A law to regulate open grazing is on underway in Oyo State. YINKA ADENIRAN, who writes that the House of Assembly is trying to calm nerves, observes that a similar bill in the past died after second reading
The Oyo State House of Assembly and the Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria are on a collision course. Reason: A bill named “Open rearing and grazing regulation bill, 2019” jointly sponsored by Speaker Adebo Ogundoyin, his deputy, Abiodun Fadeyi; Majority Leader Sanjo Adedoyin and Minority Leader Asimiyu Alarape. The bill has passed through the second reading.
The bill stipulates that anyone who engages in open rearing or grazing of livestock is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for seven years or a fine of N200,000 or both. It also hopes to come up with a scheme to ensure all individuals all herders and people who engage in livestock business are registered with the appropriate government agencies.
The bill prohibits the movement of livestock on foot from one destination to another in the state, with all herdsmen mandated to submit themselves for registration and get an identification card, which must be worn at all times.
Cattle movement is only permissible by rail wagon, truck or pick-up wagon, while any person found moving livestock on foot is liable on conviction to imprisonment for one year or a fine of N50,000 or both.
The penalty for any herdsman who fails to register is imprisonment for two years or a fine of N100,000 or both, while anyone without an identification card is liable on conviction to imprisonment for six months or a fine of N50,000 or both.
A minor is prohibited from grazing, rearing or herding of livestock except under the supervision of an adult, while anyone found guilty of possession of an offensive weapon within or outside the ranch, is liable on conviction to imprisonment for one year or fine of N100,000 or both.
If the bill is passed into law, any herdsman wishing to set up ranches or anyone intending to graze livestock on ranches is expected to pay a permit fee with the permit, renewable after one year, subject to the governor’s approval.
Such herdsman is expected to apply for one year lease of land for the owner, and get the consent of the Ministry of Environment which will carry out an environmental impact assessment before issuance of a permit.
When fully operational, the bill will prevent the destruction of farms, community ponds and properties through open grazing and rearing of animals as well as put an end to clashes between livestock owners and farmers while also protecting the environment from degradation and pollution.
According to the bill, where any livestock strays into another person’s land and causes destruction to crops or contaminates any source of water supply, the herdsman will be liable to pay damages or compensation to the owner or community with a proprietary interest in the land or source of water.
The lawmakers’ reason for the bill
Ogundoyin said it would make it an offence for anyone to engage in open rearing, herding and grazing of livestock in the state outside the permitted ranches and also provide opportunities for private investors who may want to have their own ranches in the state.
Alarape (Atiba State Constituency) and Hon Hakeem Adedibu (Iwajowa State Constituency), during plenary where the bill scaled through the second reading, noted that the movement of livestock around poses a great risk to farmers in rural communities and such is also unheard of in developed countries.
Other lawmakers, including Hon Jacob Bamigboye (Oriire State Constituency) and Hon Olawumi Oladeji (Ogbomoso North), called for speedy passage of the bill to curtail the rising cases of farmers/herders clashes particularly in most agrarian communities in Oyo state.
Implementation strategies
An Open Grazing Prohibition Task Force, comprising representatives of the state government, security agencies, farmers’ association, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, vigilante and the judiciary will see to the law’s implementation.
While passing the bill to the House Committees on Agriculture and Security for further deliberations and scrutiny, the House also resolved to conduct a public hearing on the bill.
Herders cry out
A Fulani group, the Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria, has appealed to the Assembly to consider an alternative grazing space for their members in the law being put in place.
Its National President Alhaji Sale Bayari called on the lawmakers to give the law a human face by allowing an alternative grazing space for the Fulani in the state.
The Chairman, Bayari noted that though members of the Assembly has a constitutional right to make “We are pleading with the Oyo State House of Assembly to ensure that as interested and affected citizens of the pending law, we deserve to be heard and listened to during the public hearing of the bill so that our views and opinions as Nigerians are heard and considered without bias against or favour.
“We plead for an alternative grazing space for our means of livelihood, which is the cattle, which we are rearing as peasant traditional stock owners, not as commercial livestock or cattle business stakeholders, ours is the hereditary and traditional family life-sustaining cattle rearing, not done on a commercial basis.
“In the continuation of our national assignment as a Fulani ethnic association disturbed by our present and current security problem in the country especially as it affects a section of our members who have come under fire, hail and thunderstorm some Nigerians, especially the farming communities which has resulted in tensions of ethnic crises of various dimensions in the country.
“These are allegations that should have been levelled against all criminal elements within our society but unfortunately they are allegations that have been made against an ethnic, religious and a sectional group that have led to the profiling, stigmatisation and harassment of Fulani ethnic group as a whole,” he said.
Bayari added that during the meeting that was held with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta on the August 3 where eight states were in attendance, a lot of the problems between herders and farmers were discussed.
He recalled: “At the end of the meeting, it was all agreed that there is a national problem that needed to be addressed by all well-meaning Nigerians interest in having a prosperous, peaceful and one country that is the home of all that must be secured and protected for yet unborn generations.”
The Fulani leader noted that Fulani ethnic group had both the good and the bad like any other tribe, pointing out that the action of one bad Fulani should not be taken against other Fulani.
But farmers across the state have not stopped their agitation and calls on the government and security agencies to ensure the protection of the farm and produce from invasion by straying animals, particularly herders.
Allaying the fears
The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Hon. Kazeem Olayanju, explained that the Fulani in the state have nothing to fear about the law because it was aimed at regulating grazing in the state to protect them and other members of the society.
The Assembly, he said, recognises that the Fulani in the state have lived together peacefully with indigenes for several decades.
His words: “Our people have been living together peacefully with the Fulani for ages. But the popular claim now is that Fulani are criminals. It is also believed that the Fulani that are committing crime are those coming from other countries. So the bill will make them register and get permits and identity cards. So if they are accosted anywhere in the state, their ID cards and permit will clear them as well known Fulani who are free to practice their trade. This will help check the influx of foreigners into their midst. It will also protect them. We just want to regulate them so that nobody will harass them. It will also enable them to live peacefully with farmers. This law will also enhance the peaceful relationship of all stakeholders in the farming system in the state.”
Past effort
The Eighth Assembly had in 2017 started a similar move to regulate the activities of herdsmen in Oyo State. The bill also passed through the second reading, but little was heard of the bill until the recent effort.