By
Emmanuel Onwubiko
The
FULANI ethnic nationality is a unique brand of people in the sense that they
are perpetually nomadic.
The nomadic nature of these people has made it impossible to
precisely pin them down to any specific geo-political locale but for purposes
of intellectual debate, the Fulani are Northerners of Northern Nigeria.
Fulani also share similarities with other nomadic populations in
some neighboring sub-regional political entities in West
Africa .
Lately, the Fulani have attracted a rash of commentaries around
the issues of banditry, terrorism and the violence some of them have
continuously unleashed on host communities whilst they are engaged in their
cattle rearing activities.
There have been reported incidences of vandalism of farms and
the killings of farmers caused by these Fulani herdsmen just as their dastardly
criminal acts of blood cuddling attacks of farming communities have assumed
frightening dimensions since one year ago when MAJOR GENERAL (RTD) MUHAMMADU
BUHARI of the ALL PROGRESSIVE CONGRESS was inaugurated as the president of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Sadly, the current government has through its ineptitude and
conspirational silence attracted suspicions from across Nigeria
In the last count, the Fulani herdsmen have been pointed at as
those who have engaged in the high profile kidnap of notable politicians,
military officers and clerics just as the two prominent incidents involved the
kidnap of an Enugu
State
Between Abia/Enugu axis, Fulani herdsmen have also unleashed
considerable violence and some biased military commanders recently deployed
armed operatives to invade AWGU community in Enugu State whereby 76 Igbo youth
were arrested arbitrarily and dumped in UMUAHIA prison only because they
resisted attempt to take over their ancestral farm lands by the Fulani
herdsmen. The military operatives were deployed from the Enugu
The extensive reach of the destructions unleashed by the Fulani
herdsmen is unbelievably apocalyptic spanning all the six geopolitical entity
of Nigeria
In this piece therefore, we are inspired to ask the pertinent question of what the Fulani people have become between being described as terrorists as most other Nigerians have done or land grabbers.
In this piece therefore, we are inspired to ask the pertinent question of what the Fulani people have become between being described as terrorists as most other Nigerians have done or land grabbers.
A quick review of the latest book by the environmental and
development consultant for a science magazine and columnist with the British
Guardian MR. FRED PEARCE titled: “THE LAND GRABBERS (THE NEW FIGHT OVER WHO
OWNS THE EARTH) provides better elucidation.
Again, a clearer elucidation of the Nigerian extant land
administration law known as the Land Use Act of 1978 will give us a better clue
as to why most observers think that there is a well coordinated plot by the
Fulani to grab as much strange lands in distant places within Nigeria as much
as they can especially now that Muhammadu Buhari a reputable Fulani cattle
owner is in power as the president of Nigeria.
Recently, president Buhari got some governors to agree to
establish ranches in their states as a way of resolving the widening specters
of war between Fulani and other ethnic nationalities.
Most Nigerians are however of the opinion that ranches should be
established by States and not the Federal Government since the extant land use
law gives ownerships of state lands to the people of the states to be in the
custody of their governors.
For the purpose of emphasis, let us review the preliminary
chapter of the Land Use Act of 1978 which is the only constitutionally known
land administration law of Nigeria
Specifically, Land Use Act in chapter 202, laws of the
Federation of Nigeria of 1990 provide thus; _“An Act to Vest all Land
compromised in the territory of each State (except land vested in the Federal
government or its agencies) solely in the Governor of the State , who would
hold such Land in trust for the people and would henceforth be responsible for
allocation of land in all urban areas to individuals resident in the State and
to organizations for residential, agriculture, commercial and other purposes
while similar powers will with respect to non urban areas are conferred on
Local Governments.(27th March 1978) Commencement.”
The law in part 1 generally states thus:
The law in part 1 generally states thus:
(1) "Subject to the provisions of
this Act, all land comprised in the territory of each State in the Federation
are hereby vested in the Governor of that State and such land shall be held in
trust and administered for the use and common benefit of all Nigerians in
accordance with the provisions of this Act. __2.__ __(1)__ As from the
commencement of this Act – __(a)__ all land in urban areas shall be under the
control and management of the Governor of each State. And __(b)__ all other
land shall, subject to this Act, be under the control and management of the
Local Government, within the area of jurisdiction of which the land is
situated; __(2)__ There shall be established in each State a body to be known
as “the Land
Use and Allocation Committee” which shall have responsibility for…”_
Use and Allocation Committee” which shall have responsibility for…”_
These and several other provisions show that the best solution
to resolving the growing threats of terrorism of Nigerian communities by some
Fulani herdsmen is for the Federal government to deploy unbiased and
professionally efficient law enforcement mechanisms to arrest and prosecute all
Fulani herdsmen bearing arms, and to prosecute those Fulani herdsmen who have
unleashed violence in the different Nigerian communities. The law of Nigeria
The states that are desirous to create ranches should therefore
proceed to establish such schemes with the support of their State Houses
of Assembly and Land allocation committees as stipulated by the extant Land Use
Act.
Speaking globally about the hidden strategies of land grabbers,
MR. FRED PEARCE noted in his book quoted aforementioned that the damage they
unleash on indigenous communities are extensively unimaginable. He wrote thus: “There is much uncertainty about how much land has been grabbed, and how firm
the grasp of the grabbers is. In 2010, the World Bank came up with a figure of
47 million hectares. The Global Land Project, an international research
network, hazarded 63 million hectares. The Land Deal Politics Initiative,
another network of researchers that helped organize a conference on
land-grabbing in the UK
The author further wrote thus: “the truth is nobody knows. There
is no central register; there is little national transparency. Some of the
largest deals I came across were done in secret and unknown even to the most
diligent NGOs, while other deals have attracted headlines but have never come to
fruition.”
The Nigerian Federal and State governments must make hay whilst
the sun shines.
*Emmanuel Onwubiko, Head of Human Rights Writers Association
of Nigeria
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