Ayodele Fayose is a man you can always trust to speak his mind.

He has been one of the most vocal governors around, especially in his criticism of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, and even though he is viewed as obnoxious by many, his recent move to ban grazing by Fulani herdsmen in his state has received mixed reception.

He promised to send a bill to the Ekiti House of Assembly, to restrict the movement of herdsmen to the ranches that the herdsmen themselves will create.

This position came as a result of an attack by herdsmen on Oke-Akoko in Ikole Ekiti Local Government Area on the night of May 20.

That attack left 2 people dead.

Then he escalated the rhetoric even further, by inciting hunters in that community to fight the herdsmen, saying, among other things, that “a fight against one Ekiti man is a fight against everybody. When they defeat you, they will go the next community. When they defeat that one, they will go to the next.”

When the video got out, he was hailed by many, who praised him for showing decisive leadership.

The escalation of herdsmen attacks over the last 2-3 years, especially in the Middle Belt, should have prompted the government to action.

The killings in Agatu in Benue state, and the Uzo-Uwani Local Government in Enugu State, should have been the final alarm bell the federal security agencies needed to get serious.

This has not happened, and since nature abhors a vacuum, Ayo Fayose has stepped into the breach, to handle things his way.

The problem is that his way is likely to make things worse, not better.

By empowering hunters in his state, he has given them a blank cheque to attack herdsmen, and the possibility of increased death toll in any future clashes is very high.

It is puzzling that he did not see fit to talk to the police command in his state, to figure out ways to manage the situation.

Even though the police are under federal control, state governors are known to work with police commissioners in their states to give them vehicles and other equipment, to enable them fight crime better.

Rather than call on his people to attack herdsmen, or banning grazing in his state, the Enugu governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi met with President Buhari, got the Commissioner of Police removed, and aerial surveillance of the state has even commenced in order to improve security.

There is no evidence that Fayose has used this approach.

Beyond this, the blanket ban on the herdsmen has tarred them all with one brush.

There has to be a better way to separate the murderers from the innocent who are just going about their business, or who complain to the authorities when they are wronged.

There is no way to bring back those who have died, and one would have expected that the governor of a state will not propose solutions that will make things worse.

If the quality of Fayose’s ideas are no better than what an ordinary Ekiti man would propose, then what is his purpose as a governor?

To a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Fayose’s display of bravado may win him short term applause, but replacing one extreme with another is a recipe for disaster.