Between Fulani Herdsmen and Farmers

Nigeria is currently going through a very challenging phase in its history. Economically, challenges like acute unemployment, an exchange rate crisis and the attendant runaway inflation confront the country. Official corruption adversely affects the workings of government, too, while corrupt elements and judicial bureaucracy, reportedly, impede the administration’s much vaunted war on corruption. However, insecurity appears to have been the most formidable challenge met by the current administration upon assuming office in May 2015.

When President Buhari assumed office, the most widely known security threat to Nigeria’s corporate existence was the Boko Haram insurgency. The insurgents, who once controlled vast swathes of territory in their quest to establish a caliphate, have caused the loss of about 20,000 lives and the displacement of over a million others. At the time of President Buhari’s inauguration, less known to the international community was another source of insecurity: the attacks by so-called Fulani herdsmen. While the Buhari administration has had measurable success in its fight against Boko haram, it appears that the menace of the herdsmen-farmer conflicts has defied the government. The brazenness with which suspected Fulani herdsmen slaughter settled communities and raze down villages is a sad reminder of the enormous security challenges still facing the Buhari administration.