We also condemn the insensitive approach of the President Buhari/Osinbajo APC government. Incapable of confronting the development squarely with a view to stopping the violence and arresting the perpetrators on both sides, the government has adopted a despicable approach which tries to justify violence thereby giving further credence to the ethno-religious slant the crises has taken. The recent deployment of the army only came about after strident criticism of the insensitive and tone-deaf comments credited to top officials. However this is no solution. If the antecedents of the army is anything to go by, their role may further worsen the situation as they may commit all manner of human right abuses which will further inflame passion on both sides.

In the meantime, ethnic bigots of all shades and hues have seized on the conflict to further fan the embers of ethnic and religious discord. Taking advantage of the fumbling, incoherence and even incompetence of the Buhari government in dealing with the conflict, elements like the leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), former aviation Minister Fani Kayode – a Yoruba ethnic and religious bigot - and Ekiti State governor Ayodele Fayose have dug in. Their equals on the opposite side are equally not leaving anything to chance. From both camps, the same incendiary narrative of imaginary Hausa/Fulani domination, harking back to the conquest of Othman Dan Fodio in the 1800s, is concocted and deposited into the minds of people desperately seeking explanations for the on-going bloodletting.

In particular, the continuation of cattle herding despite all of the advantages of ranching shows the short-sighted and backward character of the neo-colonial capitalist elite some of whom possess large herds of cattle. Interestingly, some of these big time billionaire livestock owners are not even Fulani. Some are from other ethnic groups like Yoruba and many among them are serving Senators, governors and big-time politicians. They only hire Fulani herdsmen to help rear the cattle for them. Their primary consideration for sustaining this ancient practice is not culture, rather it is profit.

As the Nigerian Working Group on Peace Building and Governance bluntly puts it, "Cattle rearing is historically an efficient way to produce livestock at relatively low prices through the use of non-commercial feeding stock" (Memo of the Nigerian Working Group on Peace Building and Governance, 8 January 2018). Ranching for this billionaire livestock owners would mean a huge capital outlay and longer tenure to recoup their expenses compared to paying the herdsmen a pittance and free fodder for their cattle even if it is someone's farm produce. So they prefer to sustain the ancient method and would do everything including setting up armed militias to create anarchy and resist modernization.

Further details:
https://www.naijiant.com/guestcolumn/socialist-solution-fulani-herdsmen-v-farmers-crisis/