₦airaland Forum

Baba Othman Ngelzarma is the National Secretary, Miyetti
Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, otherwise known
as Fulani herdsmen.

https://d19lga30codh7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/herdsmen.png

In this interview, he explains the challenges confronting the
Fulani herdsmen and frowns at the negative profiling of the
Fulani people.

And whereas he admits that there are a few criminals who are
of the Fulani stock, the true situation is that Fulani herdsmen
too are victims of cattle rustlers.

I want to believe that you have seen part of the Grazing Bills
and the question is, do you think that would solve the
problem?


Firstly, before I say anything, let me use this opportunity to
condemn in totality what has taken place in Enugu, it is
extremely shocking and I want to sympathise with the
government and people of Enugu State irrespective of who has
done it. People have lost their lives. It is a sad happening and
we hope the security will do all they could to fish out the
perpetrators.

We, too, have suffered immensely in the hands of these
perpetrators because our cattle are lost in their thousands,
Fulanis are always kidnapped - hardly a day passes and you
will not hear that five or 10 Fulanis have been kidnapped for
ransom. Only that it is a silent happening and the media is not
covering it.


Fulani being kidnapped?

Yes. Every day. Find out from Kaduna State. It’s is really sad.
These are things that are perpetrated by criminals but,
surprisingly, everybody is blaming the Fulani herdsmen; so we
are now victims and culprits at the same time.


Since some of them are victims, do you think these Bills will
address the issues on the table?

Yes, definitely. The law governing the establishment of grazing
reserves is not new, it started in 1965. Later in 1978, the Land
Use Act was extended to cover it. In 1988, National Agriculture
Policy also earmarked 10percent of the total national territory
for grazing areas - that is, 9.8million hectares of land were
earmarked in 1988 for grazing reserves. That figure was later
increased to 20million hectares.


So what happened to all the land?

What we have today is less than three million hectares - the
so-called gazetted grazing areas cover only about three
million.

We have about 415 grazing areas and grazing reserves and
forest reserves because these are different things. The grazing
reserves are those that are gazetted. Out of the 415, 141 were
gazetted. And those 141 reserves gazetted cover only about
three million hectares of land.
And even that one today has been damaged by ecology,
encroachment and the rest.


If that is the case, you now have state governors who are
saying they will not give out any land. Do you think they
should just hold on to see how they could solve the clashes
first, before the Bills?

You see, these clashes came as a result of the absence of
developed grazing reserves and the protection of those
reserves. These are areas that have suffered a lot of neglect
because the pastoralists’ livelihood has been frequently
undermined by unfriendly policies and laws.
The policies of the past administrations have given more
attention to agronomy and not the livestock sub-sector. That is
what has caused this problem.

This is a consequence of the neglect of this long-term sector of
the economy.

As I told you, we have about three million hectares which have
been destroyed. They are mostly located in the northern and
the south-western parts of the country. These are all the states
of the North, as well as Oyo and Ogun states.


How did the grazing reserves work for the herdsmen in the
past?

A lot of legislations covered them because, if you go to the
states, you have the local government and forestry units
working effectively to protect the reserves but, today, I do not
think they are there again.


Some people think if there are grazing reserves, that is where
the herdsmen should be?

They were occupied to some extent but encroachment by small
farmers and big-time farmers, who acquired land to obtain
loans from banks and not for real agriculture and the
environment, over-grazing and non-maintenance of the
reserves, have rendered them useless.


Have groups like yours met northern governors to sensitise
them to the future dangers of not maintaining those reserves?
We have been meeting with them for quite some time now.
So why are they not listening?


I don’t know. As I told you earlier, it is the neglect of this
sector that is causing this problem. If past administrations had
done their work like the immediate post-colonial
administrations did, we wouldn’t be in this situation that we
have found ourselves today. May be the reserves would have
been developed to an extent that we won’t have these issues.

