If I can’t go to the farm as governor with the entire security around me, then who else can go to the farm? – Samuel Ortom, Benue State Governor. It is a known fact that many communities in the country are agrarian. Prior to the discovery of oil in Nigeria in 1958, agriculture was the mainstay of the nation’s economy. Different regions could boast of different cash crops like groundnuts, cocoa, rubber, oil palm produce and many more. Then, the country was a net exporter of food and earned most of its foreign exchange from agricultural produce.
However, with the discovery of oil, the agricultural sector was abandoned by successive governments. All attention was diverted to the new bride that was spinning money while the agricultural and infrastructural sectors of the economy were jettisoned.
But with the drastic reduction in oil price in the international market recently and its attendant consequences, there have been calls for the nation to go back to agriculture. Diversification of the economy became the talk of the day. Not a few individuals, alongside private and corporate organisations, heeded this call as more and more people began to invest in agriculture.
In Anambra State, for instance, renowned businessmen went into massive production of rice, tomatoes and all that. Governments at both federal and state levels have also shown readiness to diversify the economy and invest hugely in agriculture. Billions of dollars have been borrowed from different countries by the government for the purpose of revitalising the agricultural sector.
Incidentally, with the endless menace of herdsmen across the country, particularly in North Central, South East and South South zones, the idea of revamping the agricultural sector might just be unrealistic. Almost every day, we hear stories of the brutal attack of the herdsmen who would not spare any community that dares question the destruction of their farmlands and crops by their cattle.
Apart from the destruction of crops, they engage in armed robbery, abduction, raping, killing and all manners of crime.Today, most peasant farmers in the South East, South South, North Central, North West and some parts of South West can no longer engage in their daily farming activities for fear of being attacked by herdsmen.
I chatted with an acquaintance from Kaduna State recently who narrated how hard it is for people in her village, including her father, to feed because they can no longer carry on with their farming activities. She said her father is a well-known millet farmer who used to produce hundreds of bags of millet and corn in a year through which he generated a lot of income; but today,he depends on his children to put food on his table because he had been driven out of business by cattle herders who turned his farms to grazing fields for their animals. Painfully, she said, the farmers no longer report such destruction or farm invasion to the police for fear of being killed by the herders, coupled with their lack of confidence in the police.
A similar story was told by my nephew from Abi in Uzo-Uwani Local Government of Enugu State. He said his father and other family members who were big-time yam and cassava farmers are almost idle now because their farm lands have been taken over by suspected Fulanis.
Unfortunately, these poor farmers have been shouting, calling attention of the authorities to their ordeal. Security experts and many other well-meaning individuals have proffered solutions to incessant farmers-herders clashes, several articles have been written by journalists and other writers on the urgent need to address the ugly issue, all to no avail. Just as in the last weekend’s attack on Benue StateGovernor, Samuel Ortom, on his way back from his farm inspection, the Federal Government would order an investigation into some major attacks, the National Assembly would equally assure to look into the matter, the Police will claim to be on top of the matter but what has been the outcome of these? Has anybody or group ever been made to account for these deadly acts? Some weeks ago, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a shoot-at-sight order for illegal possessors of AK-47. Have our security personnel leveraged on this to deal with the menace?
No doubt, the failure of current and past governments to address this problem all these past years has emboldened the herdsmen to carry on with the unbridled trampling on the rights of other Nigerians in their communities. It has continued to flame the ember of hatred among various communities, religions and tribes. One wonders how we can revamp the agricultural sector and achieve food security under the prevailing circumstance.  A visit to the market will leave no one in doubt about the enormous problem in our hands. The price of virtually every food item is on daily increase. Provision of food and other necessities for their families is now a herculean task for many parents and we are not oblivious of the dangers this portends in any society.
Therefore, government should, as a matter of urgency, address the menace of herdsmen and rustlers across the country in order for agriculture to thrive and for us to have enough food to eat.
At this critical time when people are being encouraged to go into farming to ensure availability of food in the country and to curtail food importation, herdsmen should not be allowed to empty their cattle into cultivated farmlands and destroy crops and farmlands.
Most importantly, Nigeria should delay no further in toeing the line of developed countries who keep their animals in ranches. In no advanced country will you see cattle roaming freely on the properties of other people and causing problems for their countries. Both federal, state and local governments, even cattle owners who make money from this business, should join hands in establishing ranches and grazing reserves across the country and adopt other strategies to enable herdsmen settle to modern systems of livestock farming.
It is hoped that the barrage of condemnations that have trailed Ortom’s attack will result in government, at all levels, and the security agencies, taking adequate measures towards strengthening and improving security in the country. Traditional rulers, community heads, leaders of various ethnic groups and individuals should join hands in making our society more secure and safe instead of heightening the already tensed situation by their utterances, actions and inactions.

By: Calista Ezeaku