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Friday, July 13, 2012

Discourse 348: The Fulani and the Genocide Dream of Jang

Discourse 348
By Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde

The Fulani and the Genocide Dream of Jang

The death of a Senator and a member of the Plateau State House of Assembly has once more drawn the attention of the country to the unending crisis on the Plateau, not because there was cessation in the conflict before their deaths but because the crisis has started to take a new dimension altogether. The list of victims has, for the first time in the history of ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria, started to include the elite, and the politicians especially.

While the sad development seems to worry everyone and there are renewed calls for peace from many quarters, reports indicate that the Joint Task Force (JTF), whose actions was responsible for the escalation of the crisis recently, is busy destroying Fulani settlements in Barikin Ladi amd Riyom Local Government Areas, adding fuel to fire. Luggere, a Fulani stronghold, was destroyed yesterday and its inhabitants forcefully dispersed.

"This morning", the Secretary of Miyetti Allah in Barikin Ladi Local Government, Malam Mohammed Adam told the Daily Trust yesterday, "soldiers came and started burning Fulani settlements. As I speak to you now, they are busy burning all Fulani settlements in Shong II, Wuro Bello, Gure Danegu, Dyola, Rakweng, Sharu, Kuzeng, Luggel, Rachi, Matse and Afan. They are backed up with helicopters and tanks."

Once more, in the quest for peace, the Nigerian authorities are repeating the mistake they committed with Boko Haram in 2009. They have not quenched that fire since. Yet, they are starting a bigger one.


The Background

A proper understanding of the conflict must be located within the framework of the genocidal agenda of the Berom. They have vowed to cleanse the areas they dominate of the Hausa and the Fulani. Today, except in their strongholds like Sabongidan Danyaya, Barikin Ladi town, and few other tin settlements like Dorawar Babuje, all the Hausa villages in Berom-dominated areas have been wiped out. The countryside has been cleansed of nearly forty such settlements.

The flight of the Hausa and sedentary Fulani was not prompted by cowardice, I believe, but by the luxury of the alternative they have. They could migrate into the comfort of other Hausa communities in other towns in the state or neighbouring ones to continue with their farming and petty trading. Of course, their flight comes with a lot of loss of capital and property. Nevertheless, they should be grateful to nature for endowing them with that option, which it has denied the cattle Fulani. This fact is at the core of the ongoing conflict.

It was not that the Berom spared the Fula naturalis in cognizance of the longstanding association between the two groups. Not at all. Many attacks have been moffered by Berom militia but, this time, unlike in the case with the Hausa, the Fulani in all their major settlements in Beromland have so far been repelling such attacks successfully with equal, if not superior, force. It is this balance of terror that has enabled the Fulani to stay put there, while the fuel of genocide continues to burn in the heart of the Berom emperor, His Excellency, Governor David Jonah Jang. The Fulani has to do this because nature has not offered him a better choice as it did to others.

Nature has consigned the Fulani to his cattle and in Africa the cattle has consigned him to the bush. He has no option except to live in the countryside where his master – the cattle – would flourish. In the gospel of his survival, he must cherish the grass and fight to the last drop of his blood for his natural master to graze uncultivated forests and grassland. Since his appearance in West Africa a millennium ago, he has obediently followed his cattle to wherever they led him. There is hardly any country in West, Central and, now, East Africa where he has not set his foot on and he continues to press southward, following the African Drainage Basin, until one day his herd drinks from the Orange River in South Africa.

The conflict with the Berom has endured precisely because it is among the very few cases where attempts were made in history to expel the Fulani completely from a place. Nowhere has this strategy ever succeeded in the history of West Africa since it started in the period of Sonni Ali, one of the kings of the ancient Songhai Empire. Conflict with the Fulani could be prolonged and they may even sustain heavy casualties and disappear for a while; but soon their cattle would guide them back, one way or the other, to settle on the once hostile land. Only the tsetse fly has succeeded in barring the them from some territories, before. Today, even that threat is gone, with deforestation and the availability of effective drugs against bovine blood parasites. Their cows are today successfully grazing in the Niger Delta, on the Atlantic coast.

This understanding is important in the scheme of any dream, conflict or peace that involves the Fulani. His natural burden to cater for the cow must be recognized. This has led him to the innate belief that his cattle have a universal right to natural grass wherever it may be, just as the Americans believe in mankind’s universal rights to natural resources. Beromland cannot be an exception. All the Fulani asks for is grass, water and respect for his life and property. Nothing more. He is not interested in competing with the Berom in politics, education or trade. Almost all African tribes he visited so far have granted him those rights and that of passage through their territory to wherever his masters would take him.

If only the Berom, as many other tribes did, would appreciate the burden that his Fulani brother carris and allow him to graze the uncultivated fields without harassment or attempt to evict him, peace with the Fulani would be as easy as breathing air.

Is this a special demand that the Fulani are obliged to beg for? No. The Fulani are Nigerians as much as any other group. Every tribe in Nigeria traces its origin somewhere outside the country and from where, according to its elders, it immigrated. The Berom, for example, trace their origins to Niger Republic! Admittedly, the Fulani are the most recent arrivals, starting just some 500 years ago, but that does not make them less bonafide citizens of Nigeria. He is a native of Nigeria. By official connotation, a native is any non-European living in the country at the time of British conquest. The Fulani is entitled to constitutional rights like any other Nigerian. He may be living alone in the bush, with his nuclear family and herd of cows. He may be illiterate with no knowledge of the constitution or common law. He may be weak, without a political body supporting him or protecting his rights. But Nigerian he remains, undeniably.

Over the past 400 years, the Fulani herdsmen have lived on the Plateau peacefully with all other native groups without any major conflict. They have contributed to its rural economy, including jobs for families whose members they employ to attend to their cows. They have raised many children of other tribes and benefitted them in various ways. A story that Governor Jang is never tired of telling people is how he was raised by a Fulani family and sponsored his early education. Now he is paying them back with deaths and destruction! His majesty, the Gbong Gwom of Jos, Mr. Gyang Buba, ascribes his Fulani surname to a Fulani neighbour his family once lived with. And so on. The two examples speak volumoft about the peaceful coexistence that has developed over the centuries between the Fulani and other tribes on the Bauchi Plateau - as it is properly called in geography.


Escalation

The Fulani believe that the recent escalation in the crisis is caused by a new Berom strategy. Knowing very well from previous major encounters that his people are no match to the Fulani even with the resources of government at his disposal (he once offered to buy their men braziers when thousands of them fled their towns after their defeat in one of those encounters last year) and neither can he convince the federal government to withdraw the soldiers from the streets, Jang has now resorted to using the JTF under its new Commander to fight his proxy war against the Fulani. If one commander could decline the offer, he can be replaced by another whoEqui would take it.

