By Omoniyi Salaudeen
It now appears that the Federal Government has been caught up in an intricate dilemma about how to strike a delicate balance between the public demand for a drastic cut in the cost of governance, on the one hand, and the desire by President Bola Ahamed Tinubu to meet the aspiration of some particular interest groups for political expediency, on the other hand. Tuesday’s announcement of creating a new Ministry of Livestock Development to end the prolonged incessant clashes between herdsmen and farmers raises a fresh concern about the implication of the decision on the already bloated workforce in the country.
This is contrary to an earlier commitment by the present administration to implement the Orosanye report which recommended rationalization of some ministries, agencies and department to reduce the administrative cost of governance. However, there has been a mismatch between the words and the president’s actions. Much as he mouths the mantra of prudent management of resources, the proliferation of ministries and agencies has continued.
As of today, Tinubu has created more agencies than any of his past predecessors. Some of the newly created or modified ministries include Marine and Blue Economy; Tourism, Art, Culture and the Creative Economy; Gas Resources created from the Petroleum Resources Ministry; Steel Development carved out from Mines and Steel Development; Health and Social Welfare merged with health to make it an encompassing ministry; Aviation and Aerospace Development also created and merged with Aviation Ministry, among others.
The latest in the long list of emerging new agencies is the Ministry of Livestock Development.
President Tinubu announced the creation of the new Ministry when he inaugurated the Renewed Hope Livestock Reform Implementation Committee at the State House, Abuja, Tuesday, in his bid to find a lasting solution to herders and farmers’ clashes and bolster livestock and dairy industries.
Over the years, Nigeria has been locked in incessant conflicts between farmers and herders.
But an excited Tinubu expressed optimism that the creation of the ministry would resolve the lingering impasse.
“To enable Nigeria to finally take advantage of livestock farming, we have seen the solution and opportunity for this adversity that has plagued us over the years and I believe the prosperity is here in our hands,” he announced.
With the move, President Tinubu said, Nigeria could now look forward to “maintaining the quality and safety of these perishable goods from farm to market thereby reducing food waste and ensuring a stable supply.”
He assured that the Federal Government was fully prepared to cover the cost of acquiring lands to ensure the peaceful co-existence of pastoralists and farmers.
While President Tinubu will chair the committee on livestock reforms, a former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, is the deputy chairman. The committee is expected to propose recommendations aimed at fostering a peaceful co-existence between herders and farmers, ensuring the security and economic well-being of Nigerians.
Tinubu’s announcement came 10 months after he had approved the establishment of the presidential committee headed by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, to address herders and farmers’ clashes.
He set up the committee after receiving a report from the National Conference on Livestock Reforms and Mitigation of Associated Conflicts in Nigeria. The committee had proposed 21 recommendations, including creating a Ministry of Livestock Resources.
The creation of the ministry is the latest attempt by the Federal Government to address the age-old conflict between herders and farmers over access to land, pasture and water. The dispute has claimed several lives with the recent being in Plateau State where dozens have been killed.
Before now, previous administrations had initiated some measures including the highly controversial Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) to address the challenge. However, the moves could not solve the perennial conflicts between the farmers and pastoralists due to a lack of public confidence in the government. The violence is often painted as an ethno-religious conflict between Muslim herders and mainly Christian farmers. But climate change and expanding agriculture are also believed to be major factors. The committee is mandated to provide sector-focused solutions to address the issue.
However, there is confusion about this seemingly policy summersault. While the new ministry is expected to end the farmer-herders clashes, its creation at this time is seen by many as a complete negation of the earlier directive on the implementation of the Oronsaye report.
On February 26, the Federal Government announced the merging, subsuming, scrapping, and relocation of several agencies to prune down the cost of governance.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who announced the President’s directive after the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, enthused, saying the move was consistent with Tinubu’s courage to take very far-reaching decisions in the interest of Nigeria.
“So in a very bold move today, this administration, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, consistent again with his courage to take very far-reaching decisions in the interest of Nigeria, has taken a decision to implement the so-called Oronsaye Report.
“Now, what that means is that a number of agencies, commissions, and some departments have actually been scrapped. Some have been modified, and marked while others have been subsumed. Others, of course, have also been moved from some ministries to others where the government feels they will operate better,” he said.
The Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Mrs Hadiza Bala-Usman, on her part, said the President had constituted a committee to implement the mergers, scrapping and relocations within 12 weeks.
In a report submitted in 2012, the Stephen Oronsaye report had revealed that there were 541 — statutory and non-statutory —Federal Government parastatals, commissions, and agencies. Consequently, it recommended the scrapping of 38 agencies, merging of 52, while 14 other should be reverted to departments in the various ministries.
The report also recommended that the law establishing the National Salaries and Wages Commission be repealed and its functions taken over by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Responsibility Commission. It advised the FG to merge the nation’s top three anti-corruption agencies—the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission and the Code of Conduct Bureau.
