Miyyeti Allah Kautal Hore (MAKH), a Fulani socio-cultural association, has kicked against the enactment of anti-grazing laws by some state governors.
To them, “it is a satanic agenda by desperate politicians acting on faulty and self-serving security reports to destroy the means of livelihoods of Nigerians.”
At the last count, Ondo state Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, Benue state Governor Samuel Ortom and their Enugu counterpart, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi had signed the anti-open grazing law.
At the end of their July meeting in Lagos, the Southern Governors’ Forum (SGF) set September 1 deadline for the promulgation of the anti-open grazing law.
The meeting was a follow-up to an earlier one in Asaba, Delta state.
While Ondo and Enugu states met the September deadline, the bill is still pending at Lagos, Cross River and Delta states, while Imo reportedly opted out of the arrangement.
But the MAKH condemned the decision by some governors to sign the bill into law, saying it was targeted at further pushing Nigerians into the realm of poverty.
The association made its position known Monday at a media parley addressed by the national president, Alhaji Abdullahi Bello Bodejo, in Lafia, Nasarawa state.
Bodejo said: “Anti-grazing laws and policies and attempts to ban open grazing are nothing but populist and corruption-driven agenda designed by visionless, inept and desperate politicians to destroy pastoralist means of livelihood. These dangerous and satanic laws must be nipped in the bud by the National Assembly to safeguard the constitution as they portend greater danger to the corporate existence of the country. These oppressive laws and hostile policies being enacted by state governors are fundamentally going against the Fulani Pastoralist culture, economic interest and constitutional rights.
“It is important to note that inter-state movement of pastoralists is analogous to inter-state commerce, which is an exclusive preserve of the legislative powers of the National Assembly under item 62 of the Exclusive Legislative List. To this effect, any action taken by any state Assembly that is in conflict with above section of the 1999 Constitution as amended is null and void.
“These laws do not take into cognizance the sociology, economic, production system, climate variations and other push factors that are inherent in pastoralists’ movements across ecological zones. It is a common knowledge that Nigeria’ s mode of agricultural practice is still primitive all over the country and not consistent with global best practices so, why singling out the pastoralists, who have been suffering from the cumulative years of neglect in terms of development from both federal and state governments?
“The looming dangers and security implications of these satanic laws by the ill-informed governors on national security are: The laws will destroy livestock production and send into poverty millions of people that depend on the livestock value chain (butchers, transporters, livestock dealers and consumers, who are used to affordable sources of beef and milk).
“The laws will undermine the relative peace and stability currently enjoyed in the local communities and threaten social order, exacerbate cattle rustling in the local communities as criminal gangs and states sponsored vigilantes will use the opportunity to institutionalize their nefarious activities of cattle rustling.
“The laws will lead to serious humanitarian crisis as families will be destabilised and markets and economic livelihoods will be disrupted, leading to massive cross border migrations that will create further security challenges.
“Therefore, the National Assembly and Mr. President should intervene and stop current attempt by some state governors to criminalise our means of economic livelihood of cattle rearing through the enactment of satanic and obnoxious laws- ‘Anti-open Grazing Laws’ targeted at Fulani Pastoralists. The Federal Government should create a Federal Ministry of livestock and Fisheries as obtainable in many African countries,” they said.
The association also said “Nigerian should adopt strategies in responding to the challenges of climate change as it affects livestock production. Government should take an inventory of all the existing grazing reserves, traditional grazing areas, transhumance corridors, major stock routes and fully develop at least one grazing reserve in each senatorial zone, in line with the recommendation of the inter-ministerial Committee on Livestock Development in Nigeria 2015, the report of Presidential Committee on Pastoralists and Insecurity 2014 and the National Livestock Transformation Program.
“The existing AU and ECOWAS Protocols/Regulations on pastoralist and Transhumance should be domesticated and proper documentation of implementation strategies put in place, incorporate pasture development in the implementation of Great Green Wall Program in combating densification and the preservation of small water bodies.
“A review of the land use Act is long overdue to accommodate the interest of all land resources users, particularly Pastoralists. Ranching, as envisaged by many, requires massive capital investment and is difficult to sustain, not economical and is not small livestock holder-centred.
“We are calling on the proper funding of the National Commission for Nomadic Education and expansion of its mandate.
“The National Assembly should come to the rescue of the Pastoralists by resuscitating and passing the Grazing Reserves Commission Bill and other livestock management bills that were initiated by the previous National Assembly and Introduce livestock tracking using GPS technology and Support community based conflict resolution mechanisms.”
They further said: “In similar vein, Our Organisation totally condemns the continuous extortion and profiling of the Fulani pastoralist by Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State and call on him to offer apology to the Fulani race for the tissues of lies, propaganda and falsehood against Fulani ethnic group particularly our organisation.”
The association also commended the security agencies “in the massive onslaught against criminals, cattle rustlers, kidnappers and bandits particularly the near decimation of the Boko Haram terrorists.”
“Finally, we commend the courageous efforts of the Federal Government under the progressive leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari for listening to our consistent call to restore the existing grazing reserves and routes and create new ones as it is the only sustainable solution to the farmers /herders’ conflicts in the country,” Bodejo said.
