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Kenneth Okonkwo
All herdsmen are farmers (animal farmers) but not all farmers are herdsmen. The crop farmers consider the livestock farmers a worthy ally in the whole process of making food.
The waste from the livestock provides a veritable source of manure for the crops. It is one of the best set of organic fertilisers. So good is it that crop farmers even pay for it. The livestock farmers depend on the waste from the crop farmers for the feeding of their livestock. They buy grasses and unused crops, after harvest, from the crop farmers to feed their livestock. At times, the crop farmers even reach an agreement with the livestock farmers to allow them move through their farms during years of fallowing the land to allow the land to rest and be re-energised. The movement of the herds through the land, during those periods enables the herds eat up the remnants of crops and grasses on the land while giving the lifestock opportunity to directly defecate on the land, thereby giving the land the desired manure and making the land richer and better prepared for greater yields when the crop farmers resume the cultivation of the land. Such was the symbiotic relationship that existed between the crop farmers and the herdsmen, whether local or foreign. This relationship ensured bumper harvests for the crop and livestock farmers those days and made food available for all at very cheap rates. Everybody benefited.
As expected, just as it happens in all other existing relationships of mankind, there are bound to be clashes between these sets of farmers. Some herds (cows, sheep, even local goats) stray into lands with ripe or unripe but unharvested crops and eat them up without the authority of the farm owners. Some farm owners can harm some herds, which make such unauthorised foray into their lands. But the beautiful thing those days was that the world of farmers had traditional ways of peacefully resolving those conflicts. They knew they needed each other, so they guarded their relationship jealously. No conflict was too big to be settled peacefully. No blood was ever lost or even contemplated to be lost as a method of resolving any crisis.
The Fulani herdsmen and their lifestyle were particularly intriguing and fascinating. Apart from the Igbo, Fulani herdsmen were the most travelled of the other tribes. That’s why the Fulani herdsmen and the host communities in those days were natural allies. Whereas the host communities dwelt in cities or rural areas, the Fulani herdsmen dwelt in the bush; indeed they were the bush masters. So skillful were they in the management of their forest life that they earned the admiration of host communities in Nigeria. They were simple, not greedy, in love with their cows, strong and untiring, not violent (in fact largely unarmed with only staves and knifes for domestic use).
As children, there were a lot of myths they told us about them that made us rush outside to watch them with admiration in Nsukkaland, the land of my nativity. We were told that they lived inthe bush. That they understood the language of animals and the animals understood them. That snakes and other animals in the forest do not attack them because they had the juju that enabled them morph into any animal and live peaceably with all animals. That when they were hungry and had run out of food in the forest they would morph into cows and eat grass before they morphed back to human beings. To convince us on this myth, we would watch to our chagrin a little boy of five commanding cows with only a staff and the cows would obey him, while we ran away at the mere sound of the ciows.
We voluntarily offered them water to refresh themselves. We thought then that they owned the cows and marvelled at how rich they were yet how loving and caring they were to the cows that made them even sleep with them in the bush.
The Igbos were so thrilled with this lifestyle that they composed Igbo poems to show their admiration. Let me recite one poem. “Anyi na aga ebe Anyi na aga, Anyi wee nepu anya n’iro, Anyi wee hu ka efi na aga, Anyi wee tie okokoko!!! Efi awusa, nine ebuka, efi Igbo, nine epeka.” Translated in English, it reads, “We are passing by and just looked around and saw cows passing and we screamed okokoko!!! Hausa cows are so huge and admirable, while Igbo cows are so small.” Anybody that understands the Igbos know that they don’t accept being second in most things. But when it comes to the issue of nomadic cattle rearing, they concede to the Fulanis. Such was the beauty of the relationship those days. The Fulani herdsmen were regarded as the most peaceful partners to their host communities, their only red line being the protection of their cows. The question is, what has gone wrong today?
Sometime ago, on September 9, 2001, a group of 16 young men hijacked four US planes and in daring terrorist attacks brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Centre, damaged the Pentagon and attempted attacking the White House. The plane that was heading to attack the White House was crashed by the patriotic US citizens inside the plane who got information that the plane was heading towards the White House to destroy it. President George Bush called them terrorists. He refused to attach any ethnic and religious colouration to their action. That was in spite of the fact that they belonged to one religion and were predominantly from one ethnic group. That strategy helped him to isolate the terrorists and enlist the support of the Arabs and Muslims in America and abroad to the fight against terrorism. That was the birth of modern-day terrorism. Those terrorists were part of Al-Qaeda based in Afghanistan, which had no government that controlled the whole country. In other words terrorists operate better and freer in places where there is anarchy or friendly dictatorship.
Who is a terrorist? The dictionary defines him as a person who terrorises or frightens others. It defines terror as violence or threat of violence used for intimidation or coercion. From this definition, we can see that the whole idea of terrorism is the quest for power and resources using the method of intimidation and coercion. That is why they invade cities, communities, kill, maim, destroy mercilessly so that the victims, out of fear, would surrender their power and resources to them. In order to achieve this, they need to first instigate anarchy. These terrorists use falsehood and the media to cause confusion and mutual suspicion among prior established peaceful relationships in order to cause in-fighting among the groups and foment anarchy, which enables them to move in to take over power and the resources of both parties.