And of taking it many people are accusing the new JTF commander, Major-General Henry Ayoola. Thus, under him, the death of a promiscuous, heavy drinking mobile policeman under the JTF and the loss of his rifle at Karaku were instantly, without any investigation, hanged on the neck of all the Fulani and troops went on mass destruction of their homes and cows in Bangwai and dozens of their villages in Barikin Ladi local governments. Yet, when the Fulani complained of the destruction, the JTF publicly denied knowledge of such attacks. And it continues to claim ignorance on what is now common knowledge.

Are we witnessing a repeat of Maiduguri here? Every rational Nigerian will agree that the strategy of using crass force to settle civilian issues does not work. This was the mistake that the Nigerian authorities made in the case of Boko Haram and for which the country is paying dearly today. When compared to the international brotherhood of the Fulani, Boko Haram could just be a drop in the ocean.

Government is punishing the victims of the Berom genocide agenda. Why is the conflict in Plateau State now reduced to Berom territory only? Are they the only tribe among whom the Fulani live in the state? Why would, in the quest for peace, must the homes of innocent citizens be destroyed? Why is the JTF denying them the return to their ruined homes? How can the death of a policeman and the loss of his rifle justify these human rights abuses? Let us not forget that the conflict with Boko Haram started by the shooting of their members at a funeral procession who did not wear a motorcycle helmet. Is riding a motorcycle without a helmet enough a justification to kill many Nigerian citizens?

If the JTF had taken it's time investigate the killer of the promiscuous policman, the crisis would not have escalated in the first place. The lives of the Senator and many others would have been saved. But many people believe that it is an agenda.


The Agenda

There is a general understanding amongst the residents of the State that only the state governor has the key to its peace. That key doe not have a duplicate. Unfortunately, as General Jeremiah Husaini (rtd), one of the elders in the state, said this morning over the BBC, the governor is not disposed to the peaceful resolution of the crisis. He impervious to advice, said the retired general.

One may dismiss Husaini as a persistent Tarok opponent of governor Jang. He is not, at least on this case. Though the crisis started before his tenure, by 2007 when Jang was sworn in as the governor, most of the ethno-religious conflicts in the state have ceased. Dariye’s dream of cleansing the Plateau of Hausa-Fulani had clearly proved unattainable and abandoned especially after he was rustled by Obasanjo and the EFCC. People of various ethnic groups were moving about freely in the state without any hindrance. Business returned. Some who fled had even started returning. However, Jang renewed the genocidal dream by committing himself to three Berom-centred goals: developing his Berom homeland, cleansing it of the much bigoted Hausa-Fulani, and vesting all political power in Jos and its environs in his tribesmen. This is why the entire state is quiet, except Beromland.

Jang has largely succeeded on all the three objectives. At the expense of human lives, he has made other groups inconsequential in the scheme of things in Jos and its environs. That was his strategy behind conducting the local government election of 2008 against all security advice. He has also built a good road network in his entire Beromland, to the envy of other ethnic groups in the state. The roads leading even to remotest Berom villages are either completed and asphalt rendered or about to be completed. He has, as we noted earlier, also succeeded in expelling most Hausas and many sedentary Fulani from most of the tin mining settlements in Beromland. The only people he is yet to beat are the cattle Fulani.

Expelling the Fulani from Beromland is a record that Jang would like to achieve but from what is going on, the Fulani have vowed never to allow him win that gold medal. So long as grass will continue to grow there, so long as the land and property the Fulani legitimately acquired remain there, so long as their lives and property are vandalized without the protection from government, these African gypsies, from all indications, will continue to fight for their dear lives and those of their masters. Their basic constitutional rights are the minimum that I know they, like any other group of Nigerians, will never compromise on.


The Road to Peace

The road to peace therefore is one: the constitution as I have always argued. Let the dream of cleansing Beromland of Fulani end in the heart of Jang and he will find the Fulani instantly willing to embrace peace. This has happened in other parts of the state. As the governor, Jang has vowed to protect the lives and property of all Nigerians under his domain. He must keep that promise. Only then will Berom and Fulani live in peace. Otherwise, this crisis will last for generations to come.

As a side note, the JTF under its new commander must not be partial on this matter. If it cannot protect the Fulani, it must not join forces with Jang to eliminate them and their property. Attempting to do so will definitely lead to loss of more lives of Berom and their supporters. The Fulani cannot be eliminated. They have never been.

Let me assure all concerned that in spite of the ongoing brutality the Fulani will survive this crisis. So far they have survived the hostilities of ancient Mali, Songhai, Gobir, and Borno empires. Some of those empires they crippled, some they stamped out completely in spite of their small number, and with the rest they were able to live peacefully until the present time. In all those instances, they were equipped with nothing but three things that nobody can deny them: the valour of the nomad, two, the strength that they derive from their unmatched group feeling – or ‘asabiyya as Ibn Khaldun would call it and, three, the strong thirst for justice. That group feeling has been responsible for the defeat of most sedentary dynasties in the past. It is also the key to the survival of the nomads today. As for their thirst for justice, they are never satisfied until it is served in full measure their aggressors, either by the authorities or by them.

The power of Jang cannot match that of Ahmad Sekou Toure, the longest serving Mallinke President of Guinea who revived the hate of his ancestor, Sonni Ali. Toure assassinated and murdered in cold blood over thirty thousands Fulani intellectuals, leaders and tribesmen during his 26-year tenure. But they survived him, using their estrangement to work harder until they gained control of over 80% of the Guinean economy today. Jang, in spite of the support he is able to buy, is not more than a child trying to break a coconut with his teeth. Ridding Beromland of Fulani can only be temporary and certainly makes it more vulnerable to attacks by their brothers from other parts of West Africa. Take this to the bank.

As a minority in the area and on the disadvantaged side in the conflict, the Fulani were not successful in initiating peace with the Berom in the past. All their attempts were rebuffed. It is the move of the more preponderant and government-backed Berom that would be successful, given their monopoly over land and state resources. But the Berom, even if they want peace, are under the spell of their emperor, Jang. He controls their paramount chief and their youths. He has a choice between peace and violence.

The choice of violence, on the one hand, is not a wise one because violence is a two-way commodity: Pain on this side, and pain on the other. With the egalitarian Fulani, you get just as much pain as you give him. The road to peace, on the other, is quiet and its results are three-dimensional: In this case, peace to the Berom, peace to the Fulani and peace to other Nigerians living on the Plateau.

