Proposed Federal Law Banning Open Grazing: Better be Late than Never

FROM PETER NWASIKE, AWKA: 
The World is dynamic and not static, with things changing according to circumstances prevailing in the time. That is why the Igbo adage says that “Children dance the dance prevailing in their time.” So, in the olden days during Stone Age in 6000 BC, Man lived in cave and under tree shade and moved from place to place. His food were raw fruits plucked from trees. Later, he applied his God-given intellect and learned to improve his condition of living. He made tools from stones, later discovered metals, and with them, made better tools and used them to cut tress into sticks and built tents for dwelling and later mud houses, and his living condition become comfortable. 

Because he had learnt to build house, he settled down in one place, and stopped nomadic life of wandering about like animals in the bush. He tamed some of the animals, such as cows, sheep, dogs, goats, horse, etc. He crafted boat to sail along the waters, and later, during Industrial revolution of (1500-1800), he built motor vehicles to travel and ships to transport the manufactured goods for sale to distant countries. 

When population continued to increase, their interactions with one another necessiciated community settlement, with people living in peace and harmony. In the course of that, King Hamurappi of Babylon, produced laws in 2100 BC. The laws regulated man’s relationship with one another, so that there could be peace and tranquility. As food is vital to sustain life Hamurrappi made laws to make farmlands, where food is grown to be sacrosanct. Nobody should allow any natural or man- made disaster to destroy crops, so that they could be allowed to mature, so that farmers who toiled under sun and rain, could reap bumper harvest. The law of Hammurappi on farmlands are as follows:  “If a man has neglected to strengthen the bank of a canal, has not strengthened his bank and a breach has opened itself out in his bank, and the waters have carried away the meadow, the man in whose bank the breach has been opened shall render back the corn which he has caused to be lost.”

This has continued to govern mankind, that even though some people combined farming and animal husbandry (rearing cows, sheep, goats), they made sure that the animals did not forage in the farms. They built fence at the boundary of farmland and residential areas, to prevent the animals from wandering into the farms.

As civilization progressed, man developed machines in all areas of occupation. During Industrials Revelation, they invented machines for farming and thus embarked upon Mechanised Agriculture. They also developed modern method of rearing cattle which is “CATTLE RANCHING.” With the new method, they developed what they call: “VALUE CHAIN ADDED DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (VCDP)”. 

As the cows are in an enclosed area, they made it to be fatter and yielded more meat and milk, and so, they developed Milk Industry. In the Ranches, they have Cattle Market, where they sell live cows, and also Slaughter House, where they sell meat of the cow. They also produce skins which they use in making leather goods such as bags, shoes, belt etc. The various business ventures from the cow, make the business lucrative. It was in this system of modernizing things in conformity with demands in modern civilization, that the Governor of Benue State, Hon. Samuel Orthom, went into private business of establishing CATTLE RANCH in his State, As it is lucrative, he advised others to emulate him. 

As his people are great farmers, living at the valley of River Benue, and taking into cognizance that population explosion is making land scarce for enough farming, he knew that restriction of movement of cows, by herdsmen is imperative. He sent “Executive Bill” to Benue House of Assembly, to enact law, prohibiting OPEN GRAZING. This is because, the hersmen maliciously and indiscriminately forage their cows into farmlands and destroy the crops. But a group of people, who called themselves “FULANI HERDSMEN”, say that their forefathers had been rearing cows by Open Grazing, they must continue like that.

On January 1, 2018 (New Year Day), these wild and wicked people, in the dead of night, invaded the people in their various towns, killed them and sacked them from their towns. The innocent victims ran into refugee camps, which are called “INTERNALLY DISPIACED PERSONS CAMPS (IDPCs). At first, few towns were attacked and over 80 people killed, and thousands were injured. The Government of Benue State was saddled with the agony of mass burial of dead people in one day. It was pathetic indeed. But the Federal Government, who has the responsibility to using Armed Forces of Army, Police, etc., to prevent the invaders from wrecking atrocities on the innocent farmers, were nonchalant, and the invaders became emboldened. They inflicted more terror and sacked more towns from their ancestral hometowns.

