By PAUL ADAJI, Abuja –
The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), has raised the alarm over what it perceives as 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.
Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Maiha, announced recently that the government plans to pilot the National Ranching Policy in Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Plateau states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with the Wase Grazing Reserve in Plateau State serving as the test model.
The SMBLF, in a press statement issued on Wednesday, however said it was curious that this experiment was 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, where Fulani Emirs dominate most of the lands.”
“The scheme is being presented as a pilot, but if it is not firmly opposed by the communities whose lands are being short-changed, it will inevitably be expanded to other parts of the country, including the Southern States,” Forum said.
The statement was jointly signed by HRM Oba Oladipo Olaitan (Leader, Afenifere and Chairman, SMBLF), Dr. Bitrus Pogu (President, Middle Belt Forum), Senator John Azuta-Mbata (President-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide) and, H.E Ambassador Godknows Igali (National Chairman, PANDEF).
Explaining that the SMBLF was not opposed to modern livestock production, ranching or the development of the livestock value chain, the Forum however said: “What we reject is the opaque, coercive and discriminatory manner in which this policy is being pursued to the exclusive advantage of nomadic Fulani herdsmen.”
“The SMBLF stands firmly with the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), which has already rejected the scheme. We also call on communities and governments of the Southern State to stand ready to reject the policy,” it added.
Reminding the Federal Government that the Land Use Act of 1978 was not a licence for arbitrary land grabbing, the Forum noted that the Act “vests rural land in Local Governments, recognises customary rights of occupancy, and allows revocation only for overriding public interest. It also protects agricultural land, including fallow land, as continuing community property.”
Describing ranching as an economic enterprise that is privately driven, the Forum said “Government cannot disguise compulsory land acquisition for specific economic actors as public interest.”
The rest of the statement said: “The SMBLF deeply suspects that the true aim of this policy is the creation of permanent settlement zones for nomadic Fulani herdsmen, whose violent activities over the years have contributed to the capture and occupation of thousands of square kilometres of land across the Middle Belt and even parts of Southern states.
“Apart from the genocide they have been accused of carrying out in the Middle Belt, they have rendered millions homeless. They cannot be handed the lands of their victims as a reward for their heinous crimes.
“It is also a matter of record that some of these nomadic pastoralists are not Nigerian citizens. Any policy that ignores these realities while allocating vast ancestral lands to them under state protection is unacceptable to the indigenous people of the Middle Belt and the South.
“We have seen similar attempts before under different names, including the rejected RUGA and Cattle Colony proposals, which Nigerians resisted because of their implications for land ownership and demographic restructuring.
“We warn the Federal Government that the Middle Belt and the South are not dumping grounds for controversial land policies. Our lands belong to our communities that depend on them for farming, homes, livelihoods and survival.
“If this policy must stand, we demand full disclosure of the proposed ranching sites, the legal instruments for their acquisition, the ownership structure, security concerns, the beneficiaries, the size of the lands involved and the source of funding.
“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. We will resist every attempt to seize community lands under the guise of livestock development.”