If you look at the Fulani man, the cattle business is his
livelihood, so you then wonder why he would be pushed to the
southern part of the country in search of grass and water
because, if grass and water were provided in the reserves in
the North, I do not think the herdsman would have the desire to
go anywhere and expose himself to danger because he always
moves with his family. He provides security for his family and
security for his business, so how do you expect , no matter
how illiterate he is, to go and ignite trouble for himself to get
killed.
I think some people somewhere are out to profile the Fulani
herdsmen as terrorists.


Who do you think those people are?

We don’t know. That is the problem. We see the media as
going against the herdsmen because most of the challenges
we face are not reported.


But if you don’t incident the cases with the police, how do we
report them?

The police know very much what is happening. Go to the Police
Command in Kaduna State and find out what is happening to
the Fulani herdsmen.

I’m sure you are aware of the thousands of cattle that are lost
daily. Who are the owners of the cattle? They are Fulani
herdsmen. We lose a lot of cattle as a result of cattle rustling
but who is doing something to protect us? It is only once the
coming of this administration that we have seen action being
taken in that area.


There must be a faint idea of those who are killing people in
the name of Fulani herdsmen?

They are criminals because we do not know them.


But they say they dress like the average Fulani men?

That cannot be ruled out. There was a case in Taraba State
two years ago. They came in the Fulani attire but, when they
were caught, it was discovered that they were not Fulani. Some
people are trying to spoil the name of the Fulani herdsmen.
That is what we have in the country today. They stereotype and
profile the Fulani herdsmen as criminals.

What do you do if you were in the shoes of the victims or the
media that, while carrying out your duty, the narrative you get
is that they were kidnapped by Fulani people and this was the
ransom they paid to them.


Are you saying people should not
say it as it is because it involves the Fulani?


Look, we must confess, we have criminals among the Fulani
just like any other communities in Nigeria where there are
criminals. You are talking about some 30million people in
Nigeria. You are also talking about 16million cattle-rearing
families in the country. So, if you go to the prison, you will see
that the Fulani are more in number. You cannot expect a tribe
that occupies just one local government to be compared to one
with a spread across the whole country.


So what is your group doing?

As a voluntary organisation, there is a limit to what we can do.
We have been reporting to the security agencies and they have
been cooperating with us.
In fact, the IGP knows everything.
Take for instance the Olu Falae issue. When it happened, a lot
of media attacks were on but we didn’t respond; we just took
the bull by the horn. We went on tour of the South-West. We
went to Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti and later we landed in
Ondo.

Finally, we visited Olu Falae himself and we discussed
extensively and that was what laid that matter to rest because
much of what happened then was propaganda. Definitely, Olu
Falae was kidnapped; he paid ransom and we discovered that
some people were involved. We admit that some people have
criminal intent but profiling a whole race because of the crimes
of a few or some is something that is not fair.

Some solutions have been proffered but a lot of people are
saying the Bills cannot work.


Some people insist that the
Fulani herdsmen have a business to run and they should
finance their business on their own without destroying other
peoples’ properties?

They are entitled to their opinion but, today, because of the
profiling, whichever community that sees a Fulani man is
apprehensive. Sometimes, youths of the community would
push the Fulani, shoot their cows and that is what ignites
problem.

We visited Benue State during the last administration
and we succeeded in bringing down tension. What we
discovered was that when they go to graze in the forest, an
area that doesn’t belong to anybody, people would come and
demand money from them before they can graze.

And even after settling, another group would come and demand for
money again and, if they refuse to pay, they shoot the cows.
When a Fulani man gets to an area, he reports to the Fulani
head in that area and then report to the traditional leadership
in the community.

This is the culture wherever they go.

Today, we have over 30million cows in Nigeria, and over
150million sheep and goats. So, if you don’t plan for these
things, there is definitely going to be a problem. We want
government to settle these people in a place because we too
are tired of all these problems.


There is this issue of AK-47?

That is one issue I would like to correct. If you see a Fulani
man handling AK-47, that is because cattle rustling has
become so much that one wonders if there is security in the
country. With the coming of this administration, we are seeing
a lot of improvement. No peace-loving Fulani man would be
carrying AK-47 and moving about.


What sort of improvements have you seen from this
administration?

This administration has helped us recover a lot of cattle. I’m
sure you’re aware of the amnesty granted to some of them in
Kano State.


