…Arewa (Northern) Senators kick against bill, say it is discriminatory
By Steven Kefas
(Kaduna), The long-standing crisis between farmers and herders in Nigeria may soon see a lasting solution if a proposed bill scales through the legislative process. The bill, which seeks to ban open grazing and establish a national commission to regulate and manage ranches across the country, has already passed the second reading in the Senate, albeit amidst heated debates and divisions among lawmakers.
Sponsored by Senator Titus Zam, an All Progressives Congress (APC) member representing Benue North-West Senatorial District, the bill is titled: “A Bill to establish a National Animal Husbandry and Ranches Commission for the regulation, management, preservation, and control of ranches throughout Nigeria; and for connected purposes, 2024.”
In his lead debate, Zam highlighted the increasing wave of violent conflicts that erupt from the interaction between pastoralists and farmers in Nigeria, describing the situation as having assumed a “war-like dimension with far-reaching negative impacts on the people and the country as a whole.”
He emphasized the urgency of addressing the issue, stating, “As stakeholders in the Nigeria project and elected representatives of the people, doing so would amount to an abdication of our statutory and leadership responsibilities.”
Zam proposed banning open grazing as a “legislative therapy” to cure the menace of farmers and herders’ crises, lamenting that the Nigerian State had continued to pay lip service to the challenge without addressing it in concrete terms, in line with international best practices of animal husbandry.
“Every effort is laced with maneuvers that speak to our ethnic and political biases or sentiments, thus resisted by the people,” he said. “This 10th Senate has a date with history. We must rise in one accord to sort out this problem of herders-farmers violent conflicts that would, if allowed to linger longer, consume even more lives and properties than the civil war of 1967-1970.”
The Senator further stated, “Now is the time to put a permanent stop to the endless circle of attacks and counter-attacks by our people and their external collaborators. Now is the time to adopt international best practices in animal husbandry. Now is the time to bring about a law to stop open grazing. It is old-fashioned, hazardous, burdensome, and must be discarded.”
Zam’s bill proposes ranching as the only viable alternative for cattle breeding in Nigeria and advocates for the urgent need to transit from traditional livestock keeping methods to modern, safer, and healthier methods for both the herds and the herders.
The bill further proposes that ranches would be established in the pastoralists’ states of origin without forcing it upon other states or communities that do not have pastoralists as citizens. Interested parties in the livestock business must seek and obtain approvals from their host communities to establish ranches for peaceful coexistence.
While some senators supported the bill, others objected to the clause stating that pastoralists should establish ranches in their states of origin.
Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe said, “I am of the view that the bill could be a solution to the clashes between farmers and herders if properly managed.” He recommended amending the constitution and the Land Use Act to simplify the management of lands within the respective states.
Abaribe noted that while some herders were peaceful and engaged in legitimate animal business, there were also criminal elements sponsored to destabilize communities. “Farmers are under threat, and what that has led to is the food crisis that we face in Nigeria today,” he added.
Senator Sunday Karimi (Kogi-West) suggested that the best way forward was for every state to establish ranches. “I appreciate my colleague for introducing this bill. This is a national problem, and we all know this. We can’t just sit and do nothing as responsible parliamentarians. Before now, the North had cattle routes, which have been taken over by property owners. Now cattle roam the whole country. All states must be ready to establish cattle ranches,” he said.
However, a former Governor of Gombe State, Senator Mohammed Goje, drove the north’s position further when he observed that the bill was discriminatory by proposing to restrict the herders to a particular geographical location. “There are many angles to this issue of farmers and herders. We have to tackle the problem holistically. These Fulanis are Nigerians,” he maintained.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports, Senator Suleiman Abdulrahman-Kawu, shared a similar view, stating that the bill would breach the constitutional rights of the herders. “The bill is totally against the constitution of Nigeria. The bill will even compound the problem of the herders and the farmers. You can’t propose a law to attend to a particular group or section of the country only. This bill is not holistic, and we will fight it till the end,” Kawu stated.
The President of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, urged all senators to remain calm and allow the bill to proceed to a public hearing. “We must hold a public hearing and bring all the stakeholders to have a say, including cattle rearers and the state governments,” Akpabio remarked shortly before he rammed his gavel for the second reading.
Akpabio assured senators that everything possible would be done to reach a consensus on the proposals contained in the bill, including amending the Land Use Act where necessary.
However, Senator Adamu Aliero said any law that would restrict the movement of any Nigerian and his property would be a direct breach of Section 41 of the Constitution.
The Senate President acknowledged that offensive clauses not in line with the constitution should be expunged from the Bill during the public hearing and the national summit on security already agreed by the Senate.
The heated debate on the bill further divided the Senate, with the division centered around infractions on relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution, protocols of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regarding the free movement of persons and their property from state to state and country to country.
Senators Garba Musa Maidoki (PDP Kebbi South) and Abba Moro (PDP Benue South) supported the bill, while others like Senators Adamu Aliero (PDP Kebbi Central), Suleiman Kawu (NNPP Kano South), and Danjuma Goje (APC Gombe Central) kicked against it.
Senator Adamu Aliero, in opposing the bill, raised a constitutional point of order by quoting Section 41 of the 1999 Constitution, which gives all Nigerians free movement into any state with their property. He specifically told the Senate that it was wrong for the sponsor of the bill to propose establishing ranches in the state of origin of pastoralists alone.
Senator Kawu, in his opposition to the bill, said, “This bill is against the provisions of the constitution and, in fact, will compound the crisis of herders/farmers in Nigeria if allowed to become law.”
The bill, however, scaled the second reading when put to a voice vote by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, after the refusal of the sponsor to step it down. It was thereafter forwarded to the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Trade and Investment, Judiciary and Legal Matters for further legislative inputs within the next four weeks.
The heated debates and divisions among senators on the proposed bill highlight the complexity of the farmers-herders crisis in Nigeria and the challenges in finding a lasting solution that balances the interests of all stakeholders while adhering to the provisions of the constitution and relevant protocols.
