Fulani herdsmen and victims’ lukewarm attitude

Tunde Temionu

Those who find the time to read about the Fulani Jihad and its politically motivated grazing in West Africa, Sudan, Morocco, Ethiopia and many African countries in the early centuries could relate the present bloody grazing in Nigeria, (particularly in the South) to the violence and conquest characteristics of the jihadists of yesteryears, and today’s Boko Haram.

History shows that the colonialists introduced western civilisation and Christianity to the South. Similarly, the Fulani Jihadists conquered the North and introduced Arab civilisation and Islam to it. So, the 1914 amalgamation was the offspring of divergent sources of civilisation. In the process, the complications of dualism disharmonised the elements of the conurbation of both civilisations. Owing to the lack of cognition of the divergent sources of civilisation, many southerners did not quickly take note of the Arab-oriented political and intellectual sophistication of the Fulani race.

In her book, A Tropical Dependency, Lady Lugard notes that throughout the history of the Sudan, the Fulani are found in ruling and important positions and that in every civilisation, there were Fulani judges, advisers to kings, and wives to persons in high positions. In Morocco at the time of the Mooriah Conquest, Mulley Hamed, Sultan of Morocco, had a favourite wife named Lella Aouada, who was a Fulani woman.

From all ramifications, Fulani conquest movement is formidable. It is on record that nearly all the attacks launched by Fulani were on their hosts, and were successful too. Although the Shehu of Bornu recorded a decisive victory over the Jihadists in 1808, history is not too explicit on the affinity between an ancient Fulani city in the central Sudan called “Borno” and the Borno in Northern Nigeria.

In addition, history feebly linked the Fulani ancestors to the Biblical Abraham; but historians have not been able to trace the original root of this powerful and politically focused wandering race.

Judging from the antecedent of the Jihad movers, the present trail of bloody grazing by Fulani herdsmen in the southern parts of Nigeria looks like a part of the long-time grand design to complete the jihad project of Uthman Danfodio.

And the objective of the Danfodio-led jihad was to rule from the north to the southern seashores. Tactically, the use of the Fulani herdsmen as the pathfinders in all conquest projects has not changed. Before the bloodthirsty herdsmen struck, their hosts did not see in them the warlike and desperate intents to conquer. The southerners have been playing host to these jihad-herdsmen for about two centuries but did not realise their mistake of hosting enemies.

Rumour has it that the jihad-herdsmen have secured private armouries in the southern forests where their hosts had no footpaths for more than 30 years, because they have abandoned their preoccupation (agriculture) for oil wealth, paving the way for the herdsmen to know more than strangers should know about their forests.

These same jihadists’ conquest-strategies were used to conquer the Hausa nation in 1810, and Ilorin, a part of the southwest not long afterwards. The British stopped the Jihadists from moving further South-West; but the Fulani did not stop at that! In their usual pretence to search for better grazing land, they have been migrating to southern Nigeria in the past 200 years to continue the uncompleted 18th century project of conquering the South. This time, they want a constitutional backing (in the form of a grazing bill) to authenticate their conquest project. The records are there.

Fulani jihadists moved into the Hausa kingdom as spies about the middle of the early centuries. They met the Hausa nation practising the monarchy system of government. Since monarchy is synonymous with primitiveness, they returned to base for reinforcement. For many years, they were moving Jihadi troops into the kingdom in the name of grazing. It also took the jihadists many years to study the forests and the footpaths leading to hamlets, villages and towns in the kingdom. After they had fully established themselves in the forest, and when they were cocksure that they could exploit the weaknesses of the Hausa kingdom, they struck and conquered the Hausa nation in the early 18th century.

It is a dangerous oversight to take the intellect and civilisation of the Fulani for granted.  The leader of the Jihad, Uthman Danfodio, was a great author of more than 300 intellectually edited books.  Similarly, history has it that in the 16th century, the highest percentage of the 25,000 students of the first university in the world (University of Timbuktu, founded in 982) were Fulani students.

Although the university suffered a setback as its best scholars were deported during the Moroccan Invasion in the 1590s, the spread of the pedagogical proceeds of the university was facilitated by the deported Fulani scholars, who later formed the formidable nucleuses of the Jihadists that tactically conquered many regions at various times in Africa.

From the current body language of the battle-ready herdsmen, it is obvious that they are remorselessly flexing their muscles and flaunting their growing influence. They also obviously have enough Jihadists and weapons on the ground in the southern forests. Hence, the sporadic assaults to provoke their victimised and silenced hosts. For instance, the evil success of the Boko Haram in Sambisa Forest is not an overnight plan. In like manner, the herdsmen’s plan to attack the south is not impromptu.

Based on analytical hypotheses, there are two categories of Fulani: the elite, and the typical herdsmen. The elite have both Arabic and western education, and the typical herdsmen are usually educated in the Arabic language. They are absolutely loyal to the elite, keep livestock for them and also take instructions from them. The Fulani costumes and their Arab-like culture make them look innocent and alien to their hosts. When they are not ready for battle, their sanctimonious and Islamic tendencies give their hosts the wrong impression about their morals and godliness.

A historian, Richard Jobson, must have collected materials for his history note during the Fulani’s peace period, when the herdsmen were still studying the ground in preparation for attack on their hosts. He described the Fulani as wandering herdsmen of humble and non-warlike nature, who were subordinate to their negroid chiefs in whose countries they wandered.

The historian did not know that when the Fulani herdsmen have taken over the forests, and are ready to attack their hosts, the violence and bellicosity in them reflect their true mission.  By their orientation, they isolate themselves. They are not used to living in rented accommodation; instead, they assemble under transient tents, militantly focused and battle ready. Murray Last, in his own history note, describes the Fulani as seldom living in Hausa towns, preferring instead, camps and hamlets outside the main areas of peasant farms.

The present lawlessness of the herdsmen in all the affected communities in Nigeria became a serious challenge and concern to patriots when some Northern governors and senators flayed those who indicted the herdsmen.