BY PETER DURU, MAKURDI

Ibrahim Galma is the Assistant Secretary of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, Benue state chapter. In this interview, the Graduate of Animal Science who spoke on behalf of the leadership of the association in the state, gave an insight into the life of the herdsman and his cattle, the challenges he confronts daily and the herdsmen/farmers unending clashes.

Excerpts:

What are the challenges the herdsman faces as he takes out his cattle in the morning for grazing and returns home in the evening?

The number one challenge we face presently is that agricultural activities have taken over grazing areas around the country. In the time past we had areas that were carved out for herders as razing routes but all that have been taken over by residential houses or converted to farmland. That is a major challenge. We are left with almost nothing. Herdsmen sometimes unknowingly stray into farmlands and it becomes source of crisis.

*Cattle

The practice is that cows go to graze on virgin land or after harvest. We do not take cattle to graze on people’s farms and in the course of grazing the cattle drinks water up to four times in the day. So we prefer to graze close to a river where we have access to water but unfortunately farming activities have taken over routes that lead to the river or water source. That is a major challenge for us in several places. And because of the need for water, if you must get to the source you’ll have to pass though a farm. That also will lead to crisis which on our own we abhor because the average herdsman is law abiding and would not want to be involved in any form of crisis.

Another challenge we face is the fact that disease are ravaging and killing our cows because of lack of adequate medical care. Before now the Federal Government through the Ministry of Agriculture ensured that cattle were immunized to check outbreak of diseases among the herds and for the safety of the consumer but that is not being done again. We are left on our own and that has actually affected us as well because sometimes we lose our cattle to diseases where we cannot assess medical attention maybe when we are deep inside the bush and it is very difficult to reach veterinary doctors.

In Benue state at the moment we are also faced with the challenge of abiding strictly by the provisions of the Open Grazing Prohibition Law. Our people are yet to get used to the new law because of our literacy level so we will need a loot of sensitization and advocacy.

We enjoy peaceful relationship with the people though occasionally we have our misunderstanding which is normal in every human relationship and with the coming of the new law which I must confess is the best way to go in modern animal husbandry, we will need massive sensitization because our people are not well educated to understand what the law is all about so that they don’t feel intimidated or harassed by those enforcing the law.

When a herdsman takes out his cows, does he have specific places he goes for grazing?

Of course, the herdsman has specific places he takes his herds to graze. You know that we are nomads, so when a herdsman enters a settlement, the first thing he does is to identify the locals and owners of the community to discuss and agree on the condition upon which he could remain there in the community to graze. When that is done the herder in line with the agreement reached with the owners of the community takes his cattle to areas that have been allowed him for grazing. You know that many of our rivers in this country are seasonal, that is why the herdsman is always on the move to find a suitable place for his herds especially because of lack of water. You know that most of our rivers are seasonal in nature that is why we are always on the move for greener pasture. So as he settles down and continues to live with his host community, he strictly abides by the rules of the place in order to avoid any form of friction. And in case there are new entrants into the community they will have to introduce themselves to the known herdsman who will then take the stranger to the local farmers or owners of the land to formally introduce the new comers. When that is done if the people agree he is shown a route or area where he would also carry out his grazing. So what I’m saying in effect is that when we move to a community, we stick to the grazing route or area arranged with the owners of the community, it ensures peaceful coexistence. But sometimes we have issue maybe when cattle strays or somebody will come from outside without doing the needful before entering a community. It most times leads to crisis. But as law abiding citizens we do our best to check such from happening.

When cows stray into farmlands to graze what does a herdsman do?

Every sane herder knows that the farm is important to the crop farmers like the cow is important to the herdsman. So it will be absolutely unacceptable for you to allow your cow destroy the farmland of anyone considering that he also ekes a living from the farm. So when we have such a situation we ensure that the farm is protected from destruction. That is why we always ensure we work closely with the owners of the communities where we settle to graze. Those who create problems for us are those who stray into communities without doing the proper thing. Those are the people creating problems and sometimes these same people rustle our cows. They are the problem. We try as much as possible to live peacefully with our hosts, that is why we live in such communities with our families and our hosts know us and we know them. We even go as far as intermarrying.