With the support he enjoys from the press, his ethnic group, law enforcement agents, Plateau courts and the state treasury, Jang may foolishly choose to remain recalcitrant and prefer violence to peace. We pray that he one day sees the light, become wiser and listen to elders of the State such that the lives of to meddle into Plateau affairs.

Lastly, may peace be upon the leader who brings peace to his people. And already blessed are the people who seek justice, no matter the odds, without surrendering.

Bauchi,
12 July 2012


Important Update:

As at yesterday (13 July 2012) evening, things have calmed down after the JTF has destroyed Fulani homes in Riyom and Barikin Ladi local government areas. They did not kill any Fulani though. The Fulani, it is reported, got a wind of the invasion. Even last week when they used helicopters and when fires were exchanged, most of the JTF fire unfortunately fell on the favoured Beroms. I learnt from three independent sources that in the fights last week, the Fulani sustained only one death and two injuries.

You can see my point now. Jang can never be sure who will suffer most when he attempts to unleash violence on innocent people. I was speaking yesterday in Jos to someone a Jarawa from Yelwa who lost a brother when Berom youths killed 26 passengers at Haipang railway crossing last Sunday. Among the victims, he said only about six could be said to be Muslims. The rest from their looks were of different ethnicities now known to include some Tarok from lower Plateau. The youths were then just killing any Nigerian traveling on the highway. They have done this repeatedly since 2010. Nobody is arrested.

Whatever it is, one, violence is not the answer, but peace. Two, the gene of the Fulani cannot be eliminated on the Plateau. A clan of the Berom, according to Berom historians, originated from a Fulani ancestor. The Fulani have therefore already done the damage: their DNA is permanently stamped on the Plateau. And they will continue to share it with other Africans wherever they go.

LATEST (14 July 2012)


A quit notice was served the inhabitants of many Fulani settlements in Barikin Ladi and Riyom Local Government Areas this morning, signed by the Media Information officer. The text of the notice: 


(1) This is to inform the people residing in Barikin Ladi and Riyom Local Government Areas that a military operation is ongoing. The inhabitants of Mahanga, Kakuruk, Kuzen, Maseh and Shong 2 are to evacuate immediately with their property within the next 48hrs.


(2) Meanwhile, residents of Kura Falls, Kuzuk and Sharuk Rim of Gashish and Bachit districts respectively are enjoined not to panic and to be careful of their movement within the area and avoid places of military operation until further notice. People are enjoined to report any suspicious movement and activities in their areas.


(3) You are please requested to use your medium to disseminate this information to the general public. It is to be announced routinely throughout the period of the operation in order to avoid any hazard to human lives and property. Salisu Mustapha (Captain), Media and Information Officer (RESTRICTED).

Readers are left to judge for themselves.

58 comments:

Anonymous said...

If I may ask Dr Tilde, sir is BOko Haram same as fulani Herdsmen a.K.a gunsmen? Just like you I hate the blood spilling on the JOS PLATEAU. But I see in you an advocate of the revenge mission of the "Fulani Warriors" . A big hater of Jang and the berom people. We on the Jos plateau refuse to see this as a berom / fulani war. Our eyes are open that our once peaceful visitors now think the time is ripe to continue the conquest of their father Danfodio where he failed. They can't understand why the beautiful plateau should be home to people with blood of the "superior " fulani lineage. We cannot resolve to cheap propagandation to buy sympathy but we as a people ,berom and all othe citizen of plateau will defend our heritage with the last drop of our blood and let prosterity judge. Hope you heard of the dogo nahawa and other related attacks on the berom people and the gorrilla warfare claiming families daily at the mangu and bokkos area? I wish to rest my case but I bekieve in a just God let Him judge between the JOs plateau people and their oppressors.

Omar M. Tilde said...

tnk u sir 4 ur contribution. since jang and his ppl will not learn frm their mistakes den natural law of justice will provide a solution and now they have started noting and i hope and i pray insha allah d equation will be balanced. bcos anything done by man to man should be redress. our omar m. tilder

Anonymous said...

It is so unfortunate that up till now Jonah Jang is yet to realised his previous mistakes and still vows to commit the same. Only when he realised that his people cannot live without accommodating others his people will be in peace. And to the media and the JTF, I wonder why if an Attack is launched on the Fulani nobody knows the attackers but when an attack is carried out on the Berom, without any investigation, the Fulani are the culprits. Please let's have a balanced treatment for a peaceful Nigeria.

Thank you sir for this wonderful insight.

Anonymous said...

who says danfodio failed? and where? pls go and read the history of fulani empire and stop displaying your ignorance.

Kamal said...

The red alart, bettr 2 settle 2 avoid d future

Anonymous said...

Never has anyone before you ever succinctly bring the real issue to light. Let peace reign so long as social justice reign. Remained blessed Mr. Tilde.

Anonymous said...

Nobody can defeat or harm Fulanis,because all luxuries of life are not his needs: he only needs his cattle. Let us go and see and in sha Allah we will mobilise and fight back.

Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde said...

@Anonymous above. Sir, your first comment is expected. It is true that I have never hidden my Fulani identity, as he is trying to hide his and claiming "citizen of Plateau". What is wrong in being a warrior for your people? At least no Fulani leader has offered to buy braziers for his people. Jang at least has made the offer after the battle for Barikin Ladi that saw his people displaced for the first time into "refugee" camps on the very land they claim is theirs. It is a tragedy, but a self-inflicted one, the result of a delusion that you can live alone in today's Nigeria because your tribe has produced the governor.

Yes. You can say I hate Jang. But honestly that is only because he has disappointed me. After being twice a military governor and a senior Air Force officer, he cannot lead his people to peace and prosperity but consign them to a fate where they spend the nights on mountains and trees for the simple fear of the Fulani. Haba! Is this what other military officers did to their people? What type of soldier is this? Women and children sleeping on mountains and trees in this cold? People unable to tender their farms in this rainy season for just the fear of the enemy? People who are so terrified that they cannot even approach the corpses of their dead and bury them? What a pity! Why is he so apathetic that he should court them this fate? Why did he abandoned his palace in Du village and returned to Rayfield, leaving his tribesmen facing the wrath of the Fulani that they previously enjoyed attacking mercilessly on many occasions, killing their children, carting away their cows and burning their huts to ashes? I think he is the first person that deserves a brazier. His Berom tribesmen are at least courageous enough to show up at the battlefield. Is there any fault if someone hates such a person? Let him bring peace to his people and I will be the first to love him.

Please sir, stop deluding yourself that the fight in Berom dominated areas is one between the "visitors" and "citizens of the Plateau". As a Berom, I expect you to stand by your people and their cause, if you believe in it. Roping in other groups will not change the equation on ground. Is it why you chose to identify yourself as anonymous? Pick courage and answer your name sir. It is more dignifying.

