The Thirsty Fisherman
by Pro MADE
Around the world, people go about doing the same things in very different ways. The similarity of what they do can be traced to the basic needs of man which has to be met, while the differences exist in how they choose to meet those basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. For a sustainable livelihood to be achieved, people adopt different strategies which require them to either:
- Diversify
- Intensify and or
- Migrate.
These survival strategies involve a series of actions by humans in reflection of values, beliefs and norms, as well as the utilization of renewable natural resources as embodied by biodiversity. This represents a justification for the fact that there is a common recognition around the world that the diversity of life involves both different forms of organisms and the views of what life means, including an understanding of the existence and relevance of the organisms to the environment. It is therefore important to clearly state that biological diversity is the total number of organisms and germplasm present on the globe. On the other hand, presence of diverse indigenous cultures in an area is paramount for the sustainable flourishing of biodiversity; this is termed Cultural diversity with its origin dating back to ancient times. The word “Culture” is of Latin origin and comes from “Colelere” which means “Care” or “Look after” in terms of agriculture. In our current world, different changes in biodiversity and cultural diversity has induced many environmental and social plethora which led researchers to have coined a term called Biocultural Diversity and it means natural and cultural systems.
In this story, we will take a quick journey to the Igala speaking part of Kogi state, a state popularly known as the confluence state in Nigeria. The dominant characteristic of the Igala people is the practice of agriculture, an occupation that has seen the tribe through ages and has raised generations. Popular among the indigenous crops are maize, cassava, yam, cashew, oil palm, groundnut and many others. There has been a remarkable level of success recorded from the annual cultivation of these crops until recent times when certain sociocultural factors began to threaten the sustainability of this tempo, inflicting harm on the ecosystem and consequently inducing a climate change through the pressure mounted on biodiversity. These sociocultural factors can be broadly grouped into the following;
- Farmers-Herders Clashes: frequent attacks by armed Fulani herdsmen on rural farmers resulting from allowing their cattle to enter into people’s farmlands to feed and or destroying crops as well as polluting water bodies has caused untold hardship for people in rural communities in varying degrees ranging from displacement, kidnapping and raping of rural women, armed robbery and killing of rural farmers, including women and children. This menace has forced rural Igala people to abandon farming as a major means of livelihood and diversify into other means of survival. Some of these survival options pose serious environmental challenges and also impacts negatively on people’s health. As a fast means of making ends meet, people resort to the felling of trees, burning of logs into charcoals as fuels for domestic use and also for sale to rich people who always journey en route to the cities. These activities take place within the communities of residence as against the normal gathering of fuel woods from a very far source which is usually in thick forests or farm sites where trees are selectively and purposely fallen. This has encouraged desertification and hence exposing the environment to the harsh consequences of Ozone layer depletion and the attendant climate change. The rural people also resort to fetching sand from waterways and also digging of rocky sites to gather gravels to be sold in heaps for construction purposes that do not require them to buy in large quantities as mostly delivered in big truck loads from far and dedicated sites.
Another worrisome experience is the illegal and unsolicited pathways created by cattle’s regular movements in the bush which usually leave pathways that encourages erosion on farmlands as well as loss of crops planted along the waterways. Rapid community development is also accountable for an appreciable loss of biodiversity through the actions of man. As population increases, human actions such as emission of greenhouse gases, acidification of the soil from the use of fertilizers and herbicides as well as pesticides application, reduces the population of wild insect species and also reduce chances of pollination.
- Rural-urban Migration: In every given population, youths constitute the majority usually above half of the total and this represents adequate manpower for labour supplies among rural households. But conversely, youths have given up farming and are constantly fleeing from the rural communities to cities on grounds of the search for greener pastures, leaving behind their old parents who are not strong enough to engage in farming activities. Sadly, this population of migrating youths is mostly uneducated and is mostly engaged in unskilled labour in the cities and this is characterized by drudgery plus meagre earnings. Comparatively, it is observed that farming in the village could be more lucrative but they prefer to remain in the cities since farming will require them to engage in violent conflicts with the herdsmen in defence of their farmlands and territory. As for the safety of their parents, there is no cause for worries because they no longer go to the farm but rather engage in other means of livelihood which are practically affecting the sustainability of biodiversity. Meanwhile, it is important to recall that crops in rural communities include economic trees, important among which is the Cashew tree which the nuts are sold in huge sums of money. The harvest of the cashew tree is usually seasonal and also capable of compensating farmers for the loss incurred from the destruction of other crops by the cattle. The position of cashew tree among other economic trees is credited to the high demand for cashew nuts and also the fact that cattle does not feed on any part of the cashew tree. However, there have been records of interpersonal conflicts among families over the prospects from cashew nuts harvest. The conflicts of interest usually results from the fact those youths who already migrated from the communities during the farming seasons will always return to the village to share in the returns from the sales of cashew nuts, this has birthed pockets of violence where even deaths of some family members has also been recorded as a result of those interpersonal conflicts of interests.
