Ondo State Government’s Ultimatum to Fulani Herdsmen: Matters Arising

Abstract

The brief captures the declining state of security in Nigeria, with specific focus on herders-farmers conflict that has taken new shapes and dimensions in recent times. It demonstrates that herdsmen activities are among the main sources of insecurity in the country, which have compelled some state governments to, among other things create regional security outfit, and enact and adopt new laws to protect their citizens. The Ondo state government, for example, gave a seven-day ultimatum on January 18, 2021 to the herdsmen to, among other things, vacate the state’s forest reserves. The order, has however, raised a number of issues, including the issues of legality and of the social and economic implications on the state and the country in general. We found out that the order given by the Ondo state governor does not contradict the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and laws regarding land, especially because of the need to protect the lives and property of the citizens. The order would however engender some untoward social consequences, including rupturing of inter-ethnic ties/relations between Fulani and Yoruba people in the state, as well as some negative economic consequences such as reduction in available revenue for economic development due to possible increase in budgetary allocations to measures to enforce the order.