Herder farmer conflict

[Yahaya Danjuma]

My own two kobo worth about the nomad settler conflicts, including comparisons with the range wars in the 19th century US, along with a chance to plug my book (link in sigfile) about Muhammad Bello’s policy of settling nomads, and his belief that nomadic herding was un-Islamic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtvnlqcYM58


John Edward Philips <http://human.cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp/philips/>
International Society, College of Humanities, Hirosaki University
"Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto." -Terentius Afer
<http://newworldafricanpress.com/books/000026.htm>

[Moses Ebe Ochonu]

John, 

Please, in which of Mohammed Bello's writings did he express those positions/interventions regarding nomadic herding? I suspect Infakul Maisur but I am not sure. Thanks in advance.

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[Yahaya Danjuma]

Sorry to be so late responding to this. My apologies. 

Bello wrote in a letter to Tuareg Shaykh Muhammad al-Jailani that “The concern of the sharia to promote community life is well known. Due to this the jurists have ruled that it is lawful to transfer a foundling from the desert to the village and from the latter to the town, but not the opposite.” (This is quoted from H.T. Norris _The Tuareg_ and is also discussed in Mervyn Hiskett’s survey _The Development of Islam in West Africa_). Bello also wrote to Emir Yakubu of Bauchi that Fulani herders living among pagans should be brought into settlements even if that meant they had to give up their herds and abandon their grazing grounds. That’s cited in M.M. Tukur’s Ph.D. dissertation at ABU, “Values and Public Affairs”. I discuss this in my book about Bello’s ribat policy linked in my sig file below. 

When doing this research I found that Bello’s policy to settle Fulani was well known among many, but it was not followed by his uncle Abbdullahi in the section of the Caliphate he ruled. Bello is perhaps responsible for creating this hybrid “Hausa Fulani” culture of Hausacized descendants of Fulani, although settlement and acculturation was probably going on before his time, at least in the scholarly clans that produced the Fodiawa and other Fulani royal clans of Hausaland. 

Interesting that you should mention _Infaq al-Maysur_, BTW, where Bello quotes ibn Khaldun. The obvious question to me is whether Bello had read ibn Khaldun’s theories of nomad interactions with settled peoples and whether or not that was part of the reason he wanted to settle them down. We know he read some of ibn Khaldun’s writings, but we don’t know how many and what influence those writings had on him. 

[Moses Ebe Ochonu]

Thanks a ton for these references. It is a debated point in Northern Nigerian historiography and has become even more so in light of the current controversies in Nigeria about transhumant Fulani herdsmen. Of course interpretation and assigning intent are delicate historical exercises, so I'm not surprised that some Nigerian historians hesitate to interpret the evidence you supplied in the manner that you did. I believe like you that the weight of evidence is on the side of Bello proposing the settling of the nomadic Fulani.

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[Yahaya Danjuma]

I didn’t mention it, but if Bello had read the relevant parts of ibn Khaldun he may have been motivated in part in order to prevent the political destabilization and succession of herder dynasties that ibn Khaldun had documented in north Africa. Settling Fulani specifically in ribats would also mean their potential military usefulness would continue to be available to the Sokoto Fodiawa dynasty.  

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[OLAYINKA AGBETUYI]

Thank you both Yahaya Danjuma and John Philips for bringing sanity to this over politicised debate about moving herder Fulani communities into the 21st Century via modern ranching and settled life.

I hope govt advisers are reading this debate and advising Muhammadu Buhari accordingly that this is not about Islamic religion versus Christianity, it is about keeping a section of Nigerians in a benighted state so their cheap labour could be exploited by the rich and powerful.

OAA

Sent from my Galaxy

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From: Yahaya Danjuma <yahaya....@gmail.com>

Date: 15/03/2021 11:23 (GMT+00:00)

To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Herder farmer conflict

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Sorry to be so late responding to this. My apologies. 

Bello wrote in a letter to Tuareg Shaykh Muhammad al-Jailani that “The concern of the sharia to promote community life is well known. Due to this the jurists have ruled that it is lawful to transfer a foundling from the desert to the village and from the latter to the town, but not the opposite.” (This is quoted from H.T. Norris _The Tuareg_ and is also discussed in Mervyn Hiskett’s survey _The Development of Islam in West Africa_). Bello also wrote to Emir Yakubu of Bauchi that Fulani herders living among pagans should be brought into settlements even if that meant they had to give up their herds and abandon their grazing grounds. That’s cited in M.M. Tukur’s Ph.D. dissertation at ABU, “Values and Public Affairs”. I discuss this in my book about Bello’s ribat policy linked in my sig file below. 

When doing this research I found that Bello’s policy to settle Fulani was well known among many, but it was not followed by his uncle Abbdullahi in the section of the Caliphate he ruled. Bello is perhaps responsible for creating this hybrid “Hausa Fulani” culture of Hausacized descendants of Fulani, although settlement and acculturation was probably going on before his time, at least in the scholarly clans that produced the Fodiawa and other Fulani royal clans of Hausaland. 

Interesting that you should mention _Infaq al-Maysur_, BTW, where Bello quotes ibn Khaldun. The obvious question to me is whether Bello had read ibn Khaldun’s theories of nomad interactions with settled peoples and whether or not that was part of the reason he wanted to settle them down. We know he read some of ibn Khaldun’s writings, but we don’t know how many and what influence those writings had on him. 

On Feb 25, 2021, at 06:51, Moses Ebe Ochonu <meoc...@gmail.com> wrote:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/23FF6F4A-BE24-4D46-AAC1-DBB904135B97%40gmail.com.

[Yahaya Danjuma]

Sorry, I’m the same guy. Yahaya Danjuma is my Hausa name for those who have trouble with my English name. 

On Mar 16, 2021, at 20:14, OLAYINKA AGBETUYI <yagb...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Thank you both Yahaya Danjuma and John Philips

John Edward Philips  <http://human.cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp/philips/>

International Society, College of Humanities, Hirosaki University

"Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto." -Terentius Afer

<https://boydellandbrewer.com/writing-african-history.html>