I am happy that no Fulani is so weak not to own up to the fact that he is fighting to protect HIS life and property. And in doing so, he is courageous enough to stand on his own, without roping in other groups. He is strong enough to carry his cross alone.

May peace be on all who desire peace and work for it. May the Plateau and other parts of Nigeria enjoy peace. Amen.

Bamanga said...

Allah sene Dr Tilde this article is timely given the prevailing situation on the Plateau. Since the assumption of power by Jang in 2007 the crises had been escalating by the day and with the massive support he and cohorts are getting especially from the Christian/Southern dominated press and the military, peace on the Plateau is far from been realised. A fulani naturalis will naturally avenge the wrongs done to him no matter how long it takes. Let Beroms learn from ethnic minorities in Adamawa and Taraba States (Yungur, Kona, etc)who suffered devastating defeats in the hands of the Fulanis. Let me repeat the advice given to the JTF by Maudo, Dr Tilde that they should remain neutral in situations like this else they should be prepared for a confrontation that will be worse than that of Boko Haram...Allah hoinu.
Lastly, I will like draw the attention of day dreamers on the Plateau that never in history had any tribe defeated or repelled the fulani warriors during the Jihad. Dr we will appreciate if you can write and enlighten them more on this topic in the nearest future.

Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde said...

Charles Oyedeji 9:11pm Jul 13
Thanks for this piece Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde, it makes for very good reading. It also comes at a time when I have been investigating different opinions about this simmering timebomb upon which Nigeria sits carelessly, as always, without the authorities doing the needful until a public figure or politician is consumed by the inferno, or even worse still, when mass killings of innocent people begins. Having said this, your argument appears a bit linear sir, as I feel it approaches the problem solely from the viewpoint of the needs of the Fulanis and their cattle. There is a sociology maxim that says that one man's freedom ends where another man's own begins and as an academician, I am sure you can point us into deeper understanding about social dynamics. I have heard people complain about the Fulani herd trampling upon farmlands, thereby ridding the local populace of their food crops and this complaint actually came from villages in SW Nigeria, somewhere in Osun State, not the green highlands of Jos. For me, I have never liked Jang or supported him but nothing in the world should justify the killing of innocent women and children, especially if they are unharmed, be they Fulanis, Beroms or whatever tribe they may be. Grazing is an extremely intense activity to the point that it is considered to be one of the greatest contributor to global warming. There are more human beings on earth today, more civil structures and buildings, more roads and generally speaking, I think it is afor the Fulanis to embrace a little bit of change and move with the time a little bit. There is not going to be enough freedom of movement and green grass as there used to be 300 years ago and as you said rightly, this journey can only lead them down south towards South Africa's Orange River. The question is, must they leave destruction in the wake of their passage? I am sure that Fulanis and the local populace can reach a compromise but it is too late now in Jos, especially as politicians and genocide have now been involved. My own recommendation is to set up cattle ranches across Nigeria and the introduction of formal education to the Fulanis, so that they too can understand that respect and tolerance is mutual. It is a give and take.

Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde said...

Thank you for your contribution Mr. Charles, objective as always. All what you said about grazing reserves, settling the Fulani has been tried before but those facilities were encroached on by sedentary populations throughout the country in search for farmland and housing. It is even good that they are nomadic, honestly, otherwise, the conflict would have been more intense. Wherever there is grazing, there is bound to be some trampling, mostly by mistake, few deliberately. But in most places there are indigenous legal avenues for redress. The cases where these become full scale conflicts, you will agree, are few.

I reared cattle as a child. I have slept in the bush with them. I used to drink directly from their udder. I still keep a herd. So I know the difficulties these guys are facing. No one is ready to bring them relief. Anything agriculture goes to crop farmers. And now someone is vandalizing their properties and killing their families, and Nigeria is expecting them to keep quiet? Haba!!!!!!!

The case on the plateau is different, as I tried to show. It is not about encroachment into farmlands, at all. It is GENOCIDE, people in power using government resources to expel or liquidate others belonging to different ethnic groups. The media in Nigeria is not honest on this. We who are on the ground know this bery well. The Fulani in the bush who live alone and dispersed are made to bear the brunt of the conflict in Jos town. The Berom inflicted very inhuman cruelty on these innocent souls for nine consecutive years, without the authorities saying anything. No compensation, no prosecution, no arrests, no relief, nothing. Never was the voice of the Fulani entertained until when I intervened after Dogo Nahauwa and faced the NSA with their plight. And all this is happening under the instigation of a person who the nation wasted its resources to train and accord him the previlege of leadership? Haba.

Elite that are not directly affected by the conflict can continue theoretizing their utopia. Those on ground cannot afford that luxury. They can't sit back and see them attacked for a full decade and government does nothing. This is not natural. All mankind has a need for justice as they need food and shelter. They must look for it wherever it is and attain it through whatever means. It is only then they can survive. Any other grammar at that point is luxury.

In spite of all that happened to them, wallahi the Fulani are ready for peace. May be even the Berom too because right now they can't sleep in their houses or farm their crops anymore. They pass their nights on trees and in mountains, under this severe low temperatures. I am sure they don't like it either. But Jang is not ready for peace. He is their paramount emperor. He has the resources. So they and their leaders obey him.

Sorry, I sound strong on this subject because I am directly affected. Forgive me.

Thank you sir.

Aliyu

Mannir said...

yes, Dr Tilde, let us bare our mind for everyone to know! We have been victimized and blamed at same time. The nigerian press is already compromised and highly partial. But at least our little efforts to let the world know, no matter how little, the true situation in the northern nigeria will lead to better understanding by some. The only sad thing is that our leaders (political, traditional) never identify and associate with our course. May Allah bless you and increase you in knowledge.

Anonymous said...

Kim Gwott 8:46pm Jul 13
Sir Dr Tilde, you mis inform the teaming populace with your assertions. First of all, the fulani's had started the mid night attack on the Berom villages before Jonah Jang became Governor of Plateau State. As a matter of factlets not forget their ill fated attacks in villages in Wase, Kanam & also areas of Langtang & Shendam. The fulani's have even attacked Miango & other areas too but you choose to single out the Berom's for your write up. FOR YOUR INFORMATION SIR, INDEED NIGERIANS KNOW THAT IT IS NOT A BEROM/HAUSA & FULANI FIGHT BUT A PLOT BY THE NORTH TO PENETRATE THE PLATEAU. Let us not forget how so recent former Governor Joshua Dariye was the problem on the Plateau, today tis Jonah Jang & tomorrow Jang Successor will again be pointed out as the problem on the Plateau by the Fulani's.......

Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde said...

@Kim. Thank you for your reply, sir. But sincerely you haven't answered the questions I raised: Why is the conflict now reduced to Berom dominated areas? If the Fulani are genetically troublesome, why is there no significant conflict between them and other tribes in other local govt areas in the state? Isn't imperative that Jang leads by example, by reconciling with the Fulani before any other? Sir, this problem will continue unless we face reality. The JTF, I am sure, has learnt enough to advise the Berom to water down their ambitions. Please, let us embrace peace.

Anonymous said...

Charles Oyedeji Thanks for the rejoinder Dr. Tilde. The view appears clearer to me now and as Nigerians, we suffer from a deficiency of truth in every aspect due to this "our daily bread" democracy we have chosen to practice. Even the murder of a Senator was packaged as heart attack, all in the attempt to preserve their glutonous appetites and sticky hands which led them to politics in the first place. I think that the time is ripe for elite Fulanis and Berom people who are well educated like yourself to com together and drag the FGN to ICCJ in the Hague, otherwise, this will not abate anytime soon. Many thanks again for shedding more light on the issue dear Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde

Anonymous said...

I have said this severally without equivocation, Jonah Jang is not fit to be a councillor not to talk of an LGA Chairman. Imagine an old fool like that a tribalist and Religious bigot being a Governor yet he can accuse a fine and detribalised officer like the present IGP of being a Religious bigot, if u check very well all d enforcement officers posted to Jos, the only ones he has issues with are the Muslims.Why his no more complaining of d present CP and STF commander? Simply cos they re not muslims and are tools he can use to achieve his evil machinations.God will pay him and his generations back in their coins period.

Anonymous said...

More grease to your elbow Dr. Allah ya yawaita mana irinku masu fadar abin da suka fahimta a matsayin Gaskiya komai dacinsa. this is exactly what we lack, our intellectuals choose to keep quite while our people are denied their fundamental rights as human beings, just to be called moderate and peace loving people, while those on the other side mobilize any thing at his disposal,like government agencies, security and Media to fight us and portray us as the Culprits.
I hope our intellectuals will rise to their responsibility and use their intellect in fighting for justice. May Jang and co hearken to the advice given

Ahmed Goringo said...

It is a good write up Tilde keep it up with the good work .

Custodian said...

Facts are sacred comment is free. I sympathise with those who are incapable of understanding the Jos conflict but claim authority on its denouement. Assuming the conflict is a about Jang, the so called superior Fulani warriors and the Beroms, should we then assume that the Boko Haram is a Fulani agenda to protect themselves from other ethnic groups including the Kanuris (whose Shehu was nearly killed today along with the deputy governor)? I wonder how justice is achieved in promoting resort to violence as a the only means of attainment. Like most bigoted commentators, the author displayed a shallowness that mocks his academic standing. After accepting that the conflict transcends the Jang administration, he still felt justified insisting that the sustainability of the conflict lies with Jang. It seems he must have been inflicted with selective amnesia. Or else how could he soon forget that some LGAs including the conflict epicentres of B.Ladi, Riyom, Jos South and Jos North were visit with mayhem even under emergency rule coordinated from Abuja. He could not blame Abuja. The author could serve his masters better in a different enterprise than this vocation of serving poison and seeds of discord. If truly Dr. Tilde values peace, he would have observed that Jang's position is transient, just like now he is discussing Dariyeh in the past tense. Achieving should be a project beyond Jang but a holistic cause pillared on sincerity. But like I said elsewhere, conflicts like those of Jos are big business with all kinds of characters falling over themselves to cash in. Unfortunately, in a country governed by poverty, the likes of Dr Tilde are available to the highest bidder even if that means mis-representation of facts!

Shehuwa said...

Thank u for for this exposé, let all nd saundry be forwarned; all the fulani man requires is d freedom to access grass for his cattle with out hindrance. Unjustifyble attacks would definitely trigger reprisals wwithout end. We are naturally peace loving, but never docile.The birom in conjunction with the JTF are starting something the plateau cannot contain, all wwe want is justice, peace nd above all the rule of law!!

Bashir Kano. said...

Well written,very sound and educative piece. you are not economical with the truth 'cos you said it all. May ur b3 never low.

Anonymous said...

Everybody know that Jang is the problem in the plateau. And Dr Tilde, I assuredly tell you that even the Beroms are tired of Jang. I lived in Jos Plateau for a year as a part of my training program and only then I realized the kind of hate idea planted on them by their political leaders. A typical Berom like any other person in Nigeria is a peace loving fellow, but a usual politician-driven hate crime is what is taking Nigeria this far. Jang is one of the most stupid and dangerous specie living with us today and I swear he will reap what he is sowing.

Unknown said...

Abubakar Uba
This is a wonderful analysis of fact that may be viewed from different perspective depending on the personal opinion and sentiment of the reader. Only those who have objective mind and objectivity happened to be their course of intervention to bring peace back again to plateau will have a proper digestion. It is not what you are that holds you back, but a denial of who you are. Your tribe or race is never an issue but your attitude. Be an agent of peace!!!!!!! Thank you Dr Tilde for the contribution

Unknown said...

Dr Tilda,as honest to an extent as your perspective is on this issue, I must say that your suggestion for peace doesn't come from a standpoint of a patriotic Nigerian, but as one driven by sentiment, filled with hatred.
I'll advice you see things more from a perspective that is unbiased. Because you doing the same thing our fathers did. They were never concerned about the general welfare of the Nigerian people but about their tribes and religion. I expect as an enlightened fellow, a more refined approach to sensitive issues as this, instead of stirring up more hatred and strive, of which we obviously have enough.
Thank you

Unknown said...

Dr Tilda,as honest to an extent as your perspective is on this issue, I must say that your suggestion for peace doesn't come from a standpoint of a patriotic Nigerian, but as one driven by sentiment, filled with hatred.
I'll advice you see things more from a perspective that is unbiased. Because you doing the same thing our fathers did. They were never concerned about the general welfare of the Nigerian people but about their tribes and religion. I expect as an enlightened fellow, a more refined approach to sensitive issues as this, instead of stirring up more hatred and strive, of which we obviously have enough.
Thank you

Abubakar Sadiiq said...

