President Muhammadu Buhari, this week, in Abuja called on the international community to support Chad to conclude its ongoing transition from military to democratic governance in a peaceful manner within the set time of 18 months.
The President spoke at the opening of the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) convened to discuss the recent developments in Chad after President Idris Deby Itno died on the frontline while defending the territorial integrity of his country.
Expectedly, the President called on development partners – United Nations, African Union and European Union – and countries such as the United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Russia to support the transition framework put in place by Chad’s Transition Military Council led by General Mahamat Idris Deby.
“The need to support the Chadian government to effectively carry out its planned 18-month transition is sacrosanct,” he said.
However, while the President seems to be of the view that foreigners can help in solving the problems plaguing Chad, the roots of the conflict in Chad are internal, and the conflict will continue in this desperate and militarised nation until Chadian rebel group sees alternative(s) to violent overthrow of the regime in charge.
Currently, the international community has neither the resources nor the inclination to press for a comprehensive approach to Chad’s internal crisis – a necessary component to stop a regional slide into an all-out war.
However, if they can, the EU and AU should reconcile the warring factions inside Chad and press for internal political reforms that will prevent future conflict. France, the United States and China should work together to provide the necessary leverage.
The EU and AU should take the lead in reconciling the warring factions inside Chad, and immediately start pressing for internal political reforms that will mitigate future conflict.
In all these efforts, however, just as it was stressed by President Muhammadu Buhari, the sanctity of the Chadian Constitution as the supreme guiding document defining the social contract in the country must be respected. Similarly, the transition period should be civilian-led, with requisite powers given to the constitutionally-mandated organs of government.
The meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari was attended by the presidents of Central African Republic, Niger, Chad, Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya and a representative of the President of Cameroon.
On Buhari’s panacea for farmers, herdsmen conflicts…
This week, President Muhammadu Buhari expressed resolve to address the lingering conflicts of herders and farmers in a manner he called “sustained and lasting” that should lead to the emergence of a permanent solution to the frequent clashes between them.
The President also stated his determination end the associated problem of the gun-wielding “killer herdsmen.”
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Mr Garba Shehu, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, said the President approved ranching and revival of forest reserves to address the lingering herdsmen attacks.
“The President had approved a number of specific measures to bring a permanent end to the frequent skirmishes as recommended by Alhaji Sabo Nanono, the Minister of Agriculture, in a report he submitted and the President signed off on it back in April, well before the actions of the Southern Governors Forum which attempts to place a ban on open grazing and other acts of politicking intended by its signatories to demonstrate their power,” the statement said.
The actions and or recommendations of the southern governors, real or political, and the recommendations made by Nanono are all, presumably, considered by the president before he took his decision on the matter.
Of course, it should be noted that the farmers and herdsmen conflict has lingered and claimed many lives and property while solutions to the problems, at least until now, appeared distant and even impossible chiefly because at the base of the conflict is land.
Land is a fixed asset that is crucial to economic activities. Nigerian human and animal population has increased greatly from what they were many years ago, but Nigeria’s geographical land mass is fixed.
Farmers need more land to farm to meet the increasing food security challenge of increasing human and animal population. Both animal and human population has increased greatly but available farm land has reduced drastically due to constant urbanisation and increasing human encroachment on previously available land mass for farming and animal grazing.
So, there is an increased pressure on the little available land for animal grazing and production of food for human consumption. Fallow land previously reserved for animal grazing has been sold for other human needs like industrialisation and urban housing needs.
But since animal are living things too and they must feed, herdsmen are forced to graze in farms, with this development leading to destruction of people’s farms.
Increased human population and industrialisation leads to increase in urbanisation and continuous encroachment on forest reserves while continuous cutting of trees leads to increased desertification and reduction in the size of animal grazing reserve.
Thus, as a way to solve the conflict, the establishment of ranches and grazing lands may seem attractive and a simple way out of the herdsmen and farmers clashes.
However, the constraints of land and land ownership in some areas is also a big challenge. Ranches are established in countries with huge pastoral lands, like in the lush Pampas of Argentina, grass lands, which alone covers over 700,000 square kilometres of land mass or about 80% of Nigeria’s entire territory.
It is the same with the Prairies of USA/ Canada and the mighty Eurasia Steppes in Russia, which is about 17 times the size of Nigeria. The Indian and European models are, therefore, best suited for the Nigerian situation.
Dairy farming requires special skills and a certain level of education, which the itinerant herdsmen do not possess for now. However, their native and rustic skills should be a useful asset which would accelerate their integration into modern animal husbandry methods.
The education of the nomadic herdsmen should, therefore, be given priority by the Buhari-led administration as the first and most important step in the conversion and integration process.
The existing nomadic educational system is not good enough. It must be modernised with added agricultural technical skills which would be useful in the field. The federal government should take the lead in establishing dairy plants in states which are ready to accept them. The private sector and foreign investors will, thereafter, follow the footsteps of the government and key into the programme.
The tension in the country is now so high that grazing should be limited to states which are more receptive to the Fulani people or are of predominantly Fulani ethnic group such as Adamawa, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Bauchi and Jigawa states.
The eventual success of the ventures would attract more states and investors to the project. For now, while grazing apparently provides an easy way out of the perennial farmers and herdsmen conflict, it should not be imposed on states that are still being hurt by the clashes and those averse to it.
In all these, it’s gratifying to know that funding for the project that has been delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic is now available, and work on the proposed grazing system will start in a few of the consenting states in June this year.
