Herdsmen/Farmers Conflicts in Kogi State:Security And Developmental Implications (original) (raw)
One major security and developmental challenge that has attracted much national discourse in the recent past is the conflict between herdsmen and farmers in different parts of the country. The crisis has become a recurring decimal, especially in Kogi State and indeed a time bomb, which appears not to have been given the desired national attention by government at all levels. Irked by the bizarre dimension herdsmen/farmers conflicts have taken in Nigeria in recent time and Kogi State in particular, this research was carried out with a view to proffering solutions that could arrest the ugly situation and prevent it from becoming a monster like Boko Haram crisis. Thus, this research was carried out to achieve the following objectives: 1. Identify the root causes of herders/farmers conflicts in Kogi State. 2. Examine the security implications of the herders/farmers conflicts in Kogi State. 3. Examine the socioeconomic implications of herders/farmers conflicts in Kogi State. 4. Proffer workable solutions that can be put in place by both the Federal and Kogi state Government to resolve the herders/farmers conflict in Kogi State. The study was a survey research. Three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The area of study is Kogi State. Data for the study were generated from primary and secondary sources. The instruments used for data collection were questionnaire and interview. The population for the study was drawn from farmers, herders, traditional rulers, community leaders and security agents from the study area. The data collected were presented and analyzed using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Descriptive statistics was used with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16. Findings were made based on the tested significance level of the responses as revealed by the standard deviation analysis. Based on the results of the analysis, the study categorized the causes of herders/farmers conflicts in Kogi state into major and incidental factors. The major factor centred on economic use of land resources while incidental factors include policy framework, deficient response and demographic, ecological/environmental factors. Far reaching recommendations were made among which were: the need for definite policy enactment on use of land resources as it relates to grazing lands as well as establishment of Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms (ADRM) for resolving disputes between farmers and herdsmen as the conflict groups (farmers/herders) have lost confidence in the Nigerian judicial system, establishment of ranches, combating desertification and mop up of illicit arms amongst others.
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