Herdsmen Crisis: What Fulani Want From Government (Article) - Ismail Iro

Grazing land and stock-routes top the list of Fulani's demands from government.

All the leading presidential aspirants in the previous elections who were seeking the votes of *Miyetti Allah* Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (M.A.C.B.A.N.) had sent letters to the association assuring the Fulani of enough grazing land and stock-paths if elected. Discussions among government officials, traditional rulers, and Fulani leaders on the welfare of the pastoralists have always centered on requests and pledges for protecting grazing spaces and cattle passages. It has become evident that the political party that ignores the Fulani demand for grazing land would during an election attract a voter revenge.

The Growing pressure from *Ardo'en* (the Fulani community leaders) for the salvation of what is left of the customary grazing land has made some state governments with large population of herders to include in their development plans the reactivation and preservation of grazing reserves. Quick to grasp the desperation of cattle-keepers for land, the administrators have instituted a Grazing Reserve Committee to find a lasting solution to the rapid depletion of grazing land resources in Nigeria.