By Sylvester Udemezue

To:

(1). The President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
National Assembly Complex,
Three Arms Zone,
Abuja, FCT, Nigeria.

(2). The Speaker, House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
National Assembly Complex,
Three Arms Zone,
Abuja, FCT, Nigeria.

Cc:
His Excellency,
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,
The President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces,
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Presidential Villa,
Aso Rock, Abuja

RE: THE FARMERS-HERDSMEN CRISIS IN NIGERIA: A CALL FOR URGENT CREATION OF TWO SPECIAL STATES EXCLUSIVELY FOR FULANI HERDSMEN AND SETTLERS WHO DO NOT YET HAVE STATES OF THEIR OWN IN NIGERIA

By Sylvester Udemezue
(Proctor, The Reality Ministry of Truth, Law and Justice)

Your Excellencies,

INTRODUCTION

With the utmost sense of national duty and patriotic urgency, I write this open letter on behalf of The Reality Ministry of Truth, Law and Justice (TRM), an independent, public-interest law advocacy initiative committed to the promotion of peace, law, justice, and security in Nigeria. This communication arises from the grave, prolonged, and worsening humanitarian and security crisis resulting from violent clashes between farmers and herdsmen across the country, a crisis that now amounts to a national emergency. It has become the most destabilizing factors threatening the peace, unity, and the very corporate existence of our beloved nation. The points I set out to respectfully make herein are broken into parts, as follows:

(A). THE UNRELENTING DEVASTATION CAUSED BY HERDER-FARMER CLASHES IN NIGERIA

1. From the Middle-Belt to the South-East, South-West, South-South and even parts of the North, Nigeria has suffered immeasurable human, economic, and social losses due to recurring conflicts between itinerant Fulani herdsmen and sedentary farming communities. Entire villages have been razed, crops destroyed, families displaced, and hundreds of thousands of lives lost.
2. In Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Taraba, Enugu, Ebonyi, Ogun, Delta, Edo and Oyo States, among others, communities have been burned to ashes, food security disrupted, and local economies destroyed. In Agatu and Logo LGAs of Benue State, for instance, repeated herdsmen attacks have decimated communities, leaving hundreds dead. In Southern Kaduna, endless cycles of violence claimed countless lives. In Oyo State, the community of Igangan was overrun, its residents slaughtered in a night raid. In Enugu State, the story is not different.
3. These are not isolated incidents. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), international observers, and civil society organizations have documented the scale of the tragedies. According to reports by the Global Terrorism Index, Nigeria has repeatedly ranked among the top five most terrorized countries globally, with herder-farmer conflicts cited as one of the deadliest forms of violence.
4. Yet, despite multiple policy pronouncements and peace-building efforts, the crisis remains unresolved, mainly because its root cause, namely open grazing and the absence of a sustainable, organized settlement framework for herdsmen, has not been decisively addressed.

(B). OPEN GRAZING IN THE 21ST CENTURY IS AN ARCHAIC PRACTICE IN NEED OF URGENT RETIREMENT

1. Open grazing (that is, herdsmen moving with their cattle across vast terrains, cutting across farmlands, highways, and communities) is a relic of the pre-industrial age. It is unproductive, unsustainable, and dangerous. Today, countries across Africa and the world have moved toward ranching, paddock grazing, and modern livestock farming:

(i). Botswana has become a major exporter of beef to the EU through structured ranching.

(ii). Kenya and South Africa have integrated livestock systems that maximize yield and minimize conflict.

(iii). Brazil and Argentina have transformed cattle farming into profitable, export-driven industries with minimal violence.

(iv). Even India, despite its massive cattle population, manages grazing through organized systems to avoid communal strife.

2. In contrast, Nigeria continues to lose lives and resources due to a practice that has outlived its usefulness. Roads are blocked, farmlands are destroyed, and communities live in fear, all because a minority still insists on driving cattle from Sokoto to Bayelsa on foot.

(C). THE PECULIAR CASE OF THE FULANI HERDSMEN: BETWEEN FACT AND EXPLOITATION

1. It is well known that a significant segment of Nigeria’s Fulani herdsmen population either do not possess fixed states of origin or are transnational nomads with uncertain immigration status, making it difficult to monitor and govern their movement. More troubling, however, is the growing national security threat posed by violent actors who masquerade as herdsmen. While many Fulani herdsmen are law-abiding citizens genuinely engaged in cattle rearing, terrorist groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, and armed bandits have exploited the herdsmen identity as a disguise to infiltrate rural areas, attack, maim, kidnap, kill, destroy, and occupy:

(i). In Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Niger, and Kebbi, Oyo, Ondo, Enugu, Delta , Edo, and Ebonyi States, among others, armed bandits posing as herdsmen have launched sustained terror campaigns.

(ii). In the North Central and Middle Belt, these disguised actors move under the pretense of cattle rearing only to execute well-coordinated massacres and abductions.

