Anti-Open Grazing: Working towards popular appeal in the direction of national best interest

The subject of grazing in Nigeria has recently become a top matter of concern among the clogs of controversial issues in the Country. Clogging the issue with contentions have made the subject shrouded with controversies, giving reflections to the hydra-headed dimensions it has assumed. The sides of perspectives surrounding the subject have shown different arguments which reflect the expression of unyielding interests which largely could be seen as strings pushing the matter towards the end of rigidity.

While there are many sides to open grazing, the controversies are largely not unconnected to the fact that the resistance against grazing reserves in the Country has been a subject borne out of the narratives of records of escapades of arm wielding herdsmen who have scored their points of criminalities at the height of inhumane disposition with gruesome attacks, which have left many communities with the relics of misadventures. The malfeasance of mischievous elements among the nomadic herders have brought narratives of fear which have constructed the perception of many to believe and round up without apology, all herders to be guilty of  criminal tendencies.

The damages, human and economic, which clashes between communities, particularly farming settlements, have continually occasioned across the Country, have graduated into narratives of colossal losses. Razing down whole communities by marauding nomads who unleash their terror mostly as reprisals on communities, have been a recurring phenomenon. The menace constitutes the grand factor of the desertion of several farmlands across the Federation. The fear of attacks from arm wielding herders who unleash their terror at the slightest provocation, has been an arrow of panic which has unsettled several farming communities. The resultant implications of these unsettlement have impacted the economy with negativities, with the reflections of food crises erupting across the Country.

At the wake of the heightening of the terror of mischievous malefactors among herders, it was discovered that the stretched period of silence by the Federal Government to criminalise the wielding of firearms by herders, had produced systemic errors which contributed to the extension of the mischievous estate with degenerative forces which have erupted convulsing circumstances. The frustration would no doubt be linked to the resort to self help at some point in the South; an ugly development that has brought new dynamics into the narratives.

Efforts by the Federal Government to come up with legislations have no less generated reactions, particularly on those reflecting the fears over the threats of dangers that may be associated with having grazing reserves and pastoral settlements. The opposition that greeted the RUGA policy of the Federal Government which was crafted to “create reserved communities where herders will live, grow and tend their cattle, produce milk and undertake other activities associated with the cattle business without having to move around in search of grazing land for their cows,” was a product of the fear borne out of the experience of bellicose disposition of herders which are largely known to be gruesome to sedentary farmers. The policy which was routed through the National Livestock Transformation Plan under the Nigeria Economy Council to curb the conflict between farmers and Fulani herdsmen, had attracted more condemnation than appeals. Since the suspension of the policy, moves to come up with similar measures of mapping out reserves for grazing have been clouded with resistance. Calls for ranching appears to be a better option appealing more to the senses of Nigerian.

Concern over the subject at the wake of reprisals in the South, in a development that was giving resemblance to ethnic face-off, had become more pronounced, particularly with the resolution of the Governors of the southern States in the Country to put an end to the growing tension by concerted efforts. The heat over the face-off which was been ignited by indigenous people resorting to self help had reawakened the Southern Governors Forum with a meeting at Asaba, the Delta State Capital, in May where resolution to criminalise open grazing in their respective States were reached.

It would be recalled that subsequently meeting in Lagos in July, after resuscitating their forum, the 17 southern governors, had set last Wednesday, 1st of September, 2021, as the agreed date for their respective States to enact the anti-open grazing law. Leading the train in the South-west, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu had signed the State’s own anti-open grazing law at the eve of the set date. It would be recalled that the State had been at the vanguard of the campaign against open grazing, when at the heels of the onslaught by herders against indigenous communities in the State, the Governor issued an ultimatum for open grazing herders to vacate reserves within the territories of the State. Other South-West States where similar bills have been passed by their legislatures include Ogun, Osun, and Oyo.

Meanwhile, reactions have continued to trail the reluctance of other governors, particularly those in the South-east to enact the law.  As more States intensify efforts in the South,  the Lagos State House of Assembly, on Monday had following a session of deliberations saw a bill proposing a 21-year jail term for any herder found wielding firearms in the state, scaling through the second reading.  The bill titled: ‘Prohibition of Open Cattle Grazing Bill 2021,’ was submitted to the Committee on Agriculture to report back on Thursday.

In reaction to the development of the law taking rounds in the South, Fulani cattle breeders in the Country have in their show of resistance to the move, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to do everything possible to frustrate the anti-open grazing laws, condemning the laws as “satanic against their age-long tradition.” The cattle breeders, operating under the aegis of Miyetti Allah Kauta Hore, had argued that the laws were counterproductive to their vocation. The National Publicity Secretary of the group, Saleh Alhassan, at a briefing in Abuja on Monday had decried the ranching method of rearing cattle as captured in the anti-open grazing laws as impracticable.

Arguments against the move of the Federal Government to establish grazing reserves have been premised on the inconsistencies of such move to the Grazing Reserves Act of 1964 which is only limited to the Northern Region of the Federation; and thus, a structural gap which by legal implication reflects an inconsistency of extending such provision to other parts not captured by the Act.  Another legal ground forming the basis of repugnance, as argued, is the provisions of section 1 of the Land Use Act which vests land ownership in the territory of a State in the Governor, and by implication, placing the administration of land in the territory of a state on the state government.

The inconsistencies in the strategies of the Federal Government viz-a-viz the stern concern of the Governors to avoid degeneration of security situations in their respective jurisdictions from the mild experience recorded so far, to the heightened records of the experiences in the North, have posed their conflicting sides which have resultantly shrouded the subject in deep seated controversies. While the disposition of the Federal Government appears to be bent towards protecting the interests of the herders, the necessity for the State Governors to be proactive in guiding against degeneration of security situations in their region is indisputably tenable for their moves. It is important that conflicting interests be resolved by adhering to the best reconciliable option in national interest. Since, ranching has attracted broad appeal from Nigerians, it would be plausible for the Federal Government to work alongside the States to device the best strategies to build an industry of such estates with policy measures to drive their growth. This would save the Federation of the showdown that may erupt from going through technicalities which only would result in drawbacks and/or stalemate. It is therefore pertinent that moving towards same direction in the light of the most popular appeal to the best position of national interest is paramount.