BY RIMI ALIU
GOVERNOR Abubakar Bello of Niger State has made a case for the empowerment of herders in Nigeria, who are mainly Fulanis, saying over the years, the farmers have been given all the incentives.
According to him, if well incentivised, the herders will create jobs, add to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product significantly and reduce unemployment rate.
Governor Bello disclosed his position on Friday, while addressing journalists on the progress made so far by Government to secure the release of abducted students and staff of the Government Science College, Kagara.
He said rather than address the evolving situation of the herders, owing to the increasing population of Nigeria and the lack of grazing routes, all the incentives were given to farmers and zero to the herders.
He said this just as he assured stakeholders and the public that his government was exploring both kinetic and non-kinetic methods to secure the release of the kidnapped victims.
The Governor said, “I have called for a meeting with all the First Class Emirs on Tuesday and all the Fulani heads. Sometimes, we need to understand ourselves to find solutions. May be they also have problems. So, we need to talk to them to read their minds and to understand what their problems are, so that we can address them.
“The truth of the matter is that since independence, no one has paid attention to herdsmen who are mostly Fulanis. Not all herdsmen are Fulanis but 90 per cent are Fulanis. Nobody has paid attention to them; no one has paid attention to their education. All we do is we see them on market days, they come and we see them and we laugh.
“They were moving from place to place with their cattle being attacked, but now, the time has come to stop all that practice; it is no longer feasible. There are no longer cattle routes anymore.”
He added, “As long as they move their cattle from different towns, different states, down South, there will be a problem because there are no more cattle routes. Population has increased; we are about 200 million people now, more people are farming.
“We have paid more attention to farmers, all the programmes, all the incentives to farmers, zero to herders. They (herdsmen) also add to the GDP. They also will increase our economy, they also can create jobs if planned very well. So, the time has come to look at them to capture them very well in the system and that must be done for everlasting peace.”
