美国国家公共电台 NPR Clashes Over Grazing Land In Nigeria Threaten Nomadic Herding

 

LYNN NEARY, HOST:

For the past decade, Boko Haram has been killing¹ thousands across northeastern Nigeria, causing millions to flee from their homes. But now there's another conflict in Nigeria that's killing more people than Boko Haram and threatening a way of life. And it involves cows and climate change. Julia Simon reports from the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

JULIA SIMON, BYLINE²: Nasir Abdullahi is sitting in a mall in downtown Abuja, sipping³ fresh juice and eating plantain chips. Small, distinguished⁴ with an embroidered⁵ cap, Nasir looks like your typical Northern Nigerian businessman. But he's also a farmer. A few years ago, he got a call from an employee on his millet⁶ farm.

NASIR ABDULLAHI: He was even crying when he called me. I said, talk. He said, there is something serious. There is something serious. I said, did anybody die? What is it? He said, no. It's cattle herdsmen. Cattle herdsmen? What have they done?

SIMON: Nasir got in his car, drove a few hours to the farm. He learned the herdsmen and their cows had spent the night destroying some of his crops. Later, his employees told the herdsmen to leave.

ABDULLAHI: There was some fight, and some people were wounded.

SIMON: What exactly happened? Were they - what happened?

ABDULLAHI: Yeah. They - one of them was stabbed with a knife. And the other one, they beat him up was some sticks.

SIMON: In a herdsmen clash near his other farm, it was worse. That time, more than 50 people died.

S.K. USMAN: I told you about Ninte. I told you about Kin⁷ Kogi. I told you about Ashim. Then you look at Kaduna state...

SIMON: Brigadier General S.K. Usman is a spokesman for the Nigerian Army. He's listing sites of clashes between cattle herdsmen and farmers. According to a Lagos-based consulting firm, last year, more than 1,400 people died in these conflicts, more than were killed by Boko Haram. Usman says a lot of the problems come down to land, land that was originally set aside as a grazing reserve back in the '60s.

USMAN: Areas that actually were supposed to be greenland have been taken over by populations. And this was supposed to be grazing routes, so the area is becoming narrow and compressed.

SIMON: And policy analyst⁸ Sani Musa says there's another thing going on.

SANI MUSA: Yes. It's climate change, even though some people are living in denial of it. But I think we are seeing it.

SIMON: The Sahara Desert is growing, he says. Lake Chad, for instance...

MUSA: It is just 10 percent of what it was in 1963.

SIMON: The nomadic⁹ herdsmen who live across West Africa now have to travel further and further south with their cows to graze. Musa says that's why many of those implicated¹⁰ in these attacks aren't Nigerian.

MUSA: Sometimes they come as far as Niger, as far as Senegal, as far as Mali.

SIMON: Some states have taken action, setting aside grazing reserves for nomads¹¹. And the Nigerian senate is talking about a new national grazing reserve bill. But aside from all that, there's an existential discussion going on.

MUSA: (Foreign language spoken).

SIMON: In a fancy Abuja neighborhood on a hill overlooking the city, I find policy analyst Sani Musa on the phone with a nomadic herdsman. The herdsman watches Musa's cows. They check in about once a week.

You have how many cattle yourself?

MUSA: Well, you know, normally a Fulani does not say his cows because it's like talking to you about my account in the bank (laughter). But I have a lot.

SIMON: Musa's cows are nomadic. They move all over northeast Nigeria. But some cattle owners are saying enough. Let's keep our cows in one place to minimize chances for conflict, like about Abba Abubakar. You can find his cows...

ABBA ABUBAKAR: Near Yola. And some are in Gembu in Taraba state.

SIMON: So your - now your cows, they stick basically on one piece of land.

ABUBAKAR: Yes.

SIMON: But Musa's cows will stay nomadic for now. He says it's important to remember that nomadism¹² is a way of life.

MUSA: You cannot legislate¹³ it out of existence. You have to convince these people, and a lot of them feel it's the philosophy of their existence.

SIMON: Still, given the conflicts over land and water, he knows which way nomadism in Nigeria is headed. It'll be sad, he says, but maybe someday grandparents can show kids videos on YouTube, saying this is how we used to be.

Julia Simon, NPR News, Abuja.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 sipping   

v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She sat in the sun, idly sipping a cool drink. 她坐在阳光下懒洋洋地抿着冷饮。
• She sat there, sipping at her tea. 她坐在那儿抿着茶。

4 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

5 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

6 millet   

n.小米，谷子

参考例句：

• Millet is cultivated in the middle or lower reaches of the Yellow River.在黄河中下游地区，人们种植谷子。
• The high quality millet flour was obtained through wet milling.采用湿磨法获得了高品质的小米粉。

7 kin   

n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的

参考例句：

• He comes of good kin.他出身好。
• She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

10 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 nomads   

n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活

参考例句：

• For ten years she dwelled among the nomads of North America. 她在北美游牧民中生活了十年。
• Nomads have inhabited this region for thousands of years. 游牧民族在这地区居住已有数千年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 nomadism   

n.游牧生活，流浪生活

参考例句：

• Another dimension of flexibility and mobility? Or the end of nomadism? 是另一种弹性和移动？还是标志着游牧的结束？ 来自互联网
• It'should be cavalry Jian.The copper nail on grip has nomadism style. 应为巴尔干地区斯拉夫人的骑兵用剑。刀柄的铜钉具有显著的游牧风格。 来自互联网

13 legislate   

vt.制定法律；n.法规，律例；立法

参考例句：

• Therefore,it is very urgent to legislate for the right of privacy.因此，为隐私权立法刻不容缓。
• It's impossible to legislate for every contingency.为每一偶发事件都立法是不可能的。