‘Nomad savage’ and herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria: the (un)making of an ancient myth

Eke, Surulola

doi:10.1080/01436597.2019.1702459

Cited by 43 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The Fulani in particular have felt targeted by the army, because there is a widespread conception, especially within the army, that the Fulani are generally jihadists (Ibrahim and Zapata, 2018). This has caused concerns that there is an emerging "Fulani question" similar to the "Tuareg question" further north (Thiam, 2017;Sangaré, 2018), which also resonates with a discourse of "Fulanisation" in Nigeria that "links pastoralism with Islamization and terrorism in a discursive chain to produce a compelling 'regime of truth' about insecurity" (Chukwuma, 2020: 67; see also Eke (2020)).…”

Section: Insurgency Counterinsurgency and Communal Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

Fulani-Dogon Killings in Mali: Farmer-Herder Conflicts as Insurgency and Counterinsurgency

Benjaminsen

2021

African Security

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Violent clashes between Fulani and Dogon have recently escalated in the Seeno plains in central Mali. After failing to defeat a "jihadist" insurgency dominated by Fulani, the Malian army has sponsored and trained a Dogon militia, which has systematically attacked Fulani villages, and again caused counterattacks. In addition, internal conflicts within Fulani and Dogon society have emerged. This demonstrates the complexities of the current crisis in Mali and how simplistic narratives about its causes are unhelpful. It also shows how views of the enemy as "terrorists" or "jihadists" are dangerous and able to further fuel violent conflicts.

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Section: Insurgency Counterinsurgency and Communal Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

Fulani-Dogon Killings in Mali: Farmer-Herder Conflicts as Insurgency and Counterinsurgency

Benjaminsen

2021

African Security

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“…The framing, construction and representation of people and conflicts have shaped the nature of these conflicts. The perception of Fulani herders as strangers and savages who have no rights to the land; likewise, the idea that farmers are indigenous and own the land, are among the contributing factors to the conflicts (11,24,65). Such framing has led to the perception of these conflicts in terms of a Fulanisation, securitisation and sedentarisation process (47,69).…”

Section: Eco-violence In the Sahelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While at times the conflict involves actors sharing the same ethnic identity, as observed between the Igbo (19), Yoruba (20), and Ebira (21) communities, and the nomadic Fulani herders (22,23). The most intractable conflicts are between different ethnic communities, such as Tiv farmers and Fulani herders (24,25).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Insecurity and the emergence of 'ungoverned spaces' are also fuelling these conflicts (4,43). Recently, corruption related to the vested interests of agro investors and elites has emerged as additional critical factors in the recent upsurge of ecoviolence (10,44); likewise, the framing, construction, and representation of people's lives and the conflicts over water and grazing fields (24,41,45). This article departs from those approaches to investigate how political developments in Nigeria's Middle Belt since 2014 have contributed to the escalation of eco-violence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Politics of Eco-violence: Why Is Conflict Escalating in Nigeria’s Middle Belt?

Olumba

2021

Preprint

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Competition for natural resources has intensified in recent years between nomadic Fulani herders and sedentary farmers in Nigeria's Middle Belt. What were initially sporadic conflicts over cropland and water have transformed into daily occurrences of mass violence. While extant research focuses on the root causes of such conflicts, the reasons for their escalation remain insufficiently understood. Based on fieldwork conducted during 2018-2019, this article examines how political developments have contributed to the escalation of conflict in the region. Using Homer-Dixon's theory of civil strife as a conceptual framework, the findings show that changes in the 'political opportunity structure' in Nigeria since 2014 were a catalyst for escalating the conflicts. These changes resulted from the 2014 insecurity in Nigeria caused by terrorist acts committed by non-state actors and the outcomes of the 2015 election. The consequences were the unvarnished adoption of nepotistic domestic policies and alliances between elites and militia members.

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“…While at times, the conflict involves actors sharing the same ethnic identity, as observed between the Igbo (63), Yoruba (64), and Fulani communities (65,66). The majority of conflicts occur between members of different ethnic groups (67,68).…”

Section: Eco-violence In the Sahelmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Politics of Eco-violence: Why Is Conflict Escalating in Nigeria’s Middle Belt?

Olumba

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Competition for natural resources has intensified in recent years between nomadic Fulani herders and sedentary farmers in Nigeria's Middle Belt. What were initially sporadic conflicts over cropland and water resources have transformed into daily occurrences of mass violence. While extant research centres on the root causes of such conflicts, the reasons for their escalation remain insufficiently understood. This article examines how political developments have contributed to the escalation of conflicts in the region. Using Homer-Dixon's model, the findings show that changes in Nigeria's 'political opportunity structure' since 2014 were catalysts for escalating the conflicts. The consequences were the unvarnished adoption of nepotistic domestic policies and alliances between elites and militia members, which escalated the violent conflicts. It advocates the devolution of natural resource and security governance to prevent leaders from leveraging shifts in political opportunity structures to favour a specific demographic group.

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‘Nomad savage’ and herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria: the (un)making of an ancient myth

Cited by 43 publications

References 30 publications

Fulani-Dogon Killings in Mali: Farmer-Herder Conflicts as Insurgency and Counterinsurgency

Fulani-Dogon Killings in Mali: Farmer-Herder Conflicts as Insurgency and Counterinsurgency

The Politics of Eco-violence: Why Is Conflict Escalating in Nigeria’s Middle Belt?

The Politics of Eco-violence: Why Is Conflict Escalating in Nigeria’s Middle Belt?

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