Thank you Dr. Tilde with this your enlightened piece.
Many could not know this before.
As we know, truth is always bitter. Some people may feel bad for this discourse, but the fact remains fact.
Whoever dare to ask why this crisis is reduced to Berom predominant area, can see it in the justification of all that Dr. Tilde made clear.
It is surprising that here is a tribe (tBerom) that enjoys all previleges of life in other states, but could not welcome others to their home place. Berom people are sort of people that are fond of saying, '' this or that person is not an indigene! '', while they themselves have history of migration! But then if one could ask a fulani man or woman there in Plateau state, '' for how long you have been here?'', believe me, he/she would tell one that he saw his/her grandfather there! Yet the talk from Berom side always remain, ''this or that is not an indigene''.
We just pray for peace to reign in Nigeria everywhere. But that can only happen when justice is done to all especially from the side of leaders.

Anonymous said...

My father was not berom... But for flogging one of the cattle that "invaded" his cabbage farm, he got hit by an arrow twice (on his small farm) 27 stab wounds...he died and then the fulani slit his throat and allowed d cattle eat as much as their bellies could have. My younger brother watched from a distance. Fast forward 10 years later..my brother is now 19 my mom is visiting someone who had lost her husband in a berom village and in the night they...family and mourners are butchered

Hashim Abdallah Malammadori said...

Allah-akbar, Dr. was once a 'gainako' a herdsman.
As you've said, Dr., You're directly affected this time around, of course that's why you sound strong and, we're suppose to sound so if not to draw the attention atleast, to talk, but out of our conscious/subconscious anger because, enough's enough! We're affected always in any of the Plateau crisis esp. under the fallacious dream of wiping out hausa/fulani (muslims) the 2 in 1 tribes, undeniably we're becoming one, I am an example, typically -as a mixed child of the 2. Although we take only 1 parent (father's side is considered) but any reasonable can't deny either. Therefore, as (I call myself) 1 of the typical symbols of the hated and enviable north (as we obviously see displayed by inobjective and sentiment based south press), I'm affected always and it's becoming directly everyday, that's why, we sound... Maybe ;(.
You and the like (active, objective and professinal journalists) only can be advocate of truth and facts that will lead us to peace living.
This is in support of why/how we/you sound strong and, I condole/console how you're affected directly.

Hammadu Kakara said...

I will come back to this later this evening. Suffice to say now that it is a brilliant article and the responses too are good. I would have loved to comment now, but I am a rush. But suffice to say that the Fulani (Particularly the Pastoralist Fulanis) are "a people betrayed". They are despised by their urban cousins, and hated with passionate intensity by their rural neighbours who do not hesitate to vent their venomious anger on the Pastoralist Fulanis for perceived oppression by the urban Hausa/Fulani. I stop here.

Hammadu.

Anonymous said...

This is jihad not against d berom nation alone but a war aimed at annihilating christians and christianity on d plateau. The beroms are not d only people being attacked by d fulanis on d plateau. Bassa people were attacked,mangu people were recently attacked by d same fulanis who are doing d bidding of d hausa who wants to expand their territory beyond river niger and are having a difficult battle of all times on d plateau. We shouldnt b deceived dat wat is happening in jos is a berom problem but a grand plan to move us out of our ancestral home which will not work

Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde said...

@Anonymous directly above.

I am happy with your comment because it accords me the chance to register on the blog the usual lies peddled to deceive other Nigerians -especially Christians - that the Hausa and Fulani want to drive all plateau natives out of the Plataeu; it is a jihad; and other rubbish. I think that argument is no longer salable even to other plateau natives. The Berom should embrace peace. Peace is one kind of a thing: you have to embrace it before you get it. Pointing at it alone doesn't yield it. Otherwise, violence can only consign the Berom to shelters on trees, hills and hunger. The Fulani have pleaded for peace in the past but it was rebuffed many times. The rustling and poisonong of their cows continued and so were the attacks on their settlements. What can they do but rise and defend themselves where they can?

Anonymous said...

Let me start by stating categorically dat I am a Muslim and also an indigene of plateau state frm Pankshin. Just recently an igbo man in a taxi pointed at me and to me to remove dat stupid vail I was wearing coz this is not Hausa land. An igbo man!!! Not his fault coz d Plateu leadership has succeded in telling d world dat the state belongs to xtians and dat the Hausas r seeking for xpansion and domination wen it is d other way round. Plateau xtians r d ones seeking for domination by sidlining d many Muslims in Pankshin, Dangi, Wase, Kanam, Mangu, Barikin Ladi and Jos. They insist JOS means Jesus Our Saviour. Jang talks as if there ar no Muslim indigenes in d state but now that they have met their match: the Fulanis, they r calling Plateau people to unite, we can only unite against the state govt

Anonymous said...

Part 2 of my comment...my mom along with 11 others where murdered by the fulani in one night! I ask you tilde were these killings justified? All because of the right of cows to eat grass or cabbage or lettuce? Haba Dr Tilde... Intellectual fulanis like you should be able to draw a line between what is justified and what is not? Your write up is laced with hatred for the alleged oppressors. Dr tilde in 9 years I lost a father and a mother and a grandfather to the death by the fulani and you say this justified? I'll keep a tab on your blog to see if your concience can direct your intellectual fingers to give me a valid reason for this senseless murders.

Anonymous said...

You make it sound as if the Fulani herdsmen are simple peace loving nomads whose only interest is their survival and that of their cattle, but evidence abound all over the country of their violent nature to which you have also alluded to in your write ups. The same way you presented the book haram criminals as the victims of government policy and high handedness. When are you and your ilks in the North going to accept responsibility for your lack of foresight and religious bigotry? Why can't we have forest reserve aided by the technology of modern river basin to create abundant grazing ground for your Fulani brothers and their cattles. The same way you refused to educate your youths but instead brainwashed them with an ideology that is so backward and unreasonable as to make them desire death than life.
Tilde, you are a hypocrite who shout Allah Akbar in the day time and do ignoble things in secret. You are worse than Boko Haram. It is people like you that should be wiped out of Nigeria if we must have peace.
It is even a shame that you call yourself a Doctor. May Allah in his infinite mercy rid us of charlatans like you. Ameen

Basheer said...

Dr. Tilde, I'm yet to read a write up from your goodself that is no objective. Please keep it up and God continue to protect you and your likes. The situation of governance in Plateau state is,to say the least, unfortunate. However,any child that denies his mother going to sleep, he too can not sleep;priod! May Plateau and Nigeria as whole regain peace and harmony among citizens.

Unknown said...

Many thanks for the writer and also the commentators. Enougth is enougth. Jang as a governor in the state is just like HIV/aids in the state.

Anonymous said...

Good write up tilde. But allow them they will suffer for this economically in the long run.

Kunle Ayo said...

