The Politics of Ban on Open Grazing

Eddy odivwri

Last Tuesday, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, made good the threat of the 17 Southern governors to formally ban and outlaw Open Grazing in any and all of the 17 southern states in the country. This he did by signing into law the Bill that prohibits Open Grazing in Ondo State. At that, the governor who is often hailed as Alakurinhas become the first state, down south, to outlaw the controversial ancient practice of Open Grazing.

Last May, the 17 Southern governors had gathered in Asaba, the Delta State capital and reviewed the security situation in the country and resolved among other things to collectively ban Open Grazing in their states. The epochal resolve has since become known and referred to as the Asaba Declaration.

The governors were upbeat in their declaration. Many stakeholders hailed them and commended their courage in rising up to the occasion. Between May and the September 1 deadline, the governors were expected to go back to their various states and work on the legislation that should be debated and passed by their various State Assemblies.

But it does appear that not many of the southern governors paid so much attention to the resolution after the euphoria of the Asaba Declaration died down. Were it not so, more than Ondo State would have announced the outlawing of the Open Grazing practice in (if not all) then in many states of Southern Nigeria.

It is not certain why the other governors are suddenly lethargic about it. Not even Lagos State which hosts the official secretariat of the Southern governors has passed the law.

Few weeks after the Asaba declaration, President Muhammadu Buhari had granted an interview toArise Newstelevision condemning the resolution of the southern governors, as it concerns the said ban on Open Grazing. President Buhari had argued that there is an ancient gazette that provided for grazing routes in Nigeria and thus it was somewhat irresponsible of the governors to outlaw what had always been backed up by law.

Across board, the governors and many other stakeholders condemned the position of Mr President in trying to re-invent a colonial gazette in a 21stcentury Nigeria. He was further faulted for the backwardness of his thoughts, pointing out that whereas many developed and even developing countries are ranching cows with modern technology; our president was trying to search out a pre-colonial gazette that provided for open grazing.

Perhaps it wouldn’t have attracted much fuss if the said open grazing had remained peaceful and innocuous as it had been many years ago. But no! Open grazing in the last ten years or so had become as problematic as a plague can be, especially in the last five years.

Suddenly, Fulani herdsmen had become a terror machine, troubling and threatening the entire Southern states, nay the entire country.

It was not for nothing that the Asaba Declaration resonated with such a loud national echo. For countless times, Fulani herdsmen had transmuted into terror machines, harassing, intimidating and indeed endangering the lives of innocent citizens. If they do not rape the women either in the farms or in their homes, they will kidnap them and their husbands and children for ransom and on many other occasions, they have outrightly killed people. It got so bad that farmers were so scared of going to their farms as the herders were always lying in wait in the forests for the farmers. In Uwheru community in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, for instance, farmers had been so deeply terrorized that they had begun contributing money and sending to the herders so they would be allowed to get to their own farms. This practice was already taking root in many communities, including even Niger State, so that the herders would spare the natives when they go their farms. It got really so bizarre and frustrating as the security agencies seemed either helpless or chose to look the other way as communities yelled and moaned in oppressive agony.

Ondo State it was, that also led the pack when it ordered that Fulani herdsmen in the forests should move out, as it attempted to open a register of herders in the state. Surprisingly, it was faulted by the presidency when the spokesman of the President, Garba Shehu , quoting sections of the constitution to argue about the freedom of every Nigerian to choose to stay in any part of the country. But Ondo State government was clear. Fulani herdsmen who wish to graze in the state should file out of the forests, be known and registered and then do their business, as the criminal elements among the herders were hiding under the cover of the forests to perpetrate crime and despicable evil.

It was against this background of collective angst against the Fulani herdsmen that the Asaba Declaration was made and that explains the loud applause it received across the length and breath of the country.

Indeed, the menace of the herders who have translated into banditry, kidnappers, armed robbers, cattle rustlers among many other crimes have become a national menace, not just a problem for only southern states. Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El Rufai had asked that the forests be bombed and anybody found thereof should be killed. His Kano State counterpart, Ibrahim Ganduje, had long farmed out a large expanse of land in the state for cattle ranching. Jigawa State had recently done so too.

This week, Katsina State, the home state of President Buhari has outlawed interstate cattle grazing and movement. Katsina State had come under heavy attacks of the bandits and Fulani herdsmen leading to several cases of mass kidnappings, even of school children.

So, in the light of the foregoing, many Nigerians are wondering why the Southern governors have not picked up the gauntlet in legalizing the ban on Open Grazing.

Some have argued that some of the state governors are deferring to the “body language” of President Buhari which seemed to have frowned at the move to ban Open grazing.

