Fulani herdsmen and modern ranching
For the past two years, no day passes without the gory news of cattle Fulani herdsmen invading their host communities over grazing rights for their livestock. Before the increasing frequency of violence and mayhem, Nigerians, especially those in the south of the country had lived peacefully with these nomadic pastoralists.
It therefore beats the imagination to see the once cordial relationship between these set of Nigerians turning acrimonious with each passing day. Definitely, we are miffed at the continuing bestiality that accompanies such violence and wanton destructions. Sadder is the fact that the federal government has continued to ignore all this. We are pained that Nigeria has become a theatre of endless orgies of bloodletting brought about by the untoward activities of cattle Fulani herdsmen. In recent times, many concerned Nigerians have not only raised alarm at the frequency of these clashes, they have also called for the outlawing of itinerant animal husbandry all over the country. In its place, they have proffered ranching as a way of bringing modernity into this ancient profession and thereby halt the ceaseless violence associated with itinerant pastoralism. That is why we are totally against call by some legislators for the federal government to designate state government lands for cattle grazing across the country. We are warning that any move to forcibly take over lands belonging to other Nigerians for grazing would be an invitation to chaos and anarchy.
It is instructive to note that ranching is the practice of raising herds of animals on large tracts of land. Those responsible for carrying this out do so professionally. More so, livestock raised on ranches are an important part of a region’s agriculture, which means that animals raised this way provide meat for not only human consumption but also materials, such as leather for clothing, furniture, and other industries.
Definitely, the economic benefits of large scale ranching cannot be overemphasised. It is a fact that countries such as United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Australia and South Africa have adopted ranching as a way of not only increasing their livestock population but also introducing the latest technology in animal husbandry to the benefits of their livestock farmers.
In the case of Nigeria, ranching would help put an end to constant clashes between cattle herdsmen and locals, including making the latter live more settled lives in organised communities.
It needs restating that ranching has many benefits, which include large scale employment to people, development of infrastructure in the region where they are situated, including being veritable source of income to farmers who sell the animals and products. We therefore call on the authorities to look in the direction of encouraging animal ranches, especially in traditional areas inhabited by the cattle Fulani. That would in the long run bring modernity into this traditional industry and help check increasing deforestation in the Sahel region and southern parts of Nigeria. We believe the future lies in large-scale ranching and transport in refrigerated railway coaches and trucks from production centres and abattoirs in the North to population centres nationwide.
