Managing the Herdsmen-famers Crisis in Nigeria: The Public Relations Approach

Abstract

The incessant violent clashes between herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria have less positive benefits for both parties and Nigeria as a whole. It is a fact that sustainable development can never occur in a rancorous atmosphere. This, to a large extent, if not nipped in the bud will affect the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goal 2, which is aimed at ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture by 2030, In this view, this paper adopts symmetri¢ model of communication as the basis for understanding how public relations can be applied in solving farmers/herders crisis. The paper finds out that clashes between herders and farmers is an evidence of negligence by the government to sensitize the citizenry towards achieving a common goal of tolerating cach other. It also identifies reduction in output and income of crops as a result of the destruction of crops by cattle. This situation has translated into low income on the part of the farmers who take farming as a major occupation, As such, the paper recommends that public relations approaches such as press releases, conferences, publicity, etc., should be utilized appropriately in making farmers and herders accept modern methods of cattle rearing and farming so that ones business cannot interfere with another thereby managing both the current and future crises. It also recommends that messages from public relations events, with full participation of both parties, can change the atmosphere of suspicion that currently characterizes the relationship between herdsmen and farmers thereby creating room for peaceful coexistence.