THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“Africa does not need strongmen; it needs strong institutions” (Barrack Obama American President, 2008 – 2016).

Vacation Order to Herdsmen: How Legal, How Constitutional?

It is no longer in doubt, that the nation is at war on several fronts. While that battle to reclaim the North Eastern part of Nigeria rages, bandits and kidnappers are perceptibly having a field day in the North Central and most other parts of Nigeria, including the Middle Belt. The South West which had hitherto remained relatively safe, seems to be losing its security with the invasion of gun-totting Herdsmen, some of Fulani extraction. The negative economic impact on the nation’s economy, has been debilitating. In an effort to protect his people, the Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN was compelled to issue a seven-day notice to all Herders and occupants of the Ondo forest reserves, to vacate same. The order, which subsequently resulted in other States like Oyo and Ekiti taking similar steps to ensure the security of their citizens, is the subject-matter of this Special Edition in which Femi Falana, SAN, Dr. Sam Amadi and Festus Ogun delve into the complex issues that pushed our nation into this unfortunate situation, in terms of the clashes between the Herders and the Farmers, and the criminality which may be a spin-off therefrom, also proffering workable solutions to these problems

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