Civil rights activist and former senator representing Kaduna central, Senator Shehu Sani, says the panacea to the crisis incessant violent clashes between farmers and herders in the South-West is the establishment of grazing reserves and agro-allied industries in the North.
Sani, who spoke on Arise Television, said it is practically impossible for herders to grace their cattle without clashing with farmers.
He warned that the recent meeting between South-West state governors and Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria would only douse the tension but not completely solve the problem.
South-West state governors had last Monday met with the national leadership of Miyetti Allah after some herders were given an eviction notice in Ondo and Oyo states.
Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu blamed the high rate of crime on herders who have allegedly made forests in the state their haven.
But Sani argued that the North has enough landmass for the grazing of cattle without the herders encroaching on or destroying anybody’s farm.
He said, “The dialogue going on between the governors of the south-west and Miyetti Allah is a good step but it is not going to permanently resolve the problem.
“As long as people are allowed to move and roam about with cattle from one state to the other, there is bound to be conflict. It will calm the problem down but it is not going to solve it.
“It is for the northern states, particularly where these cattle-rearers and the Fulani ethnic group come from to set up grazing reserves and attach them to agro-allied industries involved in hides and skins and cheese to make business out of it.
“Cattle business in the 21st Century is a multi-billion dollar business. It is not possible for people to move about with cattle on people’s ancestral lands and property and you don’t expect a crisis to come in.”
Sani, however, warned against politicising the issue.
He said, “It has reached a point where the whole issue has been politicised because nobody went through the details and then it became a major issue.
“The killings and kidnappings have been going on and what the people of Ondo and Ogun states have been suffering is the same thing we are suffering in the North.
“I wonder how possible it is for anybody to defend or justify the murderous, hideous and heinous activities of these herdsmen. They occupy lands, kidnap people, rape and collect ransom.”