(iii). Leah Sharibu and hundreds of others were abducted and trafficked by groups initially believed to be cattle herders.

2. Terrorists now exploit the mobility, rural penetration, and ambiguity of identity associated with herdsmen to carry out insurgent activities, destroy communities, and establish unlawful control over territories.

(D). A PRACTICAL, PERMANENT, PEACEFUL SOLUTION IS TO CREATE SPECIAL STATES FOR HERDSMEN

1. In light of the foregoing, The Reality Ministry of Truth, Law and Justice (TRM) proposes the immediate establishment of two special states (or designated autonomous regions within existing states) in the North West or North East, where:

(i). All Fulani herdsmen and other nomadic livestock settlers without a permanent Nigerian state of origin may be voluntarily resettled.

(ii). The federal government would channel substantial resources to rapidly develop these states with ranches, veterinary services, irrigation systems, security architecture, housing, schools, health and other infrastructure necessary for a sustainable pastoral economy.

(iii). Investment incentives and modern livestock training would be offered to encourage herdsmen to abandon open grazing in favour of settled, profitable, and dignified livestock production.

2. This proposal is not a political weapon or a tribalist scheme, but a non-ethnic, non-discriminatory national strategy for sustainable peace and economic transformation.

(E). BENEFITS OF THIS PROPOSAL

1. National Security: Establishing structured, secure settlements will drastically reduce insurgent access, prevent infiltration, and isolate terrorists disguising as herdsmen.
2. Economic Prosperity: Modern ranching will increase productivity, boost GDP, attract foreign investment, and reduce pressure on rural land.
3. Peace and Integration: With reduced herder-farmer friction, ethnic tensions will decline, and communities will enjoy greater harmony.
4. Constitutional Equity: Every Nigerian group deserves territorial inclusion and developmental identity. Fulani herdsmen are no exception.
5. Improved Inter-Ethnic Relations: Clearly defined territorial settlements will reduce suspicion and hostility, replacing them with understanding and mutual respect.
6. Counterterrorism and Stability: This initiative would cut off one of the major operational channels for bandits and terrorist groups, thereby enhancing Nigeria’s counter-insurgency efforts.
7. International Credibility: The world will take Nigeria more seriously when we demonstrate foresight in solving complex, protracted domestic challenges.

(F). CONCLUSION: A MATTER OF URGENCY AND SURVIVAL

1. Let us not wait for the next massacre, the next reprisal attack, or the next international embarrassment. The farmer-herdsmen crisis has become a tool of terror, an enabler of insurgency, and a bleeding wound in our national body. Nigeria cannot afford to ignore the ticking time bomb that is the herder-farmer-terrorist triad. History will not be kind to us if we fail to act boldly now. We therefore respectfully call on the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to:

(i). Initiate constitutional and legislative frameworks for the creation of two special states or autonomous zones for Fulani herdsmen and nomadic settlers.

(ii). Mandate the Federal Government to commit significant budgetary allocations towards rapid infrastructural development of these areas.

(iii). Proscribe open grazing by national law and replace it with enforceable ranching policies tailored to these newly created states.

2. Your Excellencies, Nigeria stands at a defining moment, one that demands not only political will, but constitutional fidelity, moral clarity, and courageous leadership. The farmer-herdsmen crisis has escalated into a nationwide emergency with far-reaching humanitarian, economic, and security implications. It now threatens the very foundations of our constitutional order and national cohesion. This is not a matter of convenience; it is a constitutional and moral duty. Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, clearly mandates that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. This obligation cannot be met through delay or indifference. Any further hesitation risks undermining the unity and survival of the Republic.
3. Accordingly, we respectfully urge the National Assembly to initiate and support urgent legislative and policy measures: the creation of special states or designated settlements for nomadic pastoralists, and the nationwide prohibition of open grazing. These are not discretionary policies; they are strategic imperatives for national stability. Let peace, justice, and security become lived realities for all Nigerians, not abstract ideals. This is a time for foresight and principled action, a time to place the long-term survival of the nation above every other interest.
4. The reality is unavoidable: while we may postpone confronting it, we cannot escape the consequences of ignoring it. The signs of collapse are already present, and worsening. Let this be the turning point, from rhetoric to resolve, from paralysis to progress. Let us act now to save lives, secure the Republic, and preserve the promise of a peaceful, united Nigeria for generations to come.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Long live Peace, Unity, and Justice.

Yours sincerely,
Sylvester Udemezue (udems),
Proctor, The Reality Ministry of Truth, Law and Justice (TRM) [A Nongovernmental, Nonaligned, Nonprofit Public Interest Law Advocacy Group]
Tel: 08021365545 | 08109024556.
Email: [email protected].

If you think there are too many beggars on your street, please take heart and brace up. A trending video is showing a massive throng of Nigerian children and women being deported from Ghana where they were found doing street begging. They are said to be part of thousands of West Africans on Ghanaian streets. About 10,000 are reported to be involved. Is there anything too shameful that we can’t and won’t export?