How do you know your cattle?

They have marks and there are traditional ways of identifying
the cows. If there are many cows here and a Fulani man wants
to identify his own cattle from the recovered cattle, some would
sing or make some sounds and you’ll see the Fulani man’s
cow coming out in his direction. All of them have marks for
identification.
In Lagos, we have succeeded in catching about, four times,
cattle rustlers.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/05/story-fulani-herdsmen/

Nonsense. If you want to rear cattle, then get ready to bear the burden.

You don't inconvenience me by taking my land just to flourish your business. For the fault finders, Igbos that do business in North or SW pay their store/house rent so wtf are we saying here.

Americans eat cow meat yet I haven't seen cattle rearers roaming the streets with cattles.

These people should stop turning the country to a zoo.

He said its unconstitutional for Fulani herdsmen to be restricted in any part of the country,...pls Nairalanders,hemme ask d abo.ki is it constitutionally right for this fvctards to carry ak47 about,all in d name of cow theft,worst still raze down communities.


If dis cow boys carry guns because dy dnt trust d security,then these communities ve right to pursue u out of their vicinity,cos ure a damm threat to them.

50-50.



Kaaai,when these Fulani ijots go attack my hometown na,make boys butcher them like desert flies


okene boys,taaaru

Khd95:
He said its unconstitutional for Fulani herdsmen to be restricted in any part of the country,...pls Nairalanders,hemme ask d abo.ki is it constitutionally right for this fvctards to carry ak47 about,all in d name of cow theft,worst still raze down communities.


If dis cow boys carry guns because dy dnt trust d security,then these communities ve right to pursue u out of their vicinity,cos ure a damm threat to them.

50-50.

Kaaai,when these Fulani ijots go attack my hometown na,make boys butcher them like desert flies

okene boys,taaaru

How your brains have been so caked in hatred that you can't understand simple statements is an issue for medical research.

Can't you for once understand that there are criminals among the herdsmen but these are a tiny minority, just as you have ritualists and assassins among your population?

Who told you ALL Fulani herdsmen walk around with guns? Did you not read that ANY armed Fulani herdsman you see with an AK47 is definitely a cattle rustler (thief)? Ordinary Fulani herdsmen are hardworking agriculturists that have been and still provide the beef and other livestock that all Nigerians consume daily, not terrorists and you can never deny this fact no matter your level of hatred or madness.

Everybody is against the criminal terrorist herdsmen because they are cold blooded murderers, but painting the entire Fulani herdsmen or the entire Fulani people as criminals is absolutely senseless and irrational.

But then... You're most likely IPOB so the hatred and frustration of Buhari's presidency cannot let you have sense.

fulanmafia:
How your brains have been so caked in hatred that you can't understand simple statements is an issue for medical research.

Can't you for once understand that there are criminals among the herdsmen but these are a tiny minority, just as you have ritualists and assassins among your population?

Who told you ALL Fulani herdsmen walk around with guns? Did you not read that ANY armed Fulani herdsman you see is definitely a cattle rustler (thief)? Ordinary Fulani herdsmen are hardworking agriculturists that have been and still provide the beef and other livestock that all Nigerians consume daily, not terrorists and you can never deny this fact no matter your level of hatred or madness.

Everybody is against the criminal terrorist herdsmen because they are cold blooded murderers, but painting the entire Fulani herdsmen or the entire Fulani people as criminals is absolutely senseless and irrational.

But then... You're most likely IPOB so the hatred and frustration of Buhari's presidency cannot let you have sense.

bruh,how am i sure i wont be butchered by a Fulani man,,just like how pple term muslims terrorists,foolanis are deadly,frm the womb,i ve heard stories of them,had personal encounter with them,back in the my hometown,so dont me crap.

Truthfuly not all Fulani herdsmen are doin dis dastardly acts,but how do u identify the culprits,its simple..just keep them at bay

Wher hv u bn exangel007,
U run leav leav us for NL ni?

DonBobes:
Wher hv u bn exangel007, U run leav leav us for NL ni?

just have too rest my head for some time