•FG ‘s adoption of ranches is a plan towards transition from traditional to modern cattle production
The announcement by the National Economic Council of the Federal Government’s decision to transition from cattle grazing or colonies to ranching is a positive step in the country’s effort to bring stability to animal farming. Modern animal production has been the choice of many Nigerians since the outbreak of violence between nomadic pastoralists and farmers. It is, therefore, encouraging that the government has seen the wisdom in this choice. Ranching has a lot of advantages to both the cattle owners and the cattle. It is a whole value-chain that can turn Nigeria into one of the leading producers of beef and dairy products, if done well. The government’s decision to start this policy on a pilot basis with 10 states is a rational and realistic response to a situation that has brought needless tension and violence to many states of the federation in the last two years.
Undoubtedly, the National Livestock Transformation Plan is the most holistic response so far to a hydra-headed problem that cattle grazing has created in the country. As forward-looking as the recommendations of the National Livestock Transformation Plan is, it is premature to start celebrating a closure to the disruption of peace in many parts of the country for the last 30 months. But the plan has signalled the beginning of a more meaningful national dialogue on how to address protein production for citizens and for export, without pushing the polity into avoidable crisis.
Building the transformation plan on six pillars: Economic Investment, Conflict Resolution, Law and Order, Humanitarian Relief, Information, Education and Strategic Communication, and Cross-cutting Issues shows the promise of bringing multiple perspectives into a policy document that is designed to respond to many challenges that have been a source of ethnic and regional tension. However, the plan can still benefit from additional consultations with other levels of sub-national governance, especially local governments where the impact of such policy on citizens will be most palpable. Proper involvement of local governments is necessary to ensure that the good promise in the document is achievable and sustainable.
The transformation plan has high potential for stimulation of middle and high-level skill jobs to come from research and development; and restoring and sustaining inter-ethnic and inter-regional peace and harmony. Further, the plan could also be on the path to solving many other problems: impunity on the part of nomadic pastoralists, anti-federal sentiment on the part of some government leaders, such as has encouraged ordering of states to rescind anti-grazing laws duly enacted by subnational legislative assemblies; disruption of farming in many communities, etc.
However, what is missing in the plan is how to bring closure to the pain caused many families by violent herdsmen and speed up healing in many states where farmer’s/herdsmen clashes have been more pronounced. Just as Governor Samuel Ortom of the state that has become the most cited victim of terrorism from herdsmen said, there is need to identify and prosecute individuals and groups that had killed innocent citizens in many parts of the country.
We plead with citizens to join the governments in finding and sustaining solutions to the tension between nomadic herdsmen and sedentary farmers, as a national discussion to turn cattle farming into sedentary vocation evolves. We also urge the federal and state legislators to show active interest in turning the recommendations into sustainable policies for the three levels of governance.
Long-term solution to problems of cattle grazing, rightly recognised by the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, when he said: “We want to bring this crisis to an end. We will begin action in a matter of days,” are too serious to be treated as the sole problem of the executive branch of government. We urge governments to dot the ‘i’s and cross the ‘t’s, so that the otherwise good ideas in the plan do not become fertile grounds for inter-ethnic suspicion or manipulation.