From Victor Osula, Abuja
The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has rejected the Federal Government’s proposed pilot ranching scheme in parts of the Middle Belt, warning that the initiative could become a vehicle for taking over ancestral lands under the guise of livestock development.
The forum also urged governments and communities in the Southern states to prepare to resist any attempt to extend the policy beyond the proposed pilot areas.
The position was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by the Chairman of the SMBLF, Oba Oladipo Olaitan; President of the Middle Belt Forum, Dr Bitrus Pogu; President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, John Azuta-Mbata; and National Chairman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Ambassador Godknows Igali.
The leaders said they were particularly concerned about reports that the proposed pilot ranching areas included Nasarawa, Plateau, Benue, Southern Kaduna, Taraba and the Federal Capital Territory.
“The SMBLF is alarmed by the audacious attempt by the Federal Government to take over lands belonging to ethnic communities in the Middle Belt under a spurious ‘pilot scheme’ being introduced in the name of a New National Livestock Policy”, the forum stated.
The Federal Government has said the ranching initiative is intended to modernise Nigeria’s livestock industry, reduce open cattle movement and address the persistent farmer-herder crisis across the country. The proposed programme reportedly targets conflict-prone areas, including Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Adamawa and the FCT, with the Wase Grazing Reserve in Plateau State serving as a pilot model.
The initiative is coming amid renewed efforts by the Federal Government to develop a more structured livestock production system as part of measures to tackle the longstanding conflicts between farmers and pastoralists.
However, the SMBLF questioned why the pilot programme was concentrated largely in the Middle Belt despite, according to the forum, the availability of extensive sparsely populated and unused land in parts of the far North.
“It is striking that this experiment is being concentrated almost entirely in the Middle Belt, despite the vast expanses of sparsely populated and unused land available in many parts of the far North”, the leaders said.
The forum stressed that it was not opposed to ranching or the development of Nigeria’s livestock industry, but objected to what it described as the “opaque, coercive and discriminatory” manner in which the policy was being pursued.
“Ranching is an economic enterprise that is privately driven. The government cannot disguise compulsory land acquisition for specific economic actors as public interest”, it said.
The SMBLF further expressed suspicion that the proposed scheme could eventually result in the creation of permanent settlements for nomadic Fulani herdsmen.
“The SMBLF deeply suspects that the true aim of this policy is the creation of permanent settlement zones for nomadic Fulani herdsmen”, the statement added.
The allegation introduces another dimension to the already contentious debate over ranching, land ownership, pastoralism and the rights of indigenous communities.
The leaders argued that communities that had suffered displacement and loss of lives and property as a result of farmer-herder violence should not subsequently be required to surrender additional portions of their ancestral lands for livestock settlements.
“They cannot be handed the lands of their victims as a reward for their heinous crimes”, the forum said.
The SMBLF recalled previous Federal Government initiatives, including the Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) settlement proposal and cattle colony policy, which attracted widespread opposition in several parts of the country.
The earlier proposals generated concerns over land ownership, permanent settlements, demographic changes and the possibility of communities losing control of their ancestral territories.
The forum warned that the current ranching proposal could trigger similar resistance if the Federal Government proceeds without adequate consultation with affected communities and state governments.
It maintained that livestock development could be pursued without dispossessing communities of their lands.
The leaders also raised legal questions over the proposed acquisition and use of community lands, arguing that the Land Use Act of 1978 should not be interpreted as a licence for arbitrary acquisition of ancestral lands.
They demanded full disclosure by the Federal Government on the proposed ranching locations, the legal instruments backing their acquisition, ownership structures, beneficiaries, size of the lands involved, security arrangements and sources of funding.
The forum insisted that no implementation should proceed until the rights and interests of affected communities had been clearly established and protected.
“Until these questions are answered transparently and the rights of affected communities are fully protected, the SMBLF rejects the proposed ranching scheme in the Middle Belt and the South”, the leaders declared.
The forum warned that it would resist any attempt to seize community lands under the guise of livestock development.
It also called on Southern states and communities to remain vigilant against any future expansion of the policy.
