Herdsmen, grazing reserves and Nigeria’s interest

The menace and terror that Fulani herdsmen have recently become with the provocative and unjustifiable killings in Enugu, Benue, Taraba and other states across the country, continue to generate discourse in the media and especially among Nigerians, government officials, leaders of thought, public intellectuals, victims of their atrocities, and the herdsmen themselves.

In solving this problem, and preventing their offensive and provocative acts of destroying farmlands, as well as killing innocent farmers and villagers who dare to caution them against their illegalities, there has been renewed push, especially by the federal government, to have grazing reserves in the country.

Now, while I hope President Muhammadu Buhari, and Agriculture Minister, Audu Ogbeh, who are known farmers and also own herds of cows wouldn’t want to further their own private interests at the detriment of the national interest by pushing for this proposal like some concerned Nigerians have hinted, I believe whoever brought the idea of having grazing reserves in the country at this time is obviously a fellow with selfish interests and certainly not a patriot genuinely concerned about the national interest.

Why do I think so? The nomadic way of rearing animals in Nigeria is outdated in today’s world. It should not be further encouraged. The idea of grazing reserves is archaic. The world has since moved past that. Someone once said Nigeria is lagging 50 years behind the civilised world. Another one said while the world is in the 21st Century, we are still in the 19th Century due to how irritating some of the decisions we take in this country and ridiculous ideas we push as national policy. Ranching is currently the preferred practice in the developed world in cattle rearing. It is a more efficient way of raising livestock to provide meat, dairy products, leather and even wool. That is what we must try and deepen here.

Moreover, the government also seem not to realise the future problem of overgrazing of these proposed reserves. This is because as more and more cattle owners and their herdsmen graze their animals there, the quality of grasses on the land will also become degraded. Yet, this can be prevented in an organised ranch.

Certainly, cattle owners and their herdsmen can carry on their legitimate businesses in the country but this must not be at the expense of other Nigerians or the common good. And for God’s sake, why must the federal government carry the burden of private cattle owners on its head? There are hundreds of Nigerian young business owners who need space to do their business. Will the Buhari government also give them free land to use?

There’s a company operating a big poultry farm in the area of Lagos where I live. The company also has a ranch with many cows. For years, there’s not been a single incidence of the cows causing damage or nuisance in the neighbourhood. I believe this is what the federal government should be pushing for, having the private businessmen who have these herds to set up ranches rather than the government reserving vast lands for  grazing across Nigeria to cater for them and their cows. After all, cows are not more important than human beings like Reno Omokri reminded us.

And the argument by Nuru Abdullahi, chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association in Plateau state that they will graze in whatever part of the country they want since they have the constitutional right of freedom of movement and they cannot be deprived of such right is nothing but foolhardy. Abdullahi may need to be educated that such right of freedom of movement which he and his colleague-herdsmen possess like other Nigerians, and now flaunt in our faces, certainly doesn’t include encroaching on other people’s lands and properties. What herdsmen like him in other sane societies do, I’ll reemphasise, is to set up ranches and not cause nuisance to others.

That is why Nigerians must not be conned. The grazing reserves proposal is clearly not in the national interest. All those who genuinely love Nigeria must condemn and oppose it.  It’s an idea that mustn’t see the light of day. Having ranches is a far better option. And it’s also a more reasonable alternative. That is my sincere recommendation and patriotic token.

IG Arase’s Insensitive Order 

IG Solomon Arase is one police officer I admire genuinely. For me, he’s one of the finest police IGs we’ve had in our country for a long time now. He seems really determined to change the negative image and perception of the Nigeria Police by most Nigerians. I began paying serious attention to him when a Professor I know, who worked in an international NGO at the time but is now a university Vice Chancellor, visited Arase immediately after his appointment by former President Goodluck Jonathan and spoke so glowingly of him to me.

The professor had known the IG for years as a police officer who is urbane and very passionate about development issues and social change. He told me the new IG is someone who could be relied upon to bring about the much-needed change that Nigerians want to see in our police. That Arase would add value and represent all patriotic and forward-thinking Nigerians well.

While I believe his performance as IG has generally not been disappointing so far, I however cannot see the sense in the order he gave about two weeks ago that fuel attendants at filling stations desist from selling petrol inside jerry cans and plastic containers to Nigerians. I know the IG obviously issued the order to curb the operations of black-marketers who are profiteering from the chaos around fuel scarcity in the country. But it is the barbers, the hairdressers, the small business owners, and indeed, poor Nigerians who are trying to make ends meet and survive the harsh economy, who are suffering for this insensitive order.

To purchase fuel at filling stations, many Nigerians now carry their generators there. Some, who can’t do that, have to remove their generator tanks. Does this make any sense at all? Does it? Yet, electricity remains epileptic. I believe it’s a decision that wasn’t well thought through. Again, as a car owner, for instance, how do you sort things out if your car runs out of fuel in a terrible traffic logjam and it can’t get to the filling station? What do you do?

This is an annoying order that has the potential of causing the breakdown of law and order in neighbourhoods around the country. Nigeria’s poor mustn’t be the ones to continuously suffer the consequences of government’s failure like our leaders have made it to be for decades. This is an era of change, I suppose. That is why I urge IG Arase to rescind his order now. It hurts the people and does the country no good.

Kolawole is an award-winning journalist and author. You can follow him on twitter: @ofemigan