•Appoints Jega, 26 others to organize national confab

By Omeiza Ajayi

Determined to put an end to the persistent bitter conflict between sedentary farmers and nomadic herdsmen in Nigeria, Kano State Governor, Dr. Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, has inaugurated a 27-member committee to organize a national conference on reforms in the livestock sector and attendant issues, saying the Ruga settlement policy was misconstrued.

The 27-member conference committee, headed by former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, also has Pro-Chancellor, Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Prof. Jibrila Dahiru Amin; Managing Director, Guardian Newspaper, Mr. Martins Oloja, among others while the Kano State Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, serves as secretary of the committee.

Inaugurating the committee in Abuja yesterday, the governor said it was tasked with the responsibility to work towards planning and organizing a befitting national conference on farmers-herders conflict in Nigeria and to select appropriate theme for the conference.

He noted that the decision by his administration to host a national conference on “Livestock Reforms and Mitigation of Associated Conflicts in Nigeria” underscored the recognition that the primary business of government was law and order.

He recalled that in 2019, the Federal Government launched a 10-year National Livestock Transformation Plan to curtail the movement of cattle, boost livestock production and control the country’s deadly herder-farmer conflict.

He, however, regretted that inadequate political leadership, delays, funding uncertainties and a lack of expertise derailed the project, while the COVID-19 pandemic intensified the challenges.

“It is regrettable that deficient political leadership, popular misperceptions about its purpose and widespread insecurity hindered its progress,” he noted.

According to him, the move by the Federal Government to establish the Ruga Settlement,-which was received out of misconception with mass criticisms, resulted in the suspension of the project in which contracts had already been awarded

Ganduje said:  “There is also a clear sense which I think must be appreciated, that the federal government cannot dictate to states what to do with their land.

“This is so because the Land Use Act of 1978 puts land under the control of governors on behalf of their states.

”Even for use of federal lands in the states according to the Supreme Court, building or development control permit must be sought from the governors of the states.

“I am a strong proponent of restriction of herders’ movements into Nigeria from neighbouring countries, as part of solutions to tackling herder/farmer clashes. However, another issue worth taking into account is the ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol, which Nigeria signed in 1998. This guarantees free movement to pastoralists, herders across the sub-region. As signatories to that Protocol, Nigeria is obliged not to restrict the movement of herders and their cattle from other ECOWAS countries. This is an issue to be looked into.

“This has added a further complication to the problems we already have.  Besides, most foreign herdsmen are exposed to the firearms market and are unknown to the local farming populace.”

On efforts to resolve the conflict in Kano, he said:  “We started by mobilizing security agencies and hence the formation of a Police Anti-Cattle Rustling Squad, Ambush Squad and Tactical Observation points along the Falgore Forest. 

”The police teams were deployed to Tundun Wada, Doguwa and Sumaila local government areas of the state, and were given all the support they need to arrest the rustlers and prevent further loss of cattle in the state.

“A military formation was also established in the forest to further reinforce the police effort, in addition to the construction of four prototype security dormitories at Kano entrances that included rearing industry from socio-cultural to socio-economic venture. 

”It also aimed at putting an end to the persistent wandering of herdsmen and also help expand them economically. The Kano State bureau of statistics has undertaken a statistic of all herdsmen in Kano for planning purposes.”

Ganduje, however, called for more collaboration with neighbours in the Chad Basin, especially border communities, to prevent the movement of small arms, and disarming armed pastoralists and bandits who go through borders day after day.

Responding, Jega expressed concern over the politicisation of the farmers-herders conflict, assuring that the outcome of the proposed national conference would proffer lasting solution to the issue.