The Existence of Grazing Routes in Nigeria: Fact or Fiction (Part 1)

Introduction

On 11th May, 2021, all the 17 Governors in the Southern States, proscribed open grazing owing to the public outcry on the atrocities being perpetrated by the Herders. In sharp response to this initiative, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN (AGF), condemned it on a wrong foot and equated open grazing to spare parts trading.

Consequently, on 14th June, 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari, expressed opposition to the decision of the Southern Governors and emphasised that he had instructed the AGF, to “go and dig the gazette of the First Republic” and pursue vigorously, the recovery of grazing routes in many States across the country.

A Short History of Grazing Reserves in Nigeria

The grazing reserves in Nigeria date back to the 1950s, when a Hamisu Kano created a grazing reserve in the Northern States of Nigeria, with the aid of the then administration. He had used the abandoned government resettlement schemes (the Fulani Resettlement). The reason for the then establishment of the grazing reserve was to prevent food shortage in the North, and establish a large grazing reserve to accommodate Herders in the North.

The historical reference to the formative stage of Grazing Reserves in Nigeria, is to give more credence to the argument that the Grazing Reserve Law was only aimed for enforcement in Northern Nigeria, and not the whole of Nigeria. This is because the grazing routes which constituted passage for Herders to get from one grazing reserve to another, only allowed for such areas where the grazing reserves were available; that is the North.

Controversy Surrounding Grazing Routes in Nigeria

There has been much controversy, concerning the existence of these grazing routes in Nigeria. The First Republic in Nigeria spanned 1963–1966. There existed a Grazing Law of Northern Region of Nigeria (NN Law of 1965). This law which applied only to the defunct Northern Region, is today an existing law by virtue of Section 315(1) of the 1999 Constitution. The operations of this law, has equally been saved by Section 4 of the Land Use Act, 1978.
However, apart from the provision of Section 6 of the Land Use Act which provides for the power of the Local Government to grant customary right of occupancy for grazing purposes, there is no known Federal legislation on grazing.

What is Grazing Routes?

“Grazing” is defined in agriculture, as a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to consume wild vegetation, and other forms of nutriments that can be found in the wild. Under this method of animal husbandry, a grazing reserve is defined as an area set aside and used by Herdsmen and Pastoral Farmers, and is intended to be a foci of livestock growth development.

A “route” is a way that you follow, to get from one place to another. It is a path or passage. A grazing route is therefore, defined as a way or course taken in getting from a starting point to a certain destination. On that route, the farm animals graze on the route to different destinations, and the routes act as pathways that link one grazing reserve to another. Herders are habitually moving from one place to another, in search of greener pasture across Nigeria. Most times, these Herders gained entrance into these paths, based on the goodwill of the land owners or kings. Clashes usually arise when these Herders are denied entrance into these paths, to prevent owners’ farmlands from being wantonly destroyed or freely grazed upon to the detriment of such owners.

Different Perspectives on the Existence of Grazing Routes in Nigeria

President Buhari’s directive to the AGF, has brought the controversy to the fore. Finding a permanent solution to grazing issues has been a major problem to successive Governments over the years, due largely to the inability of the Government to tackle this issue head on. Speaking on this issue, and the present administration’s effort to tackle same, the Guardian had reported thus:

“There is palpable apprehension nationwide, as the search for solution to the clashes between Herdsmen and Farmers, which have intensified across the country in recent time, seems not yielding the desired results.
“Already, the problem is threatening the corporate existence of the country, with the increased killing and maiming of innocent and helpless citizens; destruction of farmlands and farmsteads; low agricultural output resulting in high cost of produce, increased hunger, poverty and criminality, and descent to ethnic jingoism.
“Conscious of the telling effects of the clashes on the country, the Federal Government has been making multi-faceted efforts to address the security challenge.

