria does not belong to any particular ethnic group. Nigeria is healthier and stronger when we stay united and tolerant of our various differences, be it cultural or religious. Miyetti Allah must respect the values and lores of their host communities. Any attempt to flex muscle with natives of the land will always lead to tension and trouble. Provocative utterances like the “Fulani owns every land in Nigeria”,, credited to the President of Miyetti Allah, Bello Abdullahi Bodejo, are just what they are: incendiary provocations. We must eschew such utterances to foster unity and peace.

Originally published at Thisday