The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, recently informed journalists that the federal government has acquired an Amplitude Modulation (AM) broadcast radio licence for herdsmen, as part of efforts to end perennial farmers-herders’ clashes. According to him, the radio station is to operate on frequency of 720 KHz and would broadcast in the Fulfulde language, mainly spoken by the Fulani.
The radio service would serve as a vehicle for social mobilisation and education in addition to creating interactive radio instruction methodology that would be adopted to reach the remote and very hard-to-reach segments of the nation’s target population by addressing the crisis between herders and farmers with attendant consequences to loss of lives, destruction of productive assets, nomadic schools, facilities for teaching and learning resources. There is hardly any day that passes by without one violence or another linked to the herders.
The Executive Secretary, National Commission for Nomadic Education, (NCNE), Prof. Bashir Usman, said Hausa broadcasters had already been contacted to develop programmes that would add fillip to the commission’s effort towards mass education of the target group. Furthermore, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has, called on all broadcasting stations to exercise restraint in the treatment of sensitive issues that could threaten the unity and stability of Nigeria. The commission, while responding to criticism of the planned radio station by the federal government towards reaching the Fulani herdsmen, urged broadcasting stations to be professional and take a cue from the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, at all times.
NBC reminded all broadcasters to be mindful of their social responsibility in promoting the well-being and peaceful co-existence among the various groups by showing courtesy in keeping with the objectives of broadcasting in the country. The letter of provisional approval dated September 28, 2018, was issued to the NCNE. The duration of the license spans from October 8, 2018 to October 8, 2023. The NBC noted that the station’s programmes, which it describes as purely educational, would promote the freedom of expression as agents of societal change, not for any personal or sectional rights, privileges and needs. The strategic importance of the media in national discussion is vital.
On the other hand, critics believe that the move by government had shown disdain for minority groups in the country. They wondered: Maybe, the federal government should also open a radio station for the pro-Biafra movements, Shiites and other agitating groups and criminals in Nigeria that make life brutish for the people. Insecurity on his watch-list has run riot precisely because of such wrong diagnosis and failure to apply the law objectively.
Herders’ rampage transcends isolated disputes with farmers to what has been variously identified as ethnic cleansing, genocide and criminal impunity. Atrocities such as mass murder, arson and rape must be punished, no matter the motive behind perpetrating them. Many reports had given the brutish way and manner of the Boko Haram terrorists, the world’s fourth most-deadly terrorist group in the Global Terrorism Index, operational documentation.
Regrettably, these terrorists killed over 2,000 persons across the country last year alone, according to Coalition for Conflict Resolution and Human Rights in Nigeria. The harm caused by herdsmen is not peculiar to Nigeria as they seek grazing land across West Africa and parts of East Africa, a complex blend of ethnic identity, religion, criminality and weak political and security environment has pushed Nigeria’s case to the level of terror.
At issue is the right of the nomadic herdsmen to graze their cattle, which invariably infringes on the right of the farmers to plant and harvest their crops. The herdsmen have a habit of sending their cattle to cultivated farmland, which destroy crops that are a source of livelihood to farmers. Any attempt to stop the herders results into killing, raping and destruction of farmland as well as sacking of whole communities. This is where people confuse the activities of herdsmen with the Boko Haram insurgency.
Government should know better that the activities of the herdsmen are posing serious threat to the continued existence and unity of the country because of their usual attacks. The mode of operation of the killer herders has given the impression that, in the event of an external aggression, the country cannot be adequately defended. It also shows that the lives of cattle are more valuable than those of Nigerians by the perceived biased disposition to the herders’ onslaught. This should be corrected.
It is because of the excesses attributed to the herdsmen that make people to suggest that the radio project should not be carried with state resources. To avert unnecessary conflict, the federal government should handle the matter with great attention and care. State authorities must not be seen supporting one group at the expense of others. Therefore, the radio station should be made to broadcast other news events that the NBC code allows, as this would suggest a national outlook, not sectional one, whenever the transmission of programmes commences. Crisis, such as this, should be totally avoided.
