Shehu Sani: The north should set up grazing reserves to end farmer-herder crisis

Shehu Sani, former senator representing Kaduna central, says the solution to the crisis between farmers and herders in the south-west is the setting up of grazing reserves and agro-allied industries in the north.

Speaking on Arise Television on Friday, Sani said it is not possible for herders to move around with cattle and not clash with farmers.

The former senator said the meeting of the south-west governors with Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) will only douse the tension but not solve the problem.

On Monday, the governors met with the national leadership of Miyetti Allah after some herders were given an eviction notice in Ondo and Oyo states.

Rotimi Akeredolu, Ondo governor, blamed the high rate of crime on herders who have allegedly made forests in the state their haven.

Sani said the north has enough landmass for cattle to graze without problems.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

The former lawmaker warned against politicising the issue.

“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,” he said.

“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.”