The mainstream media outfits are already realigned against the government, their crystal balls must have informed them to back another horse in the race. Abati now gets to feature on Channels TV like he did in the build up to 2011.
Emir Sanusi granted an interview this past weekend detailing how he took the case of scores of Fulani killed in Taraba state to the government with documented evidence but the headline focused on his acknowledgement that he and the Sultan of Sokoto were patrons of Miyetti Allah.
It's a game for many people it appears, very few are truly interested in lasting peace. It's us versus them.
Governor Ortom took Benue political and traditional leaders to Aso rock to thank the president on the response to the clashes in the state so far and to request for action against the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore who he says have threatened the state and are responsible for the killings. He said he didn't know what cattle colonies meant until Audu Ogbeh told him it meant ranches in one place. Despite this information, he left the meeting defiant that his state has no room for such. No 5000 hectares to spare for government to establish colonies like it's done in Brazil, Pakistan and other places. Global best practices.
My people have hyperventilated on the president's plea to the Benue leaders to accommodate Fulani herdsmen in the state, was the president supposed to authorize them to flush out Fulani herders and smash their skulls? Should we ask Atiku Abubakar what he would have said if he was president?
Ortom says no going back on the Anti-Open grazing law which was implemented on November 1, 2017. How many people have read that law? I'll give a summary here.
*One year renewable ranch permit.
Applications must be in writing to the livestock department with CONSENT of the land owners who want to lease their lands. Some herders have asked for who will offer them lands to lease considering the chronic bad blood. Indigenes can also apply to use their lands for ranching only that some clauses about renewal conditions and a few other items won't apply to them like the herders. Permits can be revoked at any time without compensation if the department deems the tenants in breach of land use laws, lease agreements or if they are thought to be security risks, threatening the peace of the state.
*5 years jail term or N1million fine or both for offenders.
*N500,000 or 1 year jail term or both for moving cattle by foot. Double for repeat offenders.
*No firearms within or outside ranches. It doesn't matter if such weapons are licensed, any use will be prosecuted.
*Only Nigerians will get ranching permits; no Chadians, Nigeriens or Cameroonians will smell it. I don't know about Caucasians though.
*Immunity for members of livestock special task force. The law says "No member of the department and the livestock special task force shall be liable to legal action, liability or demand on account of anything done, or omitted to be done in good faith and in accordance with the provisions of the law. "
A retired soldier was placed in charge of this force though Ortom told reporters yesterday that he was yet to set up the force.
The beauty of democracy.
In a December 3, 2017 story in the Daily Trust newspaper after the implementation of the law, two ranches were visited and some remnant cattle breeders interviewed to ascertain the effect of the law.
Ranch 1:
Oracle farms established circa 2012.
Owner is Governor Samuel Ortom.
Size of ranch: I don't know but it can't be a small place, it's on km25 on a certain expressway in Makurdi.
Population: about 250 Cows inclusive of local Native breeds, white Fulani and some exotic breeds imported from Argentina about 7 months ago.
Farm manager claims Ortom doesn't finance the place. Cattle is sold to ensure the place runs.
Food supply: local supply of grass at N100 a bundle (they denied allegation that the farm bought off most of the local grass available causing a scarcity)
Feeds from Oracle Feeds mill (Owner unknown to me) on km18 on the same road as the Farm.
Rice chaff from local suppliers.
From my calculations, Oracle farms requires N300,000 for grass, N120,000 for feeds and about N30,000 for rice chaff per week to adequately feed 250 cows.
Water supply at ranch is from a mini-dam, bore holes and manually dug wells.
Veterinary doctors are in-situ.
Oracle farms are not selling their Argentine cows at the moment but the native breed goes for N300,000 while the white Fulanis go for N250,000 for big ones and N80,000 for small cows.
Ranch 2:
Name unknown to me but story gave the ranch owner as former governor Gabriel Suswam.
The farm manager wasn't around so the reporters couldn't be let in but they were able to infer that the ranch was doing well and that cows were let out of their pens to stroll and graze "within the expanse of land on the ranch."
It's interesting to note that ranching isn't new to Nigeria. Former and incumbent presidents, governors, legislators, soldiers, judges, business people all operate different grades of ranches. I'm not sure if the Cattle in the custody of nomads belong to the aforementioned category of Nigerians. I think these men simply do this business probably because it was handed down to them.
I was at the immigration office in Ilorin December 2016 and there were some herders there waiting to get passport. I asked one of the immigration officers why they were there with family members like wives and parents and he told me they needed the documents to travel for pilgrimage. They sell their cattle to finance these trips, that is how uncomplicated their lives are. I'm not sure they'd sell cows that belong to politicians or soldiers for their own use.
The herders spoken to in Makurdi by the reporters claimed that a significant number of them had left the state with their cattle because they felt they couldn't abide by the tough laws. They complained about difficulty in getting permits, problems with sourcing grass, feeds and water as well as the rise in their cattle prices from N60,000 to about N100,000. They fear that land will not be enough resulting in overpopulation. Their reasons for wanting open grazing to continue are however not good enough but I don't believe their complaints about other matters should be ignored considering that ranching livestock is big business and extremely capital intensive. What is available at the farms owned by Ortom and Suswam should be available for them as well or am I being unrealistic?
In South America, over 70 million cattle can be found in the Amazon basin in pastures and colonies which cover an area almost the size of Nigeria. The Amazon basin cuts across 8 countries and I want to believe situating ranches there must have required a lot of thought and planning and it's not something simply left in the hands of private people considering the amount of natural vegetative cover lost to establish these ranches ab initio.
I'm not sure it's sufficient to say Sambissa is so large, move all the cattle there bla bla bla without considering the pros and cons. Agriculture is big business, countries that are barely larger than Benue with respect to landmass produce food enough to feed 5 countries at least. We should see the bigger picture in all of this instead of the 250 population ranches here and there that will end up selling cows far beyond what we can afford.
The President irrespective of what he does or plans to do is condemned. You have accused him of all sorts like you are privy to the kind of information he has. It's a free world, support and campaign for who you must. If you think he or she can defeat the president if he opts to run in 2019, ensure you do your campaign peacefully. If you claim you are religious but all you do is spread fake news and utter words that should only be spoken by the devil, then your religion and education are worthless.
I am not certain it is out of place to ask any group of people to accommodate settlers in their midst, that was only an item in all that they discussed together but trust Nigerians to run off the cliff with it.
