Menace of Open Grazing in the FCT  

The FCT Administration has been unable to steer cattle away from the major highways of Abuja raising concern about the health hazards and its security breaches for the country, Olawale Ajimotokan reports

Indiscriminate grazing of cattle has been a recurring issue in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) despite moves by the authorities to curb the menace.

In fact, a major concern in the nation’s capital is the sight of cattle indiscriminately roaming about the seat of power without giving concern for the implication such would have on national security and communal harmony.

Activities of the herders has for years incensed farmers-herders unrest in addition to intractable banditry that is the major cause of food insecurity in many parts of Northern Nigeria and across the country.

In addition, several communities in the northern part of the country are prone to gastro- enteritis diseases, Cholera and other water borne diseases, partly because their rivers, which are the major sources of water are contaminated by efflux discharged by cows.

Their impunity and insistence that their livestock must enjoy free movement on the public highways, walkways and medians at the expense of citizens cause traffic snarls and inflict systemic destruction on the environment. 

Aside the low cost communities, exclusive areas are not spaced from the menace of authorised cattle rearing as herds are often seen invading in broad day places like the International Airport Road, the Federal Secretariat, National Stadium Complex, Three Arm-Zone, Wuse 2, Maitama and the Central Business District in search of pasture or access to a grazing route.

But in all this it appears the FCT Administration is arm-twisted and befuddled as the sanctity of the federal city centre and its security is imperiled by roaming herdsmen in search of graze for their livestock.

When the pastoralists randomly ply the roads and streets of Abuja no one no matter his social status is spared from their notoriety.

A business man, Tunde Oluleye, once a had a bitter experience, when he almost lost his life, when his car ran into some cows that strayed onto the road at Idu, a suburb of Abuja. 

He was driving home that faithful evening when the cows from a large herd suddenly encroached into the road, causing him to lose control in an attempt to avoid colliding with the animals.

The incident left him with a back bone injury, which doctors diagnosed as spondylosis and confined him to the wheel chair for six months as he could barely walk.

“It was a narrow escape. The car was damaged beyond recognition and l suffered an injury that nearly confined me to the wheel chair for life. I only regained the full use of my limbs because of the efficiency of my orthopedic doctor and physiotherapist, ” he said recounted. 

He added he was lucky the injury did not affect his spinal cord but only prevented him from walking with his right leg for some months because it resulted in a pinched nerve and an herniated disc.

Another commuter, Angel Dafiagbon, also recounted his bitter experience while driving one morning along Shehu Shagari Way when her car ploughed into cows that suddenly alighted from the Millennium Park by Unity Fountain and ripped off her car bumper and broke the radiator.

The experience of Oluleye and Dafiagbon only echoed the plight of many citizens from the impunity of herders on daily basis in Abuja.

Wike’s Vow to End Grazing in Abuja

Upon his appointment as FCT Minister about a year ago, Nyesom Wike vowed not allow any form of open grazing in any form in the capital city, saying herders would have to take their cows for grazing outside the city centre.

He famously said during his first media briefing: “We will consult with the herdsmen to see how we will stop [open grazing] because we cannot allow cows inside the city,” he had said.

“They can be outside the city because the grasses are outside the city. The grasses in the city were planted to beautify the city. It is not that one that they would eat.

“So, we will discuss. It is important. Let us say it, you are driving inside the [Presidential] Villa for example, and you see about 20,000 to 40,000 goats, if foreigners see that, how would they feel?”

The minister also assured that eff orts were being made, in addition to multifaceted discussions with critical stakeholders to end indiscriminate roaming of cattle in Abuja.

He gave the assurance when the Belgian Ambassador to Nigeria raised concerns about the unsightly presence of herds on Abuja streets.

But that threat has neither carried any significant weight nor dissuaded the herders from continuing with the arbitrary practice of flocking into the streets and highways of the city with their cattle in search of pasture.

The was in contrast to the initiative of his predecessor, Mohammed Musa Bello, who in an attempt to control the threat, in 2017 identified a permanent grazing reserve for the herdsmen by allocating 33,485 hectares of land for seven million cattle in the FCT.

The allocated grazing land included Paikon Kore, 8,500 hectares; Karshi 6,000, hectares; Kawu in Bwari 9,000 hectares and Rubochi in Kuje 9,985 hectares.

It is a distraught that despite this measures in place the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) has been unable to assert the extant laws and rules which clearly forbids anyone from keeping animals in his property nor allowed to graze on the streets.

The Situation in other Jurisdictions

Several other countries have in place measures to address similar issue that has become intractable for successive administrations in Nigeria.

For instance, India has a legislation, known as Cattle Control Bill, that prohibits movement of stray cattle within city limits. The law was enacted in April 2022 are requires cattle herders to be licensed and their flocks to be tagged. Any owner who fails to comply with this law will be instantly penalized.

In Ghana, there is in place a bye-law of Accra Metropolitan Assembly 1995, Section 79 of the LGA, 1993(Act) 462 stipulates that “no person shall keep any cattle, sheep or goat within areas of administration without permits”. Similarly, permits and licenses are introduced along with regular vaccination and inspection to handle the situation. The permits are reviewed periodically.

