ABSTRACT

This article critically examines the politics of socio-political exclusions, with particular reference to the recurrent surges of herdsmen/farmers’ skirmishes that are currently ravaging many states in Nigeria. Owing to their occupation and prejudiced history, the Fulani herdsmen have not enjoyed full assimilation into mainstream cohesion, and the enactment of laws proscribing ‘open grazing’ by some states, in a bid to protect farmers and farmlands, appears to have further entrenched this supposed exclusion. Consequently, the group, through its Miyetti Allah Cattle Associations, has urged state governments to refrain from enforcing these laws. The implementation of the laws by Benue and Taraba States has caused herdsmen to react angrily by killing hundreds of people in the states. To what extent are these states justified in prohibiting open grazing? Can a group justifiably warn a sovereign, federating, state against implementing a law duly passed by its State Assembly? Using critical analysis, the paper proffers answers to these questions by drawing insights from philosophical arguments of social justice, particularly Nozickian justice as entitlement. Given that what is at stake is the economic livelihoods of both farmers and cattle herders, the paper also provides an objective analysis of the conflict by pointing out the central claims of both parties in the dispute. It concludes that solution to these skirmishes inheres in an approach that emphasizes social justice and inclusion.

摘要

本文批判性地考察了社会政治排斥的政治，特别提到了目前肆虐尼日利亚许多州的牧民/农民小规模冲突的反复激增。由于他们的职业和偏见的历史，富拉尼牧民并没有完全融入主流的凝聚力，而一些州为了保护农民和农田而颁布的禁止“露天放牧”的法律似乎进一步巩固了这种假设。排除。因此，该组织通过其 Miyetti Allah 牛协会敦促州政府不要执行这些法律。贝努埃州和塔拉巴州对法律的实施引起了牧民的愤怒反应，导致该州数百人丧生。这些州在多大程度上有理由禁止露天放牧？一个团体是否可以合理地警告一个主权、联邦、国家不要实施其州议会正式通过的法律？使用批判性分析，本文通过从社会正义的哲学论点中汲取见解，特别是诺齐克正义作为对这些问题的回答。权利。鉴于危在旦夕的是农民和牧民的经济生计，本文还通过指出争端双方的核心主张，对冲突进行了客观分析。它的结论是，解决这些小规模冲突的方法是强调社会正义和包容性。