INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADDRESSING FARMERS-HERDSMEN’S CONFLICT
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INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN ADDRESSING FARMERS-HERDSMEN’S CONFLICT
ABSTRACT
The study looked at the role of social media in resolving farmers-herders conflict in Nigeria, using Enugu state as a case study. A survey research design was used to carry out the investigation.
A total of two hundred and twenty questionnaires were delivered to respondents, of which two hundred and eight were recovered and two hundred and one were correctly completed.
Finally, 200 questionnaires were subjected to final analysis. The study’s research objectives are as follows: to determine the prevalence of social media in addressing farmers-herders conflict in Enugu state;
to examine the effects of farmers-herders conflict on the people of Enugu state;
to investigate the measures taken by the government in addressing farmers-herders conflict in Enugu state; and to identify the causes of farmers-herders conflict in Enugu state.
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background for the Study
Development policies are increasingly predicated on the necessity for poor countries to embrace information technology in order to avoid further economic and social marginalisation while also providing chances for economic growth and diversification. “The digital divide” refers to the uneven distribution of these technologies within societies and around the world.
It reflects a divide between information “haves” and “have nots” along many lines, which frequently overlap within countries by race, ethnic group, class, age, religion, and gender, between countries, and globally between those who have access to abundant information resources and those who do not.
Today, we live in the information age. The postindustrial age is also known as the information age. The age in which information is a human creation, the consequence of human thought.
The Prime Minister’s (M.G.KMenon) National Task Force for Information Technology and Software Development (NTFIT) believes that computer education and internet use should begin at a young age.
Thus, computers are a manifestation of the scientific and technological revolution; their creation, use, and continuing development have resulted in new theoretical and applied challenges in our society.
The rise of social media has given space to non-traditional media outlets, which have seen interest groups frame stories around the conflict in ways that seek to undermine Nigeria’s cooperative existence. Abdulrahman Dambazau (2016).
Social conflict is of enormous news value to the media and, as such, remains the primary fodder for media. Media involvement in the nature, severity, and consequences of disputes is thus undeniably significant (Pate & Dauda, 2011) and unavoidable in initiating, ameliorating, and deterring conflict.
Social media may either feed and provoke violence or play a helpful role in avoiding, resolving, and contributing to peace building. Several studies have found that the media contributed to Yugoslavia’s bloodshed, instability, and fragmentation (Thompson, 1999).
Many people blame the media for fuelling the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. In Nigeria, the media is infamous for sensationalising crisis situations, promoting biassed preconceptions about groups and individuals, and even inciting and maintaining violent confrontations (Pate, 2011).
Farmer-herder violence continues to be a component of social life in practically all of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. The term farmer-herder conflict is commonly used to describe conflict between herding and farming communities.
Using this term can be misleading because it implies that herders and farmers are distinct groups, whereas most herders are now farmers, and many farmers herd their livestock on a seasonal basis.
Furthermore, conflicts between a herder and a farmer frequently involve additional farmers and herders on both sides of the issue. For example, Breusers et al. (1998) contended that many disputes between farmers and herders stem from tensions inside farming communities, which are most visible in conflicts with outsiders, notably herders.
Many of Nigeria’s low-lying lands near rivers were rarely used by farmers centuries ago for a variety of reasons. One of these was being exposed to diseases such as river blindness and malaria. Another issue that affects these riverine habitats is erosion.
These lands were mostly used for grazing by nomadic herders and fishers. However, as Nigeria’s population grew, a larger use of these resources became necessary, particularly for food production.
During Nigeria’s colonial era, massive irrigation facilities to ensure newly planted food crops gained popularity. These disputes are often triggered by common issues such as land and water use, restriction of historic migration routes, livestock theft, and crop damage. But their roots are deeper.
Drought and desertification have deteriorated pastures, dried up many natural water sources in Nigeria’s far-northern Sahelian area, and caused a large number of herders to relocate to other parts of the country in search of grassland and water for their herds.
Insecurity in many northern states (as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast and less-well-reported rural banditry and livestock rustling in the north-west and north-central zones) drives a growing number of herders to other regions of the country.
Human settlement growth, public infrastructure expansion, and land purchase by large-scale farms and other private commercial interests have deprived herders of grazing areas declared by the former Northern region’s post-independence government.
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