Opinion: The Peace of the Graveyard: RUGA and Nigeria’s Future, By Kingsley Moghalu
Fulanis and other Nigerian nationalities deserve SENSIBLE solutions to their problems. The victims of criminal herdsmen deserve JUSTICE. They have not received it. Any “solution” to the herdsmen invasions, appropriations of farmlands and other crimes in communities across the country that is forced on the latter, whether directly or by stealth, is a needless provocation to conflict.
One of the root causes of the Fulani herdsmen problem in Nigeria today is the combination of climate change, desertification and droughts in some parts of Northern Nigeria. This has affected the economic fortunes of herdsmen. The incredibly shrinking Lake Chad Basin in the Northeast has reduced the feeding and drinking sources for cattle, and the pressures progressively prompted a southward shift in the herdsmen’s grazing movement.
The hysteria over RUGA stems mainly from a combination of the collective traumatization of communities –especially in the Middle Belt – that have been victims of the rampaging Fulani herdsmen. The herdsmen-killers have operated with impunity, and have not been brought to justice. These communities fear that, despite today’s protestations of good intentions, they ultimately will be overrun in the future, dominated by an expanded Fulani population, and that these settlements will ultimately become emirates.
Critics point to this fine print as an indication that the “voluntary” status of RUGA may not be the last word! And there are reports in the media of attempts to forcibly establish such a settlement in Benue State despite the state’s strong rejection of the idea.
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