This modern version of terrorism became known and popularised in Nigeria around 2009, when a group emerged and proclaimed that western education was an abomination. They were nicknamed Boko Haram, in line with their ideology. Initially, they unleashed unprecedented violence on their fellow Muslims who subscribed to western education. They were roundly defeated with their leader killed because Nigeria rose up with one voice and attacked them. This was possible because they were given a name in line with their ideology, devoid of any ethnicity or religion.
When the terrorists saw that they failed to instigate anarchy and were roundly defeated, they headed into the forest and took over the forest highways with their capital in Sambisa. The forest welcomed a new host and, with their superior firearms and training, it was easy for them to overthrow the original bush masters, the Fulani herdsmen. They became the new bush masters and their first victims were the Fulani herdsmen and their herds. That was why they manifested first and foremost as cattle rustlers. They killed the herdsmen and stole their cattle to feed their fighters in the forest and sell the rest to enable them raise money to buy weapons.
From their forest hideouts, they started planning how to instigate anarchy so they could take over territories. They tried inter-religious conflict, where they started killing Christians in churches and their homes. With this, they attracted the sympathy of some unwary religious fundamentalists who started assisting them to use them to settle religious sentiments. But Christians were prevailed upon not to retaliate. They were reminded that the terrorists started killing Muslims first and that it was a ploy by the terrorists to destabilise the nation. The terrorists failed. They tried North and South divide, where they started attacking southerners in the North. They bombed southerners, particularly Igbos, in Sabon Gari, Kano, and other places. With that, they attracted the sympathy of some unwary ethnic jingoists who started assisting them to use them to settle ethnic scores. Again, the southerners were prevailed on not to react. They failed again in achieving anarchy but were getting stronger.
With their gradual increase in strength, they became a beautiful bride to some ruthless, rudderless politicians, who assisted them with funds, just to use them to cause anarchy in the country so that the ruling party in power would be painted in bad light, which provided them with the tool to blackmail the government in power and convince the people to vote them out.
With this flow of resources to them from different channels for different purposes, they became emboldened to start occupying territories, launching suicide attacks throughout the whole of the North, including Abuja and its environs, with its epicentre in the North East. They started forming cells in the southern part of Nigeria, including Lagos and Enugu. They were well-trained in guerilla warfare and the forest became their natural abode. Before the government then in power understood what was going on, it was quite late. The crises formed part of the reasons why it was voted out
The regime of President Muhammadu Buhari came in with a promise to wipe them out. The regime dislodged the terrorists even in Sambisa. Having been dislodged, the terrorists took over the forest highways and started restrategising. They met with the Fulani herdsmen in the bushes and dislodged them. They became the new bushmasters. As they moved towards the South, through the forest highways, they changed in character and strategy to achieve their objectives of terrorism. They identified traditional trouble hot spots in the country and moved towards such places to operate. Such places like Plateau, Southern Kaduna and Benue became easy targets as there had been traditional mutual suspicion among the communities and their Fulani neighbours.
In such cities, they manifested as saviours to the herdsmen against the purported onslaught of the communities. They start the manipulation of the parties by rustling the cattle of the herdsmen and convincing the herdsmen that it was the handiwork of the host communities and they were willing to help. The unsuspecting herdsmen would in turn provide intelligence for them and even encourage their young children to assist them in the process. They used the ploy to indoctrinate the younger herdsmen and co-opt them into their terrorist gang. When they had perfected their plans, they would unleash coordinated, unprovoked, guerilla warfare-style attacks on the host communities, raping and killing women and children, slaughtering the men, stealing everything they can steal. The host communities would wake up to their consternation to see the level of destruction on their communities. Of course, their first suspects would be the Fulani herdsmen. Unknown to them, it was the work of the terrorists. They would avenge by killing the innocent, defenceless herdsmen and their cows, thereby confirming to the herdsmen that they needed the services of the terrorists for protection. The cycle of violence would thus continue until there is complete breakdown of law and order, while the terrorists continued with their evil agenda.
When they reach the more elitist states in the south, they simply mix up with the traditional criminal elements, militants and cultists and launch kidnapping and armed robbery operations to loot the resources of the people. They provide the criminals with sophisticated weapons. Both of them use the forest highways. That is why, whether you call them badoo cult in Lagos or kidnappers and armed robbers in the South East or South South states of Nigeria, the forest has become their meeting point.
To buttress this point, the Plateau State Commissioner of Police, Undie Adie, “paraded two suspected herdsmen for allegedly killing a seven-year-old, Muhammad Ibrahim, and stealing 15 cows and 14 sheep entrusted in his custody by his uncle, Ibrahim Haruna, at Agigi village in Bassa Local Government Area of the state… Adie said the suspects have made confessional statements on how they connived with some herdsmen to rustle the cows, sheep and kill the boy. The suspects are Bala and Salish while some of the suspects are still at large” (Please See Page 5, Daily Sun, Thursday, February 1, 2018).
•To be continued
• Dr. Kenneth Okonkwo is a legal practitioner and foremost Nollywood actor.
