A National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has insisted that the crises between herdsmen and farmers in some states were not caused by religious or political differences.
He identified water scarcity as one of the reasons behind the protracted clashes.
Tinubu said this in Abuja on Monday at a national summit on conflict resolution organised by The Nation and TV Continental, themed: ‘Towards an Enduring Peace.’
Tinubu, who was represented by an Executive Commissioner of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Sunday Dare, explained that the desertification in most parts of the North had caused herders to move southward with their cattle in search of greener pastures contrary to insinuations.
He Said, “An acutely thirsty man remembers neither Bible nor Quran very well until his thirst is quenched. Dire need often pushes a man to behave as if bereft of compassion for a person in equally dire circumstance.
“No doubt the problem has exacerbated during the past decade. We must assume climate change plays a role.”
Speaking on solutions to curb the herdsmen crisis, Tinubu urged the federal government to shift from traditional nomadic existence.
The former Lagos state Governor urged the government to immediately convert unused land to grazing routes as this will curb incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen.
“The government must help herders gradually shift from their traditional nomadic existence to a more static lifestyle. We have to face the reality that modernity is making the nomadic way counterproductive and inefficient.
“Unoccupied, isolated land can quickly be turned into grazing areas in the affected states. In the long run, this will enable herders to better maintain their livestock and thus their own livelihood,” he added.
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