The person who ran the commentary spoke in Hausa, a hint at where the beggars hailed from. I took a few minutes to read the video. I do not speak and do not understand Hausa, but I can read the face of sorrow when I see one. I saw exactly that in the worn-out faces and the sunken eyes of girls and women in that video. For them, living is obviously a punishment.“History tells us that it takes, and that it will take, generations of striving, organizing, and mobilizing to fight for the kind of world that we want to see.” American professor of History, Elizabeth Hinton, makes that submission in a 2016 piece. It looks like what we see today in begging as Ghanaian academic visited Zaria some fifty years ago and wrote of his shock at the swarm of child beggars on the street.

His report, published in 1984, starts with a paragraph that reads as if it speaks of today: “The stranger from another cultural milieu visiting Zaria for the first time may, depending on his historical experience, wonder or even be shocked at the sight of so many little children going about begging in the town. But as time passes, and with increasing familiarity with the sight, the critical thoughts which followed the initial shock are likely to give way to a gradual acceptance of the unusual experience as a normal condition.”

How can street begging by kids be normal? Has anything changed since that report was published? Will anything change no matter what anyone does? A way of life is generational and a proof that Nigeria failed its people yesterday and today, and will likely do so tomorrow. It will, and it is not a curse. It will happen unless we do what Hinton suggests: striving, organizing, and mobilizing. But we will not. The elite need the beggars for their politics.

A Ghanaian academic visited Zaria some fifty years ago and wrote of his shock at the swarm of child beggars on the street. His report, published in 1984, starts with a paragraph that reads as if it speaks of today: “The stranger from another cultural milieu visiting Zaria for the first time may, depending on his historical experience, wonder or even be shocked at the sight of so many little children going about begging in the town.

But as time passes, and with increasing familiarity with the sight, the critical thoughts which followed the initial shock are likely to give way to a gradual acceptance of the unusual experience as a normal condition.” How can street begging by kids be normal? Has anything changed since that report was published? Will anything change no matter what anyone does?

That study of the begging population in that city throws up the following statistics: “Nearly half (45.5 %>) of the sample of beggars indicated that their parents were not beggars; for quite a sizable proportion (39.7 %>), both parents could be shown to be themselves beggars like their children. In a few cases, only fathers (6.2 %) or only mothers (2.8 %) of beggars were reported as being beggars as well. In much the same way, in 35.2 % of the cases, brothers and sisters of beggars were reported to be also beggars…”

Those beggars of the 1970s and 1980s, where are they today? Could they be the parents or grandparents of today’s beggars, including those traumatised kids deported from Ghana?Nigerian children of two years and above doing begging parade on our streets question our existence as a 21st century country. Their situation should elicit gasps of discomfort – and disgust.During my primary school years, we, Yoruba school children (of Almajiri age) gladly sang against begging and poverty: Olórun máà jé á tooro je, Olórun máà jé a gbà’wìn èbà (May God not let us beg to eat; May God not let us buy èbà on credit). It was a prayer fervently said.

The Yorùbá also say Orí mi kò’sé, Ẹlédàá mi kò’yà (My head rejects poverty; my Creator rejects hardship). It is a philosophy of life; a covenant with the Creator. In Lagos, Ibadan and all other places where street begging is a menace, the people breathe in and breathe out in utter rejection of what they see. But they can’t do what Ghana did. Nigeria is one nation, one destiny.

‘Child Beggars in Nigeria’ is the title of a July 2022 report by Germany’s international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle (DW). The report starts with the personal tragedy of an 11-year-old Amina who was forced to beg on the streets of Katsina because of insecurity in her village. It then dwells extensively into “how northern Nigeria’s economic crisis is bringing more children to large cities such as Lagos, where they end up asking for money on the streets.”

In February 2022, the newspaper I edit carried the story of some women and children from the North who migrated to Ibadan to make a living for themselves and their families through begging. Nafisa Shehu and her mother were among the beggars found on the Ojoo Bridge in Ibadan. Nafisa sat among other begging children and from that point calmly told the reporter that her dream was to become a medical doctor.

Nafisa’s story was published, it went viral, and a prominent private school in Ibadan contacted the reporter and offered Nafisa a scholarship from primary to medical school. If you thought her dream of becoming a medical doctor was becoming real, you missed it. It never happened. A meeting was arranged between the school and Nafisa’s mother, with the reporter present in Moniya, Ibadan.

Some meddlesome interlopers who called themselves local Hausa leaders made sure they were present also. It was a negotiation to help Nafisa; proceedings appeared very positive. But the tragedy started from that point: Nafisa and her mother disappeared from the street shortly after the meeting. The only condition the school gave Nafisa was that she would be a full-boarding student. That was a huge problem for her mother who wanted her to beg while in school.

The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.