In Rwanda, the movement of cattle are only confined to outside “built-up” areas and specific locations mostly in the hill side suburbs.

As a matter of fact, the authorities allow full scale ranching in Kigali, the capital city and have ensured that public places like markets, roads are declared “cattle free”, while in South Africa, movement of cattle is suspended with the exception of those designated for the slaughter house. The suspension is reviewed weekly to ensure strict compliance. Their legislation is done purely for the purpose of preserving food security and livelihoods.

 In Botswana, their Road Traffic Act Section 100(2)(b) states that “no owner or person in charge of any cattle or other animals to be on the main road unless they are attended to by a person in such a manner as to have proper control over them”. They followed this up with an attempt to fence busy public roads and mark them with road signs.

MACBAN Explains Why Pastoralists Roam Abuja

But the Fulani advocacy group, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria ((MACBAN) has advanced the reasons fueling the arbitrary roaming of pastoralists in the periphery of Abuja go graze, despite the creation of a grazing reserves large enough to accommodate about seven million livestock.

The National President of MACBAN, Alhaji Baba Othman-Ngelzarma, said the refusal of the herdsmen to relocate to the grazing reserves gazette by law in Paikon Kore, Karshi; Kawu and Rubochi is because the some of the areas have been encroached by farmers and illegal settlers and the rest.

“So that is the reason why you see a lot of them coming into the periphery of the city grazing.

Because those areas that are designated have been taken over due to one factor or the other coupled with the insecurity surrounding the FCT, their cows are being taken away by rustlers on daily basis. So they are forced to be on the periphery in grazing their cows, Othman-Ngelzarma said.

The MACBAN president also urged the FCT Minister to develop and make some of the reserves habitable for the pastoralists, most especially the Paikon Kore grazing reserves in Gwagwalada by retrieving the grazing reserve in addition with coming up with a model that can be emulated by some of the states.

According to Othman-Ngelzarma, MACBAN is of the view that Wike is capable of developing the grazing reserves if he shows the desire in doing it.

“But during the tenure of the last minister, I think a certain level had been reached to the extent that I think even compensation was about to be detailed for those settlers to leave the grazing reserves to pave way for the FCT Administration to develop the area into either a modernized community rents where the pastoralists will be confined to so that we will stop seeing them roaming the city causing a lot of traffic jams, a lot of embarrassment with foreigners coming in seeing cows in areas that are not supposed to be,” he said.

He also fumed that apart from Paikon Kore that has problem of encroachment, the remaining three reserves had been neglected by the FCTA, adding due to lack of water and grass, the places had been taken over by weeds which could not be consumed by the cows.

“And some that have dams, the dams have desilted and no longer hold water for the pastoralists. The major requirement for pastoralists is water and grass. That is what is causing them to go far into the hinterland and Southern parts of the country, looking for free pasture and water.

Othman-Ngelzarma stressed that given Miyetti Allah’s displeasure with seeing cows on the road they sat down with the former FCT Minister and discussed on several occasions that henceforth, no cows should be seen within the main city but only on the periphery to avoid the embarrassment associated with open grazing.

“Another problem is that most of these pastoralists are not educated. And because they are forced out of those areas that they are supposed to graze, they, they move to wherever they see green grass.

When they see green grass, that will be an area for their cows to survive. So they go to that area unminding wherever the area is, whether in the central area, wherever it is. Their concern is just see grass for their cow to eat. We are never against ranching because with the population that will continue to grow against a land that doesn’t increase. And the more the population grows, the more the demand for land becomes an issue because people will be looking farmlands, for houses and government infrastructures will be coming up, establishing new villages, towns and cities.

So all these will now form a serious challenge on the limited land that we have. And coupled with the natural factors of climate change, desertification, erosion, also forcing another challenge to the land. And the land doesn’t increase. So, because of the growing population, there has to be a form of effective planning for both farmers and herders to coexist peacefully”.

National Assembly Seeks Ban of Open Grazing 

The issue of open grazing is also receiving attention in the National Assembly with a bill seeking a ban on open grazing having scaled the second reading after a heated debate.

The bill is seeking to establish ranches as an antidote for the perennial violent clashes between sedentary farmers and nomadic herders in the country.

The Senate has also proposed a national summit on the matter, in addition to a public hearing for a comprehensive solution.

Law makers are harping on the need to adopt international best practices in animal husbandry by establishing a law to stop open grazing to discard the old-fashioned, hazardous and burdensome culture.

The bill, if it becomes an act, proposes ranching as the only viable alternative for cattle breeding in Nigeria and advocates for the urgent need to transit from traditional livestock-keeping methods to modern methods which are safer and healthier for both the herds and the herders.

The bill that has been referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Trade and Investment and Legal Services further proposes that interested parties in livestock business must seek and obtain approvals of their host communities to establish ranches for peaceful co-existence.

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Indiscriminate grazing of cattle has been a recurring issue in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) despite moves by the authorities to curb the menace. In fact, a major concern in the nation’s capital is the sight of cattle indiscriminately roaming about the seat of power without giving concern for the implication such would have on national security and communal harmony