A few days ago, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, condemned the decision by southern governors to ban open grazing.
Surprisingly, he likened the ban to northern governors banning spare parts sale, a comparison which shocked many Nigerians. The statement, which many people across ethnic and religious divides have seen as unbecoming of a nation’s attorney general, has generated a lot of controversies.
The reality is that everywhere in the country, open grazing of cattle has brought blood and tears, with farmers frequently clashing with herders. Also, rogue herders with criminal intent, have been hiding under the umbrella of open grazing to spread their gospel of destruction. Thus, when the nation’s chief law officer expressed that opinion the way he did, so many people felt that he should have been much more circumspect, given that as the nation’s top law officer, he should be promoting order and should also have been sensitive to the fact that blood is being spilled needlessly in clashes that are clearly avoidable.
The reality is that there are viable alternatives to open grazing and the alternatives are much more beneficial to the herders, the owners of the cows and the economy. Change is a constant thing in life and it is obvious that open grazing has become anachronistic. Thus, the onus is on government at all levels to make the better way to raise cows conducive to herders and cow owners alike. Cows like other animals can be reared in designated places and they can be fed all year round in those places rather than the regular treks from the far north to the south.
The Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, has spoken so eloquently and objectively about the need for the nomadic culture to be dumped for ranches There is the need to educate the children of the herders rather than limiting them to a life of perpetuity in the forests. The country’s economy also has a lot to benefit from a modernized and well-organized cattle business. Thus, government officials should always be pointing the way forward, rather than backward. Cattle business if done the modern way is a multi-billion-dollar business, so, we should be talking about tapping into that potential rather than defending an outdated practice that is far less profitable than the alternative.
Comparing open grazing of cattle to spare parts selling is like comparing apples and oranges. The good the ban will do is that it will compel herders and cow owners, at least in the South for now, to embrace the better alternative, which shows big promise, rather than holding on to an outdated and less profitable system.