Months after the directive of the President on the implementation, the real action plan to achieve the set objectives is yet to be seen.
Senator Rufai Hanga, representing Kano Central Senatorial District, speaking with Sunday Sun on the matter, expressed support for the new ministry, but insisted on the readiness of the government to support ranching to achieve the peace objective of the initiative.
He said: “The establishment of Livestock Ministry will certainly help to stablise the economy, but I don’t think it will, in any way, help to end the farmers/herders clashes because there are routes for these herders that have been blocked in some states. Some people are not willing to let herders go to their areas. Some people are for cattle ranching, which is good. I am for ranching, but ranching can only be established by those that are very rich because it requires a large area of land which must be maintained to ensure that the cattle have enough grass to feed on. So, it is for medium-scale herders. Individuals cannot afford it unless the government is ready to provide funds to establish it. Otherwise, the majority of herdsmen will continue to go from one place to the other in search of green pasture.
“If the government will take care of ranching, it is a good way to maintain peace in the country. With ranching, there will be enough feed, enough water and enough security. Most of those who are adamant that they don’t want a ranch are saying so because they don’t have money to establish it. If the government can fund it, it will be accepted. All they need to do is to carve out the animal section of the Ministry of Agriculture and bring back the functions. In those days, the animal section of the Ministry of Agriculture used to do ranching. If the government can do it, it is a good thing.
“Regarding the cost of governance, however, it is a policy summersault because it is a duplication of agencies. There are many dormant agencies and I don’t know why they’re not doing something about them. Some agencies have been forgotten which you may not know under which ministry they are. Some are just generating money for themselves, yet the government is routinely allocating money to them. As a member of the appropriation committee, I will make sure I look into these ministries and departments that are dormant, but routinely getting money from the government. Some of them have been completely forgotten. There are no proper checks and balances.
“So, the creation of another ministry is a duplication of function. And it impacts on both capital and recurrent expenditures. It even makes it difficult for the National Assembly to perform oversight functions on some of these agencies. For example, there are more than 108 parastatals and agencies under the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education is prominent which is why you can count the number of agencies. There are some ministries that have so many parastatals that nobody knows them. Therefore, the National Assembly cannot go there for oversight functions because they don’t know they exist. I hope Tinubu will select good people to do the right thing.”
Similarly, another statesman from Kano, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, also reacting to the creation of the new ministry in an interview with Sunday Sun, described the President’s initiative as a welcome development.
His words: “It came rather late, but it is better late than never. Livestock is an important aspect of our national economy. Establishing a special ministry to oversee that aspect of the economy is a welcome development. It should have been done a long time ago. I can remember, during the First Republic, there was the ministry of animal husbandry for Northern Nigeria. The name of the minister in charge was Abdullahi Damburam Jaja.
“For the time being, I welcome the idea of establishing the ministry because livestock is an important aspect not only for our economy, but also our lives. With time, the ministry will work out the way to address some of the issues resulting in farmer-herder clashes.”
He, however, disagreed with Hanga on the effect of the new ministry on the cost of governance, saying cutting the cost of governance is not a one-time matter. “Cutting down the cost of governance is an ongoing thing in any country. It is not a one-time matter. Just like life itself, it is something that is changing and expanding. And livestock is an important aspect of our economy. In the First Republic and even under the colonial regime, the government considered it so important to give it attention. I think what they are doing now is rather late, but not too late. It is the right way to go because it had been there before.
“Where you find out that there is an area of governance that requires attention and it has not been given that due attention, it is never too late for the government to turn its attention to that area and do the needful,” he argued.
The Secretary of the Ijaw Elders Forum, Efiye Bribena, concurred with Hanga, declaring the new ministry as evidence of the insincerity of the government.
“The mystery about the establishment of the Ministry of Livestock Development is that it is coming at a time when the government is talking about reducing the cost of governance. Months after making the statement about the implementation of the Orosanye report, up till today, they have not done anything about it only for them to announce the establishment of the Livestock Ministry. For them to come up with another ministry, it is like they are not serious about reducing the cost of governance. They are merely duplicating the function of the Ministry of Agriculture. Why must they create a new ministry to end the crisis between the farmers and the herdsmen? Do you need a ministry to do that? It looks like an attempt to satisfy some interest groups as part of the politics of 2027,” he opined.
Either way, the choice available to the government is a complex one, as each side of the coin has its costs and benefits. While a reduction in the cost of governance has a general appeal to the populace to moderate the imbalance between the capital and recurrent expenditures, the social consequences of an imminent downsizing could also be another difficult challenge for the government to manage, especially at this time of economic crisis in the country.
On the other hand, the proliferation of ministries, department and agencies without due regard to the current prohibitive cost of governance could put further strain on the prostrate economy. Perhaps, this is the price the nation has to pay to achieve the much-desired peace that has remained elusive for so long.