The problem is not limited to plateau alone sir. Just last week, fulani herdsmen were in conflict with yorubas in Yelwa local govt of Ogun state. The problem wit Fulanis is that they believe that where ever the land is green is theirs to occupy even if it's my father's backyard. Sir, with all due respect, shud this be right?
Why is the problem limited to Berom in Plateau? The answer is, there is an agenda been served by the sponsors of the Fulani herdsmen. Don't blame for this conspiracy theory, the fact on ground point to this fact. Yes, they have sponsors from the core north. The attacks on the 10 villages were too cordinated to have been from herdsmen alone. Even members of JTF were reported to have run upon hearing the sounds of the gun. Jonah Jang high-handedness and tribalism are not also helping matters. I also partly blame him for the problems on Plateau. Berom farmers are also inalienably entitled to the produce of their lands, don't they? Why should Fulanis in their quest for survival eliminate other people's rights to survive? Dr. Tilde, stop been one-sided. I know you are a Fulani but then try to also point out the faults of the herdsmen. Stop dignifying their wrongs. At one point or the other, Fulanis are victimised but not in all cases.
On your suggested path to peace, I beg to disagree. You are probably wrong. How can you reach a compromise with the Fulanis? They don't forgive neither do they forget. They believe in total elimination. They believe extremely in the superiority of the laws of nature - Let the weak perish while the strong survive (pls correct me if am wrong). Your suggestion can only work if you can serve as a link between the 2 parties. Otherwise, Berom had better known that the only path to peace is WAR.

Unknown said...

@anonymous
Dr tilda talks as if he is oblivious to attacks by fulani herdsman in other parts of the country. Places like Nassarawa, Benue, Cross River etc. His perspective on this issue is unbaised to an extent. I would also love his perspective on these other attacks and then lets know if their govrrnors are responsible.
Notwithstanding, i still agree with him on the point that Gov Jang has a closed system of government.

Anonymous said...

Common Sense is truly not common as far as this post is concerned!

Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde said...

Thank you all for your comments.

I have deleted some abusive ones though.

I think I need to write a short piece on how several peace talks initiated by the Fulani were turned down by Berom leaders, just for the information of my readers. I was central to the biggest one which took place in 2010. It convened after Dogo Nahauwa under the auspices of the offices of the NSA, the Sultan and the Gbong Gwom.

I still believe peace is the answer. Now that the Berom have seen that they cannot win the war, perhaps, they may be ready to embrace peace. That is if the cleansing agenda is abandoned. How can the Berom negotiate with people that are not Nigerians, asked their paramount Emperor, Jang. Imagine.

Some readers are accusing me of prejudice. I know too much about this conflict to sit on the fence. My inconsequential pen is a voice for the weak. The Nigerian press is there for the strong and the sacred - Jang, his money and his people. I am not cut for the ambivalence of the Nigerian elite when my people are undergoing genocide. I am sorry.

Umar T said...

Dr tilde, ur article and responses are apt, but tone down on the emotions. Allah saka.

Rilwan said...

Let all peace loving Nigerians pray with sincerity that whoever is the one militating against peace on the plateau and Nigeria at large, May God Almighty destroy him and his supporters.

Tahir Abubakar said...

Thanks Dr. Tilde for your indept information.It is important for Jang and his cohorts,Biroms, know that Hausa/Fulani can not be eliminated in Jos, and as a matter of fact, anywhere! As rightly pointed out by Dr, the Fulanis have never rely on anybody for their protection. They protected themsleves in pass and they will do so now and in future.It is also important to note that, if only a race can be easily eliminated,Palatines could have been eliminated since 1948. And if only displacing 1500 people in four Villages only is not a genocide, then what took place in Bosnia and Rwanda is not also a genocide.

Anonymous said...

Am a fulani with a mother from Nassarawa state and I just can't help agreeing with some of the commentators above about the complicity of my people in some of the conflicts. Wether we accept it or not, Dr a lot of our brethrens are ignorant, crude and can be very selfish e.g just some few years back, a maternal Uncle of mine was nearly slauthered in his farm in Kadarko, Nassarawa state by a fulani simply because my Uncle talked to the fulani Man against letting his cows graze on his farm, just last month a lot of Alago, Migili n Gwandara villages in Nassarawa state were invaded by fulanis for the same reasons above.what am trying to show here is what u Dr are deliberately ignoring and in the process causing more hatred amongst people.A commentator above presented an argument about his family members being killed in cold blood but so far I hv not seen even a word of sympathy from u or any of the fulani warriors on the Net. Do those people deserve to die like that, are fulanis completely innocent,etc these are some of the issues u r suppose to be talking about not bragging about our ability to revenge.violence only breeds violence and as the Hausas say " in ka san farkon fitina baka san karshen sa ba" everyone would suffer in the event of any conflict. Allah hoinu

Anonymous said...

@ Dr. Tilde, you have tabled your facts and arguements on this lingering issue facing the Plateau...You are pure Fulani, but I also have Fulani blood running in my vein,and of South-West origin....The question that suffices, Is that why does it have to be the Fulani's all the time???? Your arguements seem loop-sided and biased,dignifying the Fulanis's and his 'masters' right to graze....I lived on the Plateau too and very well understand how difficult and troublesome the Fulani heardsmen are.....an earlier contributor mentioned that it will get to a point where the Fulani herdsman will claim right to every land with green grass including his father's backyard....and that was my experience....the stubborn fulani man will lead his cattle to graze in my father's backyard....being driven severally but still makes his way back and cause damage to our pop-corn and other plants...Can this trend happen in any part of the North,by any other trinbe like the Yoruba or Ibo! NO SIR! Its high time you and your herdsmen brothers come to terms with reality and learn to know and abide by your bounds....Sir, you are an academician of repute and I expect you to argue and present your lines without trying to justify the antecedents of your fulani history....How I wish Gov. Lawal of Kwara State (of blessed memories) was still alive...they Afonja's were victims of the inhumanity of the Fulani's selfish escapades.....as an academician,I espect you to desist from inferred blackmail and empty threats, as this can also amount to TREASONABLE offences against the Nigerian State... Your pronouncements and tone is very inciting and prefer you make your points and demands plain and candid, rather than breathing revenge and vengence....because I need grass for my cattle 'animals' doesn't mean I will trample on others means of livelihood..in the middle-belt,in the south-west, in the south-south, in the south-east, one name keeps recurring...and that is the Fulani! Why them always! Are they the only tribe in the world...they always cause trouble wherever they go...you obviosly grew up with this mind set,hence your bias! It may just have been you that tresspassed into my father's backyard on the Plateau or wherever you claim to have raised your cattle....If you had been shot in the leg then, I want to believe you would have argued more objectively! Jang is not the problem, but a Messiah, try to save his people from imminent anihilation from the visitors- the fulanis! Can a yoruba or ibo man who has was born and raised in core Northern States as I was ever lay claims to Sokoto, Kano or even Borno State? Never...no more....This is a grand plan by the Hausa-fulanis to forcefully occupy and spread territories, and if they can succeed, wikk rather destroy such a place! This is the summary of the Plateau issue.Maybe when the cattle are exterminated, the fulanis will learn to live and behave as human beings, rather than exhibit animalistic tendencies in this age and time.....Please Sir, excercise caution in subsequent write-ups as this flagrant justification of claiming territories and shedding innocent blood in the name of thirst and hunger for mere animals that end up in our bellies is unwarranted! The blood of these innocent women and children will never be in vain...Even God will not watch this happen for ever as you threthen....He will definitely avenge the blood of these harmless people...