That brings us to the issue of ranching, If President Buhari can ranch his cows, why can’t herdsmen ranch theirs?

Buhari can ranch, I keep saying that ranching is good, but it is quite expensive to ranch our local breed. I will give you an example, to ranch 30 of the local Fulani cattle you will require about N30 million a year to feed them. That is how expensive it is to ranch our breed. However, I must say emphatically that ranching is good but very expensive to go into. Ranching is good but it should be a long time goal. It can be achieved but it has to be planned overtime. It is not what you can attain within a short time.

To start with, a temporary grazing area could be created to enable the herdsmen start gradually. It is the same place you graze that the farmer farms. So everyone must respect the right of the other to avoid conflict. That brings to the fore the issue of sensitization and advocacy to get the herders better informed on the new policy. Government has to invest in advocacy and sensitization to prepare the herdsmen for the new order.

I also suggest that there could also be semi ranching system whereby the herdsman keeps the cattle in a confinement but once in a while move the cattle out for grazing. That practice gradually starts inculcating in the herdsman the idea of restricting and confining his cows. These are things that could be done before we arrive where we are heading which is full confinement and ranching. Another idea is that routes could be created in such a way that we go through there with the cows and come back through that same route to the ranch. This will go a long way to help the situation because every local government has herdsmen settlement from where the movement could be anchored and if at the end of the day any herder fails to stick to the rules he would be punished accordingly.

Does each head of the cattle have a name, how were the names given?

Yes they are given names. It works this way, there are two ways of ownership of cow, you either inherit or buy. If you buy you give it a suitable name. If that cow grows to have babies all of them will bear the same name that their mother had. But when the number of the cows becomes so high, for instance if they are in thousands, you are left with the option of numbering them for easy identification and the number will follow a pattern, usually a family number pattern. This is the method we adopted since the colonial times. It has helped us manage our herds as they grow in seize and number and as we relate with the veterinary doctors.

How does the herdsman communicate with his cows, do they recognise his voice and follow his instructions?

Cows have sensitive organs, with the nose they recognize the herdsman. They can dictate the smile of the herdsman. If I am grazing the cattle and danger is ahead, the cow raises its ears to alert me. The cows recognize their owners even from the smell of their clothes. For instance if a Vet doctor comes to my father’s house to give injection to the cows my father would give his clothes to the doctor to wear before injecting them, so on perceiving the smell of the clothes they would allow the Vet to come close. So they know their owners anytime and when we speak they understand but whenever they disobey we use our cane and they take corrections.

Does the herder take along his own food as he leads his cows into the bush?

Yes we do, but what sustains the herdsman is the milk from the cow which he does not joke with. Though at night we also take any food which we buy as we move. But the fact is that the milk nourishes the herder and it keeps him going. Normally the herdsman is not the food eater, we burn our energy and eat very little. The cow milk is highly nutritious, we eat very little in the morning and add the cow milk which keeps us healthy and filled for several hours.

Is it true that the loss of a cow is more painful to a herdsman than the loss of a child?

That is obviously not true. How can the life of a cow be more important than the live of a human being or a child. It is not true at all. Though we love our cow and we would not want anything to hurt them but the life of a human being or our children cannot be compared to the life of an animal. So those saying that are not aware of what they are saying.

How do you defend your herds when a wild animal attacks them in the bush?

I defend my herds with my very sharp knife, cutlasses and sticks and you know that the cattle also defends herself when attacked sometimes.

How can we solve once and for all the clashes between herdsmen and farmers?

We must continue to sensitize the herder, you know that our level of education is another challenge but there is always a solution to every problem. Government has to invest in advocacy and sensitization to prepare the herdsmen. Like I said earlier, we could start with semi ranching system backed with intensive sensitization of the herdsmen, gradually we will get to full ranching which I also believe is a good model for breeding cows but we could take it one step after another until it is fully achieved. I have nothing against ranching as a person because it is the best way to go but let’s not do it overnight. It could be introduced gradually with aggressive campaign and sensitization. Ranching is the best way to go but we need the enabling environment for it to be a reality. The Federal government has to step in for it to work. I believe that at the end of the day the issue would be permanently addressed.