Herder-farmers conflict: Embracing the Ganduje, Abounu solution
On
By Oludayo Tade
FIELDING questions from journalists in Katsina, recently, the Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, said his administration has been able to stem the tide of banditry by establishing a ranching culture in the state. He said: “We are building a RUGA settlement in Samsosua forest, our border with Katsina, and we have succeeded in curtailing the effect of banditry in that area. So, we are building many houses, constructing a dam, establishing a cattle artificial insemination centre. We are establishing a veterinary clinic and already, we have started building houses for herdsmen.”
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As affected victims speak on their experience
By Adeola Badru
The current Chairman of Iganna Local Government Development Council in Oyo State, Mr Olayiwola Adeleke, has recalled his ill experience as one of the victims of Fulani kidnappers in the axis of Ibarapa, as he was made to sleep on the floor for six days and six nights before a ransom of sum of N5.5m was paid for his freedom.
He made this known while speaking with Vanguard in Iganna, saying that was his first time of speaking to journalists about his experience as he was abducted on his way to Ibadan to attend an important meeting with Governor Seyi Makinde by the Fulani kidnappers.
Again, the herders-farmers crisis in the country is on the front burner. The recent disturbance of public peace in Oyo and Ondo states in the Southwest geo-political zone with reports of arson and alleged killings are indications that the present administration, like its predecessors, has not found solutions to the age-long problem yet. The reactions that have trailed the development also proved that the government still has a lot of work to do if it hopes to permanently put the problem behind Nigerians.
Nonetheless, cattle rearing is a long-standing practice in the country. The herders practiced open grazing at the outset and co-existed peacefully with farmers, as there were adequate grazing fields for herders and land for farmers. To cement that cohabitation, the Federal Government established grazing routes and reserves to protect grazing lands from crop farming and provide easier access for pastoralists to grazing land through the enactment of the Grazing Reserve Act of 1964. H