Penultimate Tuesday, journalists from three states facing challenges of farmers/herders violence converged on Jos, the Plateau State capital, for a two-day workshop on how to build bridges between farmers and herders in Plateau, Nasarawa and Kaduna states.
In a conflict sensitive media training with the theme; “Do no Harm and Peace Journalism,” organised by pro-peace international organisation, Search for Common Ground, media practitioners were exposed to the concepts of common ground journalism, dignity and do no harm.
The training, which was aimed at critically reviewing the farmer/herder violence reportage, as well as reaching a consensus on how responsible journalism can de-escalate the crises, was mostly interactive.
Lead Facilitator, Search for Common Ground (SFCG), Chom Bagu, urged journalists to look at key problems causing violent conflicts and advised journalists to at all times focus on the issues and not the people.
“When we say Fulani herdsman, we are looking at the people not the problem, but when we describe them as livestock and crop farmers, we are looking at what they do. The key problem is how to share the natural resources which is the land and because there are no regulations we then have crises,” he said.
He stressed that it was unprofessional for journalists to create perceptions or label certain groups as terrorists or killers, saying creating such perceptions fester crises rather than build peace.
The representative of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) Plateau State chapter, Nde John Wuyep, stated that most of the issues involving farmers in the hinterlands were underreported and urged journalists to make sacrifices and visit the conflict zones to get firsthand information.
He said change was constant and urged nomadic Fulani cattle breeders to embrace ranching as the modern way of rearing cattle.
Plateau State Secretary of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN), Abdullahi Ardo, noted that livestock and crop farmers have recently been fighting over one commodity which is becoming scarce.“That commodity is land. While the crop farmer needs the land for his crops production, the livestock farmer needs it to rear his cattle and other animals,” he said.
