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• Core north with huge empty land better for ranching – MBF
• Policy will generate more crisis – Northern Christian elders, Hagher
• FG should work with willing states – ACF, Arewa Think-Tank
By Vincent Kalu and Noah Ebije
The Federal Government’s proposed National Ranching Policy is again enmeshed in controversy, as many groups in the Middle Belt, the region where the project is to be sited, are kicking against it, vowing to use all means available to stop it.
To find a lasting solution to the farmers and herders conflicts, the Federal Government has identified Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Adamawa states and the Federal Capital Territory, as priority areas for implementation of ranching.
This has drawn the ire of stakeholders and groups of the region.
Middle Belt leaders issue warning
The Middle Belt Forum (MBF), has said that the proposed ranching in the Middle Belt states would not stand, asking the Federal Government to look towards the far north that has more land than the Middle Belt, if government was sincere with ranching.
The President of MBF, Dr Bitrus Pogu, told Saturday Sun that the people of the region were 100 per cent opposed to that proposal.
He said the people were not opposed to ranching, “but if the government is looking for empty lands, they are far more in the far north than in the Middle Belt.
“In the Middle Belt, you hardly travel for two or three kilometres without getting a settlement. There are empty lands out there in the core north. If you have travelled from Kano to either Katsina or Zamfara, there are places you will travel for more than 30 kilometres without seeing any settlement at all. Those are the places they should use.
“These people have been attacking our people, destroying our ancestral homes and our lands, and now, having destroyed, pushed our people into IDP camps, want to occupy the lands and take them over under the guise of ranching.
“Yes, we are not opposed to ranching because that is the way to go, but the Federal Government should establish those ranches in the core north. They now tried deception by saying it’s a pilot scheme. If it’s a pilot scheme, try it where it’s supposed to work.
“Why come to displace our people and hand over our lands to the people who have been killing us? We vehemently oppose it and we are going to oppose it using all means possible and available and that is the story and that is the truth about the whole thing.”
In the same vein, Professor Iyorwuese Hagher, cautioned the Federal Government over establishing the proposed cattle ranching in the Middle Belt.
In an open letter, the former minister and Grand Patron, Middle Belt Youth Development Organisation, also voiced his total disagreement with the proposal.
“Why should the very communities that have suffered killings, displacement and destruction now become priority territories for cattle ranches? Why must ranches, grazing reserves, RUGA settlements or whatever nomenclature the government adopts repeatedly return to the same wounded landscapes? Why must the victim always surrender more?”
He warned that the Nigerian state must never create the impression that violence can produce economic or territorial advantage, noting, “if people are violently driven from their ancestral homes and the government later facilitates permanent livestock settlements on those same lands before the original inhabitants return, what message does that send?
“I ask the Federal Government, before you establish ranches, where have you established justice? Before allocating land for cattle, where is the secure land for the Nigerians driven from their farms? Before constructing livestock estates, where are the rebuilt homes, schools, clinics and markets destroyed during years of violence? Before asking traumatised communities to embrace ranching, where are the prosecutions, convictions, compensation and restitution? Where is the safe return of displaced citizens?
He asked the Federal Government to suspend any ranching arrangement that cannot guarantee justice, security, lawful land rights, community consent and the prior restoration of displaced Nigerians.
Christians elders kick
Chairman, Northern States Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF), Elder Sunday Oibe, while kicking against any proposal by the Federal Government to establish cattle ranches in any part of the Middle Belt, warned that the move could trigger fresh tensions and conflicts in communities already affected by clashes involving herders.
Elder Oibe questioned the rationale behind government involvement in what he described as a private business, arguing that cattle rearing should not be treated differently from other privately-owned businesses.
“In the first place, is cattle business not a private business? Why is the government interested in creating problems where there’s none?”
“Is the federal government going to create pig ranching in Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, for those into the pig business?”
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“Since cattle business is a private business like any other private business, the government shouldn’t get involved in what could snowball into serious conflict,” he said.
He expressed support for communities that have rejected proposals to establish ranches in their areas, citing what he described as the “dangerous activity” of some herders and the impact of herder-related violence on local communities.
“No land in the Middle Region should be given for ranching to avoid further crisis. The people of the Middle Belt have suffered enough.”
FG should work with willing states – ACF
Meanwhile the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) urged the Federal Government to allow states willing to embrace ranching to proceed with the establishment of livestock ranches, saying a successful pilot scheme could persuade sceptical communities to reconsider their opposition.
The National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, Prof Tukur Muhammad-Baba, said the Federal Government should work with willing state governments rather than attempt to impose the ranching scheme on states that are unwilling to participate.
According to him, the issue of land allocation falls under the jurisdiction of state governments, making it necessary for the Federal Government to collaborate with individual states interested in the programme.
Muhammad-Baba explained that governors of participating states could identify and allocate suitable land for the ranches, while the affected communities should be adequately engaged and educated about the potential benefits of the initiative.
The ACF spokesman suggested that allowing willing states to take the lead could provide an opportunity for the ranching model to demonstrate its viability before it is adopted more broadly.
Muhammad-Baba described the approach as a potential “coalition of the willing,” arguing that states that embrace the initiative could become examples for others to follow.
“This way, a ‘coalition of the willing’, so to speak, will lead the way to acceptability and adoption,” he said.
Arewa Think Tank: Ranching plan by FG in order
The Arewa Think Tank says the initiative is a practical step towards ending the recurring clashes between farmers and herders across the country.
The Convener of the Arewa Think Tank, Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu, made the position known while reacting to opposition from some Middle Belt youths, the Southern Middle Belt Leaders (SMBL), and other stakeholders who have rejected the proposed ranching programme.
Yakubu said the Federal Government’s ranching initiative should not be viewed as an attempt to take over ancestral lands or impose an unwanted policy on communities, but rather as part of efforts to modernise livestock production, improve security and reduce conflicts associated with open grazing.
According to him, the recurring farmer-herder crisis has caused deaths, displacement, destruction of property and economic losses, making it imperative for the country to explore sustainable ways of managing livestock production.
Yakubu said ranching would provide an organised system in which cattle could be managed, fed and monitored without allowing them to wander into farms and communities.
“Ranching is not an attack on the Middle Belt. Ranching is not a plot to take anybody’s land. If properly implemented, it can protect farmers, protect herders and protect communities,” he said.
Reacting to Governor Hyacinth Alia’s reported position that his administration would not release land for the proposed ranching programme in Benue State, Yakubu appealed to political leaders to approach the matter with an open mind and put the broader interest of Nigerians above political considerations.
He said: “We respect the constitutional powers and concerns of state governments and communities over land. But dialogue should come before rejection. Let the Federal Government, state governments, traditional rulers, farmers, herders and community leaders sit together and agree on a workable framework.”
Stakeholders in Benue have also expressed different concerns about the proposed policy, particularly over land ownership, the status of communities displaced by insecurity and the possible implications of allocating land for ranching in a state largely dependent on agriculture.
The three major socio-cultural organisations in the state, including Mdzough U Tiv, Ochetoha ‘K Idoma and Omi Ny’Igede, at a press conference, said the displacement of residents, insecurity in several communities and pressure on available agricultural land as issues that required attention before the policy could be implemented
The Mutual Union of Tiv in America (MUTA) has also rejected the inclusion of Benue State in the project.
