Herders–Farmers Conflict and the Nigerian Economy 2015–2020

Abstract

This paper examines strategies implemented by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in order to resolve frequent clashes between herders and farmers, bearing in mind the economic implications of this violent conflict for the economy of Nigeria. The paper adopted the Human Needs Theory as its framework of analysis. The data were sourced from academic journals, internet materials, newspapers, and textbooks. The herders–farmers conflict pre-dated the Muhammadu Buhari presidency but in terms of scale and intensity of killings and wanton destruction of properties, it gained momentum during his administration. The non-verbal language of the Presidency’s description of the conflict situation at the time Nigerians needed a strong comment became worrisome to the affected victims who concluded the pro-herder’s sympathy stance of the President. Not until the Presidency began to take bold actions by introducing the grazing bill allowing a cattle colony of about 5,000 hectares in the states of the Federation, deployment of military personnel to the concerned states and holding stakeholders meeting across the states, Nigerians decided to unanimously join their forces with the government to tackle the herders–farmers impasse headlong. The conflict situation is no better even in the face of strategic policies implemented, however, the nation-state is trying to minimize the negative effects of the imbroglio on the agricultural sector of the country which is a huge resource to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).