Farmers And Herdsmen Clashes: Buhari’s Archaic Solution Plan At The White House Press Conference



The Oasis Reporters
May 13, 2018

There are some important takeaways from the Donald Trump, Muhammadu Buhari joint press conference that could have escaped the eyes of Nigerians if one weren’t watching out for its significance and likely impact.
In response to the definitive statement President Trump made directly to President BuharI :
“We’ve had serious problems with Christians who have been murdered, killed in Nigeria. We’re going to work on that problem and work on that problem very, very hard, because we can’t allow that to happen.” –
President Donald Trump to President Muhammadu Buhari, The White House, 30th April 2018.
Knowing that much of the recent killings of Christians and the burning of churches has been perpetrated by alleged Fulani herdsmen militia, the response President Muhammadu Buhari gave to President Donald Trump is therefore very significant and worthy of analysis.
He responded thus :
“The government is taking necessary steps to promote the peaceful coexistence of herdsmen and farmers by focusing on boosting security and enforcing legislation that will guarantee herders and farmers access to land”.
President Muhammadu Buhari, at the joint press conference with President Donald Trump. 30 April, 2018.
What necessary steps is President Buhari taking?
Ideas about cattle colonies across the entire nation was promoted, which means planting the Fulani in large expanses of land in hitherto places they are not indigenous too. Which equally means taking lands from indigenous farmers through legislation to give to Fulani herdsmen.
Therefore what access would farmers now have to their ancestral lands? Frightening still, is the chilling thought of having AK47 rifles wielding farm neighbours, and say, how cheery is this prognosis?
Add the fact that no guns are being confiscated from the Fulani even when they boldly and fearlessly display their gun dexterity openly in videos they often share freely in the social media. They never get arrested even when their faces are seen.
But on the other hand, homes of Reverend Fathers are being ransacked for non existing weapons, just as the Christian clerics are being murdered in churches during Mass and other church members by suspected herdsmen militia.
This is not comforting neither is it cheery . The herdsmen who are said to be foreigners, trained to kill only by Muammar Gaddafi, are these really the kind of “neighbors” Nigerians should have?
Or is there another agenda hidden from citizens in this tragic saga?
Nigerians seem unable to smile over these issues and hope that no such legislation should see the light of day even when they feel that the herdsmen have a right to keep their cattle. There are much better ways to manage the cow herding business and value chain without the frightening and avoidable risks of taking human lives or dispossessing people of their farmlands.