Anonymous said...

What also is responsible for the continued existence of the state of Isreal, surrounded by enemies? The hand of a Mighty God! If not for Him, Isreal will have been completely destroyed. So the comment on palestian's existence is not enough for comparison in this case! Enough is enough! Where some people just take laws into their hands and cause damage and attacks senselessly.....esecially in the name of a Jihad or fighting for a deity.....The sanctity of the human life should be paramount as no man can boast of giving life ar creating a human being.....We are all created by God and have the right to life...God will avenge the cause of His children, no matter how long....And I believe it is already happening....that explains the curse on the North...too much innocent blood has been spilled repeatedly for so many years now..

allover said...

My mind exactly. What gIves the fulanI man the grazIng rIght where ever grass can be found IrrespectIve of the wIsh of tjthe owners of the land.

Anonymous said...

Dr look inward the problem is the fulanis. Why is it that everywhere we go all we here of is fulani people attacking other tribes. In ondo, Oyo, Nassarawa and Benue or is it Berom that are in this places I mentioned

Anonymous said...

Dr Tilde pls answer this questn. If Nigeria exist up 2 2500AD can a Fulani claim 2 b an indigene of Lagos base on residing 4 more than 500yrs in Lagos

Anonymous said...

Dr Tilde pls answer this questn. If Nigeria exist up 2 2500AD can a Fulani claim 2 b an indigene of Lagos base on residing 4 more than 500yrs in Lagos

Anonymous said...

Dr Tilde pls answer this questn. If Nigeria exist up 2 2500AD can a Fulani claim 2 b an indigene of Lagos base on residing 4 more than 500yrs in Lagos

Ahmed Badawi said...

Well written article Sir. I sincerely can't imagine nor comprehend the level of bitterness that is being portrayed. People that lived together and played together are now tasty for each others blood.........the actions of the JTF and Jang are worrisome and with an ineffective President, I am scared to imagine what
this country will be like come 2015.

Anonymous said...

Dr Tilde Question 2. Who meet who on plateau? Beroms or Fulanis. Just as juniors respect seniors, d late arrivals should respect d earlier occupants.

Anonymous said...

Steps Igbos took .1) Avoid contest wit older arrivals 4 political office. 2) Change biznes or its location when older arrivals start complaining.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Dr Tilde for this courageous piece that voiced out the concerns of Fulani minorities in the Plateau. I appreciate your deep feelings in tthis matter because like you, I too have fulani blood running in my veins. I equally believe that the directive of the FG to the Defense Headquarters to evacuate and ransack Fulani settlements in Plateau State is gross violation of the fundamental human rights of the fulani race in Nigeria. My advise is the Fulani elite should file their case to the ICC at Hague. Secondly, the fulani elite must wake up from slumber to redeem their kinsmen. They mudt put resources together to establish grazing reserves as businesses, and stop our brothers and sisters from their vagrancy. The world is changing fast, and so must we. If all our economic strength and display of ill-gotten wealth, we can't rescue our kins, then our wealth is useless. We may see more evacuationss and military actions in our communities. We should notforget that the rest of niigeria is now turning against us.

Sulaimon Hakeem Bolarinwa said...

To be honest, I am not familiar with happenings in Pleateau, so it is difficult for me to know who the aggressor is. The world is changing and it is time the Fulani elites look into how grazing is done in other climes and encourage their people to mend their ways...I am a from the SouthWest of Nigeria,the Fulanis are the aggressor most often than not,they always leave behind sorrow, tears and blood whenever people have any confrontation with them about the excesses of their cattles.

Babagana Gashi said...

This is indeed a good piece and very educative. We now know one side of the equation. The Fulani side. I wish someone will be objective enough to keep prejudice aside to narrate on the side of the Beroms. I believe the Fulanis are not innocent too but the have been voiceless and as a result they have been more victimised than other tribes within the plateau. There is no gain saying that Fulanis are undefeated and resilient, in this modern world, that was history, no one fights wars of land conquests anymore but of resources. Though the fight can be linked but there are simple solutions to this, provided the Governor is willing to dialogue.

Grazing lands can be identified and farming restricted if the govt is willing. Anyone found farming there can be prosecuted. But also farm lands should not be used for grazing by the herdsmen and anyone found with his cows should be prosecuted. That is easy.

For those raining insults on Dr. Tilde, I wish you have proffered solutions rather than abuses. No wonder Nigeria is where it is. We never think beyond our sentiments. Even Dr. Tilde unfortunately could not resist being swayed. The Fulanis also have their problems of being stubborn just like other tribes do. So do we go on killing one another for cows to exist? Do we go on killing one another just for the sake of superiority of race? On the other hand, how long shall we continue to be intolerant of each other because some people came to occupy and area before others? So who is a settler and who is indigenous? Are we not all settlers one way or another as history has shown? Does the constitution of Nigeria recognise this new coinage of "settler" that is making some people justify killing others? So why should a people be driven out of a place in this nation called Nigeria because they came later to stay in any given geographic entity? Ethnicity and superiority of race no longer matters in this world. It has gone down with primitiveness and apartheid. If humanity allows us to roam the world freely and live in peace with anyone, then we must uphold such. If the Fulani came later to the plateau it should not make him any less a citizen of the Nigerian State and that he does not deserve to survive there. Saying he is a settler is incorrect and inappropriate. Just the way the Beroms have settled their earlier does not take away the fact that they too can be referred to as settlers. Saying I am a Yoruba, Hausa or Igbo means nothing but mere IDs and symbols for descriptions. Bottom line is we are all humans. When people start by saying they identify with their tribe before being Nigerians, then we have a problem. So Jang should be a father for all in Plateau and Fulanis should respect the plight of others. Just like cattle raring is their life, so also is farming the life wire of many others. Bottom line? DIALOGUE, TOLERANCE, ACCOMMODATING each other and RESPECT!