Recurrent Conflicts among Migrant Fulani Herdsmen and Indigenous Communities of Southern Nigeria: A Review of Literature

Abstract

Grazing conflicts between Fulani herdsmen and indigenous farming communities across Nigeria has existed for many decades without appreciable resolutions. In recent times the conflict has even assumed dangerous dimensions tending towards criminality with attendant monumental loss of lives and property. Yet, the causes, repercussions and effective resolution mechanism of the conflict have not been critically analyzed and properly understood. This is the gap in knowledge which this study is set to fill. This is a review paper which investigated the causes, repercussions and resolutions of pastoral herdsmen grazing conflicts with indigenous farming communities in Nigeria using secondary documentary sources. The Relative Deprivation Theory provided the theoretical anchorage for the study. The findings show that the inability of the Nigerian state to equitably distribute and allocate land resources for cattle routes and grazing is at core of the conflict. The government thus has an unflinching obligation to resolve the conflict by establishing ranches and grazing reserves across the country. This is with the view to ensuring that nomadic Fulani herdsmen do not infringe on the rights of indigenous farming communities as well as other farmers who thrive on settled agricultural production in Nigeria.