Ranching: Benue must reject attempt to resurrect ruga- Iortyom

From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi

The People Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2027 Benue State House of Assembly election, Chief Bemgba Iortyom, has urged the Benue State Government and people to reject the Federal Government’s proposed National Ranching Policy, describing it as an attempt to resurrect the controversial RUGA settlement policy.

Iortyom, who is the PDP candidate for Mata State Constituency, made this call in a statement issued to newsmen on Saturday. He was reacting to the disclosure by the Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Maiha, that Benue was among five states and the Federal Capital Territory selected for the pilot implementation of the policy.

The minister said the proposed ranching model would include grazing reserves equipped with housing, veterinary clinics, schools, primary healthcare centres, solar lighting and water infrastructure for herders and their livestock.

According to Iortyom, the proposed model raises concerns because it bears similarities to the RUGA settlements and other livestock policies previously rejected by the people of Benue.

He recalled that between 2015 and 2023, Benue resisted proposals including cattle colonies, grazing routes, RUGA settlements and the National Livestock Transformation Plan, arguing that such policies placed the burden of resolving the farmer-herder crisis on communities that had suffered killings, displacement and destruction.

Iortyom maintained that livestock production was a legitimate private business and that livestock owners should acquire land lawfully and establish ranches, just as crop farmers and other entrepreneurs acquire land for their businesses.

He questioned the rationale behind using public funds to provide housing, schools, healthcare facilities, water and electricity for proposed herder settlements when many host farming communities still lack basic amenities.

The PDP candidate also demanded clarification on the location and ownership of any land that may be provided for the proposed ranching programme in Benue, asking whether affected communities and landowners had been consulted.

He further argued that if the Federal Government regarded the situation as a farmer-herder conflict, the proposed solution should not focus solely on the welfare and economic interests of herders while ignoring farmers who had suffered loss of lives, property and displacement.

He said “Under Governor Samuel Ortom, the Benue position was unequivocal: livestock farming is a legitimate private business, and those who engage in it must shoulder the burden of acquiring land lawfully and ranch their animals, just as crop farmers and other private entrepreneurs bear the burden of acquiring land and the facilities required for their businesses. That principle remains as valid today as it was in the past.

“The most troubling feature of this so-called National Ranching Policy, as was contained in the rejected previous proposals, is the apparent assumption that communities affected by violence must provide land on which settlements and infrastructure will be established for livestock producers. That logic is defeatist, even as it turns justice on its head.”

Iortyom also raised concerns over references to old grazing routes and reserves, arguing that Nigeria’s population and land-use patterns had changed significantly over the decades and that ancestral lands could not be appropriated based on outdated assumptions.

He said Benue already had a legal framework for livestock production through the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, 2017, which came into force in 2018 and prohibited open grazing while providing for ranching.

According to him, the law did not prohibit livestock farming but provided a framework for livestock owners to establish ranches and conduct their businesses without violating the rights, farms and security of other residents.

He, however, regretted that the administration of Governor Hyacinth Alia failed to actively enforce the law, claiming that the development had contributed to the resurgence of attacks and destruction in farming communities.

Iortyom said Governor Alia’s silence over the proposed Federal Government ranching programme could be interpreted as consent, urging him to publicly state his position on the matter.

Iortyom warned that continued silence on the issue could further worsen the concerns of residents already traumatized by years of farmer-herder violence, stressing that the governor’s position should be made known without delay.