So, what are the governors afraid of? Would they rather defer to Mr President and imperil the lives of the people who elected them into office? What can Mr President do them? Ain’t they the heads of sub-nationals? It is even more curious that none of the PDP governors in the South, including the garrulous Gov Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has passed or signed such a Law. The Gov Akeredolu who has signed the Law is an APC governor. What is worse, many of the 17 state governors are rounding off their second terms in office like Mr President himself. So what is the fear about? Apart from Bayelsa and Imo States, all other governors are well into their second and final terms in office as governors. In fact, the governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano, is practically on his way out, as a new governor will be elected in less than three months from now.

Is it therefore correct to say the governors who have not signed the law banning Open Grazing are seeking to avoid incurring the ire of Mr President? Would they rather be in the good books of the presidency at the expense of the lives, welfare, security and peace of their own people, who actually voted them into power? Nigerians are watching!

Canticles…

Eddy odivwri

Who is Running the South Eastern States, Governors or IPOB?

Did you hear that those our brothers have spoken again?

Our brothers? Who are our brothers?

You don’t know the Nnamdi Kanu disciples?

Nnamdi Kanu disciples? Which people are so called?

Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem? You don’t know of the ubiquitous members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)?

Ohhhh, Of course I know of IPOB, those trouble maker boys.

Hmmm, be careful in your language. They are everywhere. Don’t let harm befall you.

So what did they say again? I thought they have been outlawed.

Outlawed? Hmmmm, what does it matter to be outlawed? Did Abubakar Malami outlaw Boko Haram? In any case, whether they are outlawed or not, is inconsequential. What is crucial is that they are a separatist group. They have and command a large following. They believe that some day, sooner or later, their wish will be granted or enforced. In fact , the non IPOB members in the South Eastern States, defer to them. Or have you not been observing how they (IPOB) has been controlling the states, dictating when they should go to work and when they should not? Don’t you see that whenever IPOB issues a Sit-at-home order, the people obey peremptorily?

You have come again with your grammar. Which one is perem… perem…what?

Come on, don’t make a joke out of this serious matter. Look, as I speak to you, IPOB has once again ordered that, on September 13, every body in Igbo land should sit at home. Do you know the social and economic implication of these sit-at-home orders?

But I thought the sit-at-home order, every Monday, has been suspended by IPOB. Beside, the various state governments in the South East have been saying the IPOB orders should be ignored and that people should go about their normal businesses. So what’s the fear you are generating?

Me? Am I the one generating the fear? I am merely telling you what is ahead . Be open minded and be circumspect about the propaganda of government and its people. Ask yourself whether the advice by the state governments that people should ignore the sit-at-home orders is being obeyed. Who are the people obeying—IPOB or Governors? Did you not hear that whenever the IPOB gives the order even banks, schools, filling stations, markets, private shops and even transport operators suspend action and stay away from the streets? Have you not seen how stripped and bare the streets are whenever the order is given? Even in Nsukka, Enugu, Awka, Onitsha, Abakaliki, Aba etc., there is huge compliance.

Even when the Ebonyi governor, Dave Umahi, threatened to sack workers who stayed away from work and seize shops that did not open on such days , as ordered by IPOB, the people had chosen to dare the governor and obey IPOB . My brother, it is not a joke o.

But Nnamdi Kanu their leader is in detention. How come he is able to have such a strong hold on the people? Is it not said that when you strike the Shepherd, the flock will scatter?

Ahhh, not in all cases. These flocks have refused to scatter. In fact, the incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu has further bonded the people to the ideology of Biafra. Many of them argue that he that is down needs fear no fall. That they are already down in the Nigerian state and so they do not really care what happens next. That is why they are becoming more and more fanatical about the Nnamdi Kanu/Biafran phenomena.

But you and I know that the idea of a Biafran republic is dead on arrival. It won’t work and it will never work. Nigeria is better off as one indivisible country.

On such matters my brother, Never say never! There is no where in history where self-determination groups and agitations got what they wanted on a platter of gold. But over time, they are able to achieve their aim, long after the process had begun. Do you think it was easy for Ethiopia to let Eritrea break away? Or you think the split of Sudan or even the old Russian federation was a tea party?

Are you implying that Biafra is feasible and we should get ready for a Biafran federation?

I didn’t say so. All I am saying is that never say never on such matters.

But don’t you know that many of the people complying with the IPOB order are doing so not because they believe in the argument and demand for Biafra Republic, but because they know that the Biafran agitators are violent and could visit harm on anybody they find on the streets, especially as the Nigeria Police and other security agencies are themselves scared and not on ground to protect the people in the real sense of the word?

Well, I won’t dispute that. But what I would add is that the many Igbo elite do not want Biafra, not because they think the idea is silly , but because it would affect their own economic interest. Once beaten, twice shy. The cold from a second rain catches feverishly. They do not want to remember the pangs of the Nigerian civil war and the measly twenty pounds aggregation of all they had before the war.

We can live together as one. The terms of habitation can be looked into and reviewed from time to time. That is why we have representative democracy. All issues are discussable. There are no-go-areas in the search for peaceful co-existence.

Absolutely! Let’s sheathe the swords and let’s jaw-jaw.