Public Complaints Commssion hold dialogue with Ministry of Agric, CSO, on farmers, herders clashes in Ondo.

Oru Leonard

The Chief Commissioner, Public Complaints Commission (PCC) Hon. Ayo Abimbola Yusuf has appealed to farmers and herders in Ondo state to continue to do everything possible to live in peace and harmonious co-existence amongst themselves despite challenges they encounter in the course of daily obligations.

The Hon.Commissioner who was represented by the Director of Investigation, Private Sector Unit, Ms. Hannatu James at a dialogue with the Coordinator of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Ondo state noted that the reason for the town hall meeting as part of the Commission’s systemic and proactive investigation, was to get a piece of first-hand information in view of the frequent clashes between farmers and herders in the state.

She said the PCC, as a government commission saddled with the responsibility of listening to both sides of any dispute, they are concerned over how to fashion a possible solutions through their intervention by reporting back to the commission their findings and how feasible the issues can be speedily addressed in the interest of all.

According to her: ”  I want to commend you on behalf of the Chief Commissioner, Hon. Ayo Abimbola Yusuf for striving to find solutions to the farmers and herders clashes in this part of the country. The Public Complaints Commission was established in 1975 under Decree No, 31which is now cited as the Public Complaints Commission Act, repeal as laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. It is entrenched under section 315 subsection 5b of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as (amended).

” The Commission was established with wide powers not only to inquire into complaints lodged by members of the public but to carry our investigation in a proactive manner that is without waiting for complaints to be lodged by anybody. This systemic investigation is aimed at correcting societal decay and ills, ensuring good governance and peaceful co-existence among others.

You will agree with me that in recent times the clashes between farmers and herders have been a formidable tool that has unsettle peaceful co-existence in many communities not only in the South West region but the country at large. Having observed the tension in the region, due to the incessant conflicts between the farmers and herders, the Commission has decided to intervene.

She disclosed that the Commission is aware of the efforts of the Ministry through a series of interventions to find a lasting solution to the recurring crisis: ” The Commission is aware of the efforts being made by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the Nigeria Police to find a workable remedy to the conflicts in those states in particular.

” As a Director, of the Private sector investigation department in the Commission, who oversees matters of this nature, I have come to have a dialogue with you with a view to addressing the root causes of this crisis and its effects on the communities as well as chart a way forward for it. It is believed that the discussion we will have today will assist the government in making informed decisions and policies that will lead to resolutions of the conflicts in the South West region. She explained further that the Commission is very well concerned about the clashes and the attendant violence hence the systemic and proactive investigation into the root cause of the Farmers and Herders clashes with a view to putting an end to the clashes while restoring peace and unity in the country. The proactive Investigation was carried out across all the states of the South-West.

The Coordinator of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Tony Otuonye in his contribution said part of the challenges with farmers and herders has been due to the influx of strange people in the forest who are neither herders nor cattle rearers.

He said it is unfortunate that some of these challenges have remained this way but all efforts are being deployed to ensure they are nip in the bud as soon as they are reported to the agency for immediate action. He said that he believed there is no community that doesn’t have one to two challenges but solutions are best when the people involved are ready to dialogue among themselves.

His words: ”  The farmers could not accept the intrusion or trespassing into their farms in an unwanted way.  Before, cattle used to pass through farms but now they will not accept cattle that will eat up their crops. So, like in my place in the East, they guide them along the road without branching into the farms and into the fallow areas. Sometimes, we direct them and tell them where there are more grasses. But now the herders are nonchalant. A lot of farmers have been reporting to us.

” But it is not all the herders. Some are good. But, there are some that are very stubborn. There was a time, we had a discussion with them and the MACBAN confessed that the bad ones are the ones spoiling them. There are very good ones. Very reasonable and sociable. They can accept people’s views and we love them. Those ones that they talk about are the ones causing the problem.

” We have also discovered that most of these cattles are not owned by Fulanis alone. They are owned by big politicians and businessmen. But they are the ones who are very good at rearing them. We have people like cattle merchants who buy herds of cattle and hand it over in contract to somebody to rear. So, the herdsmen we are seeing in the farms are not the owners. We also have people who export cattle produce like skin and hides. We don’t have records of these politicians involved from our investigation.

He said the possible solution to the intractable conflicts can be resolved only when the Immigration is able to come in by way of identifying those who are not legally permitted to be in the country stressing that the porous border has been responsible for this influx’ of unknown people in the communities. He said most times these people when arrested find it difficult to speak any reasonable language.

” The situation has really affected farming. It has affected the zeal to farming. Feople are no more feeling secure. A lot has fled from their farms. Some have been abandoned. Ondo state is one of the major agricultural state in the country that has large farmlands for rice and cassava and almost all crops. In the south west it should be the food basket of the region. But we are watching all this crops dwindling because of the clashes. Nobody is ready to go and work where security of lives is not sure.

” Let the immigration people come in to assist us to identify the aliens in our midst. The influx of these aliens could be reduced. They are the ones involved in this kidnapping and all forms of crimes. This is an organised movement. I doubt if they can put a stop to it. Sometimes you see truckloads of people in the wee hours of the night without anyone to monitor who they were and where they were coming from. This is our observations. They are most times covered in different guise. We were involved in Joint Task Team during the Covid-19 era”, he said.

The interactive session was attended by some farmers and representatives of the herdsmen. There was also some members of the civil society groups who were in attendance to witness and made input in the dialogue which was convened principally to finding solutions and fashion out way forward to the crisis.