According to report of New Telegraph Newspaper, Thursday, Feb 27, 2020, page 19, the victims of Fulani Herdsmen, since January 2018, are scattered in 22 camps, across Benue State, numbering over 180,000 with over 16,000 children. Most of the children are suffering from malnutrition because their parents cannot feed them,. They depend on charity from sympathizers.

The Constitution of Nigeria says that the welfare and security of all citizens is the primary responsibility of the Government. As the Federal Government is controlling the Armed Forces, of Army, Police, etc., it is preposterous that the Federal Government cannot deploy troops to save innocent farmers from the bondage of wicked Fulani Killer herdsmen. As the President, General Buhari, who is the Commander-In-Chief of Armed Forces, is a Fulani man, could this nonchalance of Federal Government be traced to nepotism? In his homily during the burial ceremony of a Seminarian, late Michael Nnadi Killed by kidnappers, in Kaduna, on February 11, 2020, Bishop Mathew Kukah, noted that: “Buhari had displayed the worst form of insensitivity in managing our Nation’s rich diversity. His North has become a large grave yard, a valley of dry bones, the nastiest and the most brutish part of our country.” (Fides newspaper, February 16-22, 2020, page 17).

With the Fulani killer herdsmen perpetrating all these atrocities, President Buhari kept sealed lips. When he talked, it was to appease his kinsmen of Fulani, by saying that the Federal Government shall establish “Cattle Colony”, in what he called “RUGGA.” This is to say that Fedral Government shall grab many hectares of people’s land, and create territory of Fulani herdsmen to roam their cows with impunity. When the January 1, 2018, massacre of farmers by Fulani killer herdsmen was debated in the House of Representatives, Hon. Sadiq Ibrahim Adamu (APC, Adamawa), roared that it was the law banning open grazing by Benue State Government, that cause it. He barked that the Fulani herdsmen did not possess the technical knowhow for ranching, that if the Government did not abrogate the law, the killing would continue. (New Telegraph Newspaper January 24, 2018, Page 12).

In that 2018, at Omasi, Ayamelum LGA, Anambra State, two tennage twin brothers, during holidays, went to work in their father’s farm. Fulani herdsmen chased them away, pursued them killed one twin who did not van fast enough to escape. At Anam in Anambra West LGA, these terrorists, killed six farmers. Some concerned women, among them the wife of Anglican Archbishop of Awka, Mrs. Martha Chioma Ibezim, and also wife of Traditional Ruler of Owerre-Ezukala, in Orumba South Local Gobernment Area, Anambra State, Lolo Rosalyn Ogbonnaya, lamented that herdsmen occupied their farmlands and prevented their husbands to go to farm.Recently, Government Ganduje of Kano State, has joined recommendation of banning open grazing. He said: “ My advocacy is that we should abolish the transportation or trekking of herdsmen from the Northern part of Nigeria to the Middle Belt and the Southern part of Nigeria. 

There should be a law that will ban cattle movement, otherwise we cannot control the conflicts between herdsmen and farmers and the cattle rustling which is affecting us greatly.” (Daily Sun Newspaper, Monday, February 1, 2021, page 6)

So, Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State, should emulate Governor Samuel Orthom of Benue State, and heed the advocacy of Governor Ganduje of Kano State, and send an “Executive Bill,” to the House of Assembly, to enact law, banning Open Grazing in Anambra State. When the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Uchenna Okafor, receives the Executive Bill from Governor Obiano, the Legislature shall give it accelerated debate, expeditiously enact the Law, banning Open Grazing, and legalizing CATTLE RANCHING, as the tradition of cattle business in Anambra State. In Anambra State, financially capable business people and groups, including churches, should engage in CATTLE RANCHING, and when their products are available in markets, our people should boycott the cattle of wicked Fulani killer herdsmen, and when they lack customers, they can take to CATTLE RANCHING, or return to their Sokoto Caliphate, and ply their evil trade of wickedness, primitivity, illiteracy, terrorism, barbarism and anachronism.