THE PROBLEM OF MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN COEXISTENCE

The unease that Boko Haram has unleashed in northern Nigeria in particular and the country as a whole is a problem nobody can overlook. Even so, the setback is only a worsening of a situation that had been damaged already by uneasy coexistence between Muslims and Christians in the northern part of the country.  Prior to Boko Haram atrocities grabbing world headlines, one heard of frequent bloody clashes between Nigeria`s Muslims and Christians in the north.

Yet, this shortcoming on the part of Nigeria has always baffled me because although Cameroon`s northern territory is constituted and configured in a way similar to that of northern Nigeria, Cameroon does not face the problems which so starkly stare Nigeria in the face. Contrary to what obtains in Nigeria, Cameroon`s Muslims and Christians co-habit with each other admirably. One reason I can give for this is that from independence, Cameroon adopted a policy by which it posted any of its citizens to any part of the country, unlike in Nigeria where people tend to stay and work in their own states. The advantage we have had is that today, there are Cameroonians from all over the country in every administrative unit, right down to the Sub Divisions and the Districts. We have got to know each other better, we have learned the language of our new locality, we have enrolled our children in schools in the locality, and we have inter-married with people from our “new” home areas. Perhaps that is a lesson Nigeria should learn from us.

There is one area, though, in which we Cameroonians are still wanting. It is that of cattle rearers. Considering that rearing cattle is an activity that came down to us in the south from northern Cameroon, we can understand why many of the people engaged in this area of agriculture are Fulani. I am particularly interested in the herdsmen who shepherd their cattle from one part of the country to another. They do so in search of green pastures and new markets.

Unfortunately, often, when they allow their cattle to graze, the latter stray into nearby farms and eat up crops as well as disfigure farm beds. For decades, this conflict which has come to be known as the “farmer-grazer problem” in Cameroon has poisoned relations between the two groups of farmers. Despite the setting up of two ministerial departments – Agriculture and Rural Development on the one hand, and Animal Breeding and Animal Industries on the other – by the government, the question of relations between the farmer and the grazer is still a sore point.

The earlier a permanent solution is found, the better for all parties involved.