- Traditional Rainfall Control: This is not a popular or scientifically recognized practice but very common to the Igala people. Over time, there has been sufficient evidence to explain a strong relationship between language, religion, norms and knowledge diversity. The diversity of the Igala culture must have led many researchers to ponder on or explore the phenomenon of the human relationship with the environment, one of the interesting aspects which should form a key component of such researches is the Traditional Rainfall Control as mostly practised by the Igala people.
Due to globalization, cultural complexity and diversification, many traditional activities of the Igala people have assumed interesting but worrisome dimensions as they are not without harsh consequences on people’s livelihood and biodiversity in general. One of the interesting aspects of the culture and tradition of the Igala people are their festivals, this is not just widely common but with a premium placed on the various festivals especially considering the spiritual significance which they attribute to the celebrations. Away from the festivals, there are also other events that are traditionally considered as highly sacred and are not usually scheduled to hold on same dates. The time of celebrating these festivals and events are dependent on the part of igala kingdom as they all have their respective festivals across different local governments, districts and clans at regular intervals but with time variations that mostly run into farming seasons. Some of these highly revered festivals are the Ibegwu, Oganyi, Aga’la, Egbe egume, Egwu ekodufu (Masquerades procession), Ubi and lots more. Based on the native belief systems, it is held that nothing is capable of preventing the sacred events from taking place, hence the idea of local manipulation/suspension of rainfall through some fetish powers. This practice is still in vogue and is also suspected to have accounted for rainfall accumulation until its eventual release which is usually a torrential downpour with devastating effects as opposed to what is obtainable from normal or natural precipitation. Growing up in the locally, it can be recalled that some especially talented persons are usually invited to during festivals and special events to suspend, postpone or totally prevent rain from falling. Though on very rare occasions, it is also believed that these set of people are equally capable of causing rain to fall when they are not consulted before deciding on celebrating an event such as traditional marriage ceremony. However, the induced rainfall is usually in form of drizzle or light showers on which the amount cannot be depended for farming activities but enough to cause distraction and prevent an outdoor event from taking place. This is why the fetish rainfall manipulation cannot serve positive purposes but rather comes with harsh realities such as prolonged drought, increased atmospheric heat, food insecurity, possible famine and the more deadly environmental degradation that could result from heavy rainfall. There are also substantial evidences that this rainfall manipulation practice has led to destruction of biodiversity through flood which has sacked many communities residing along the riverine areas, unplanned felling of trees and increased government spending in the course of rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged infrastructures.
One of the biggest drivers of climate change by far is burning of fossil fuels which includes coal, gas and oil which has increased the concentration of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Other principal factors responsible for global warming includes human activities such as land clearing usually in form of bush burning for agriculture has caused the atmospheric temperature to increase. This is not a recent conclusion because the scientific community has collected and studied data on this issue for decades. However, some sociocultural factors as earlier discussed above are not scientifically recognized yet but they exhibits consequences that can be scientifically determined and addressed. Millions of people are already suffering from the catastrophic effects of extreme disasters exacerbated by climate change from prolonged drought in sub-Saharan Africa to devastating tropical storm sweeping across Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The Igala people are blessed abundant biodiversity but the harmful activities of man has made it similar to the proverbial fisherman who is thirsty in the middle of an ocean.
As much as we continue to largely understand climate change as a normal natural phenomenon, it is important to know that there are man-made factors that are equally responsible, most of which are not universal or popular but by this short story needs to be scientifically studied and the entire situation be treated by relevant government, civil society organizations, ministries and departments as an urgent human right issues. A very detailed sociocultural review should be made through the ministries of information, culture and tourism as well as through the state council for local government and chieftaincy affairs.
In order to discourage migration of youths to the cities, there is an urgent need for capacity building and also the need for quality and affordable education in line with goal four of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The success of this will reverse the current trend as these youths will become agents of change in their communities which is possible through adequate sensitization, training, empowering and educating their people, as well as their ability to influence policy decisions as it concerns the welfare of their communities. The old population in rural communities should also be sensitized on the needs to maintain clean oxygen, water and sanitation.
Finally, human right laws should be reviewed as such that will clearly define the position of every citizen in a manner that will foster respect for territorial integrity and to also constantly regulate the illegal possession of firearms as presently common to the Fulani herdsmen.
About
The name of this group is Pro MADE, where the pro means PROJECT and MADE is an acronym for "Making A Difference Everyday". It is a group made up of young minds who are committed change makers for sustainable development goals. The primary contact, Hamza is a champion for Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs) and a relentless ambassador who has led many Human development projects as part of contributions towards SDGs, Hussain Yakubu Omale is a dedicated change maker who is also an environmentalist. He has embarked on many projects a safe environment. Bala Yusuf Iko is a young geologist who is passionate about achieving a safe world for all. We have many other group members with interesting portfolios but could not be reached due to the short notice with which the knowledge of this storytelling campaign came.