By Abayomi Adesida
The Federal Government is proposing grazing colonies as a means of ‘appeasing’ mindless killers who have declared war on the country.
It is not surprising that some states disagree with this proposal and some are already plugging in. Well, the approach sounds cool on the surface but I have my fears.
Imagine my state – Ogun, creating 5,000 hectares (75,000 plots) of land as a grazing colony; in 10 years, the colony will have administrators e,g Emirs, Sarki etc and in 100 years, there would have been a population explosion that MIGHT birth a civil war over the original owners of Ogun state.
This type of ‘solution’ requires deep thinking especially in a multi-ethnic society like ours. Land issues remain an important social affair here.
The F.G. must listen to the people and respect their decisions. States MUST be allowed to decide their fate.
As an individual, I say NO to grazing colonies; rather, I support that we let the rule of law and justice prevail in our land.
Peaceful co-existence does not happen by accident. Until the people feel confident in the binding creed of the land, the dream of a peaceful co-existence would remain a fleeting illusion.
The herdsmen must be made to respect the law. This is only when peace can reign. Nigerians are accommodating.
The recent hostility in the country is borne out of an age-long repression and a sense of inequality in a country professing equality. We must reignite the sense of ‘nationhood’ in our people again.
When the people see one another as brothers, issues of ‘grazing colonies’ can then arise. But now that there is mutual suspicion everywhere, the people will fight back. It is already happening in Benue State.
Let’s learn from Rwanda, since we have refused to learn from our civil war (Biafran war). “We must learn to live as brothers or perish together as fools” – Martin Luther King Jnr.