“Among such efforts was the plan by the Federal Government, in 2018, to establish cattle colonies for Herdsmen. But, many States kicked against the initiative, describing it as a ploy to forcefully snatch lands for the use of Fulani Herdsmen perceived as armed militia, whom they feared would later unleash terror on their host communities.

“Faced by widespread opposition to the plan, especially in the Southern and Middle Belt parts of the country, the Federal Government later came up with the Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) initiative”.

The then Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, who unveiled the initiative, had stated that “just [some while] ago, President Muhammadu Buhari approved a programme called the Ruga settlement. We are going to build settlements where Herders will live, grow their cattle and produce milk. The milk will be bought by a milking parlour, thus, preventing their wives from moving around with milk. This is especially to avert any conflict between the Herders and the Farmers”.

Corroborating Ogbeh, the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Umar, had, while speaking on the sidelines of the West Africa Antimicrobial Resistance Workshop in Abuja, also noted:

“We felt that to do away with Herders-Farmers’ conflict, we need to settle our nomads and those who breed animals. We want to put them in a place that has been developed as a settlement, where we provide water for their animals, pasture, schools for their children, security, agro-rangers, and so on.

“We also felt that we need to develop cattle markets, whereby you don’t need to be transporting animals through very long distances. We will also bring in investors that will set up modern centres, where cattle breeders can slaughter their animals. When we do that, a lot of other things will come up.

“We are going to change their (Herdsmen) lifestyle, take them away from our streets, and from wandering in the bush, and develop districts, hamlets and towns; and definitely in the next five to 10 years, you will never see a nomad moving about, wandering or kidnapping. And, this will end all these security challenges”.

This initiative was met with stiff opposition, as many States insisted that they had “no land for grazing reserves, grazing routes, cattle colonies or Ruga settlements”. They genuinely believed the policy was designed to snatch their lands from them, under artifice and design.

The Federal Government later came up with the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP), under which the Federal and Adamawa, Benue, Ebonyi, Edo, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Oyo, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara States agreed to set up cattle ranches. The programme was planned to cost N179 billion over a period of 10 years. The two tiers of Government were to jointly spend N70 billion, in the first three years of the pilot phase of the programme.
However, some stakeholders in the country kicked against the NLTP, describing it as a clone of the Rural Grazing Area (RUGA). The NITP was set for launching in February, 2020. But, it would appear that the unexpected Covid-19 pandemic and dwindling revenue of the Federal and State Governments made the plan a non-priority, in the face of other pressing national projects.

The Southern Governors’ Accord and Reaction of the Federal Government

In a bid to address this ugly trend that has since claimed several thousands of lives, 17 Southern Governors met at Asaba, the Delta State capital. They thereafter, issued a communique placing a ban on open grazing.
In a rather swift reaction to the Southern Governors’ communique, the AGF proclaimed the ban on open grazing by the Southern Governors, as unconstitutional. According to Malami, the decision of the Governors “does not align with the provisions of the Constitution, hence it holds no water”.

Speaking further, the AGF stated thus: “For example, it is as good as the Northern Governors coming together to say, they prohibit spare parts trading in the North. Does it hold water, for a Northern Governor to come and state expressly that he now prohibits spare parts trading in the North.” Suffice it to say however, that Abubakar Malami received several knocks for this unfortunate comment, and his stance against the ban on open grazing. I wrote severally on this, at the time.
The issue was taken to a whole new level and dimension, with the recent comment of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCON, during a media interview with the Arise TV team on Thursday, 10th June, 2021, obviously supporting the position of his AGF on open grazing. (To be continued).

Serious and Trivial

There are two sides to every coin. Life itself contains not only the good, but also the bad and the ugly. Let us now explore this.

“When I die I will hold the Nigerian flag so that Jesus will know I have passed through hell already; I don’t need to go to hell again.” – Anonymous

“Some of my friends ask me why I post so much political stuff. Here is my answer: Always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor never the tormented.” – Elie Wiesel

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the Government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force”. (Ayn Rand)