Fulani herdsmen working with internal collaborators, says Don

Success Damian:

Prof. Anthony Kola-Olusanya, a Professor of Environmental Sustainability, Osun State University, Osogbo, has  stated that the Fulani herdsmen attacking communities in Nigeria cannot succeed without internal collaborators.

Olusanya made the disclosure as a Guest Speaker at a Public Lecture titled "Climate Change and Environmental Conflict in Nigeria: Implications on National Security" organized by Centre for Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development (CESSED) and held at Aderemi Makanjuola Lecture Theatre, Lagos State University, Ojo.

He said there are many towns that are noted for banditry even in Yoruba land, and those acts of banditry are being perpetrated by indigenes. He wondered why all the banditry being perpetrated in Nigeria is now being regarded as originating from the Fulani herdsmen.

“Why is it that all of a sudden all those indigenes have become Fulanis, it takes somebody within to allow the enemy without to come in. So if Fulani herdsmen are running over us, then there are some Yoruba collaborators, there are some Jokun collaborators, there are some Efik collaborators, there are some Igbo collaborators.”

Olusanya then proposed panacea for the raging imbroglio when he said “The way-out from the conflict between farmers and herdsmen, if you want to solve a problem, you engage the people, talk to the people. Who are the people in this case now? It is the herders and the farmers, not tribal leaders par say.”

He said the search for solution should be facilitated by tribal leaders or eminent personalities so that a solution can be found. “It is not that kind of solution that you have to craft together in Abuja, in the Senate or House of Rep or in the Federal Executive Chamber of Aso Rock, no. It is a solution that would come out of a conversation, serious conversation with the people on the ground and that is how you can evolve a solution. In this case you cannot impose, that is why I use the word evolve. It means solution would come out of the conversation you have with this group, so that we can nip every other problem in the bud.”

Speaking on issue of RUGA and why people rejected it, he said “I hear people say RUGA means something in Hausa, something in Fufulde, RUGA is just rural grazing area, “If the federal government is saying we are creating a rural grazing area, it is simply saying we are creating ranches. I think the real issue is the suspicion that all of suddenly created among ourselves.”

He attributed the hullaballoo over RUGA to what he called the handiwork of politicians. “What generated problem is not ruga, what generated problem is the politicians who want to destabilize the country, because they are not eating from the pot now, I said eating because when a certain group were in power in this country, they didn’t see some of these issues as problem, now they are out of governance, I am speaking as a detached individual and as a concerned person in the country and as a stakeholder too, it is beyond farmers and herders’ conflict.”

According to Olusanya, politicians constantly set the people against the government to create fear in the mind of the people so that the people would continuously hate the government in power.

He stated that the aims of the lecture, amongst others, include to determining what constitutes environmental conflict; how climate change affects natural resources availability.

Quoting Ban Ki-Moon, the former United Nation Scribe he added that Climate change is "simply the greatest collective challenge we face as a human family".

He stated that Climate change is one of the challenges of African nations especially and at the heart of climate change is conflict relationship which is the issue of natural resource scarcity and competition.

Speaking further he disclosed that an understanding of the induced climate change resource-based conflict is the best captured in the herders/pastoralist-farmer conflict.

"Wars are often over resources, the destruction of the environment would lead to environmental crisis and wars will be fought."

Climate change is a key development issue as well as being one of the most challenging problems facing the 21st century.

“As climate change unfolds the world is likely to become a dangerous place as global temperatures rise and one of its effects is a heightened risk of violent conflict. It's impact is harder on the poorest and most vulnerable members of the public.”