Falae: Fulani herdsmen already treating my farm as if it was their colony, says ‘the word ‘colony’ by Ogbeh treasonable’

“In Nigeria, to mention the word colony has political connotation, not economic. A colony is a political entity which someone said he wants to create in the territory of another. That is a provocation, that is a terrible thing for anybody to contemplate. In fact, it is almost a treason. I am sure it was a mistake. I hope my friend, Audu Ogbeh, will withdraw that obnoxious policy”.
With these words, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Olu Falae, openly declared his opposition to the Cattle Colony being proposed by the Federal Government and championed by Agriculture Minister, Chief Audu Ogbeh.
Falae spoke in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on the burning of his farm at Ilado, Akure North Local Government, by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
The foremost Yoruba leaders also described the arson as an attempt to kill him because one of his guards had earlier been killed.
Falae declared that no part of Yorubaland would be colonised by the Federal Government of Fulani herdsmen.
He said further: “I will try to contain myself because I am provoked. You know Nigeria was a colony and through the efforts of our leaders, we were able to get the British to leave and we are free. A colony is a territory that is a dependent territory, more or less owned by another nation. Thank God, since 1960, we are no longer a colony.
“In any case with what is going on, I can tell you as a leader of our race, the Yoruba people will not concede one inch of territory as a colony to another person. I did not find my father as a slave, he never told me he was farming for other people. I will join with other people and pay the price we have to pay, any price to maintain a freedom we have inherited. I am farming on my own land. I did not go elsewhere to farm. There shall be no colony, not in Yorubaland.
“What happened last year was tremendous and we made claim of over two million that is still pending. We are not asking for compensation, what we are asking is for our farms to be left alone. The place that got burnt yesterday will be up to 125 hectares.”
To him, the idea of colony being proposed as a panacea for the atrocities of Fulani herdsmen is ploy to re-colonize other parts of the country “by the Fulani hegemony”.
“I was lucky not to be in the farm as I would have been killed if I was found on Sunday when the farm was attacked. Elements of the same people kidnapped me, when people said they were Fulani herdsmen, they said how did I know they are Fulani? But everybody knows a Fulani man in Nigeria. I have been at the receiving end for some time. Even after I was kidnapped, they came back and killed one of my guards and the case remains unsolved murder case.
“Every year, they set my farm on fire and do you know why? There are two elements to their actions, first is economic. They burn this farm because the grass is already dry and cows don’t like that. So, they burn the grass and in two weeks time, fresh grass will grow and their cattle will have fresh ones to eat. In other words, they are already treating my farm as if it was their colony. They do this every year.
“But to burn palm trees, it amounts to acts of malice and hatred and I believe they have malice against me and they hate me, that is why they will burn my palm trees,  uproot the palm trees I planted and throw the seedlings away. That does not help the cattle in anyway. I believe if they saw me in person, it is me they would hurt.
Falae described as unfortunate the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to openly condemn actions of Fulani herdsmen all over the country.
“I still don’t know why President Buhari is silent over these Fulani herdsmen’ atrocities. I have expected him for over two years to take an initiative and make a national broadcast to his people in Nigeria, assuring us that he will handle the matter by announcing effective measures that could control the aggression of the herdsmen and assure that both the herdsmen and us can live together in peace without one side damaging the other. I am disappointed I have not heard this from him.
“If I were President Buhari, I would have taken the initiative because this is not a problem that cannot be solved. Many nations have gone through this, this mode of cattle rearing is universal but in the last hundred years, most nations have solved the problem by adopting ranching
“Ranching is cattle farming and a legitimate and very profitable business run by private businessmen but they are trying to make my crops to feed their cattle to subsidize their own business because they are forcing me by invading my farm in the night to supply free food to their cattle and when they sell the cattle, they don’t give me part of the money.
“This is a system that cannot survive and I expected the government to have stopped it. We are not saying cattle rearing should be stopped but the cattle rearers should be assisted to set up or do their business without hurting anybody. Hurting farmers is not acceptable.
“The proposal that colony should be established and rangers will accompany cattle moving from one colony to another is a very provocative and repugnant proposal.
“The word colony is a repugnant political word because it means one group of people dominating another. The British came to Nigeria and first colonized us and made us their possession. A colonial arrangement regards other human beings as possession of others.
“An adult educated Nigerian will never use that word colony to describe any part of his country, that you want to bring back colonial status. It is almost treason. It is repugnant, provocative and should be withdrawn and the person who coined it should apologise to Nigerians
“Looking at the proposal itself, assuming other terms have beenused; it is unsound and makes no sense. The proposal said government will acquire an area in a state and plant grass there for the cattle to feed on. The question I want to ask is: why must the cattle travel from their ranch to another colony? The ranch across the world is self-contained, because there is water there, there is processing facilities and you don’t have to match your cattle from one colony to another colony.
“There’s no justification for this except you want to perpetuate Fulani herdsmen burning around our territory, we want to know the reason. The idea that we will train rangers to accompany cows moving from one colony to another is a huge continuing unnecessary financial burden on the Federal Government because there is no need for cattle to march from colony to colony. They are insulting the intelligence of Nigerians, it is nonsense.
“The solution is simple. There are some states that are home to cows, so it is those relevant state governments that should carry the burden, not the Federal Government.
“I am not saying the Federal Government should not assist but the primary responsibility for animal husbandry belongs to the state government. The state government should be made to accept their responsibility by looking at their people and the farmers too should be the responsibility of the state government.
“Let them carve out areas for cattle farmers in those states that are home to cattle and assist them to set up ranches. Ranches are private things and not government responsibility but government can help them to prepare water and make the ranch self sufficient. “Government can even give them subsidize loans to establish and become viable and profitable ranches. That is the solution, not this nonsense of cattle roaming between one colony to another colony.
“It is because they move from one place to the other that they burned this farm yesterday. They stoked the plantation with dry leaves and set it on fire. They did it overnight and did it one after the other.
“Now, farmers are afraid of going to farm as they could be attacked of killed by herdsmen who have invaded the farmlands in various parts of the country.
“I thank God that the road that divides the plantation and with the help of those who were in the farm yesterday night, they were able to prevent further damages. They limited the spread. The intention is what worries me, that some Nigerians deliberately want to destroy properties of other Nigerians.
“The destruction does not enhance their well-being. If they drive the cows to eat my maize and destroy my assets, it enhances their assets, using it to subsidize their cows. But when they burnt my plantation, there is no rationality except malice and hatred”.