September 26, 2024
By Samuel Ogunsona
A foremost Pan-Yoruba group, Think Yoruba First, has criticized the report submitted by the Professor Attahiru Jega-led Presidential Livestock Reform Committee, which recommends allowing open grazing for the next 10 years.
The committee, co-chaired by the former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) boss, proposed a combination of ranching and open grazing as a solution to the farmer-herder crisis in Nigeria.
According to a statement signed by the group General Secretary, Dr. Bukola Adeniji, M.D. faulted the report, arguing that allowing open grazing for 10 years would exacerbate the conflict.
She noted that “despite all the thousands of lives that have been wasted by the gun-throttling Fulani herdsmen all across Nigeria and the destruction of arable farmlands by these violent groups.
“It is with utmost disappointment that the entire member of Think Yoruba First Organisation is writing this rejoinder to express our displeasure against the recommendation by the Professor Jega-led committee that open grazing should be allowed in Nigeria.
“Why should the lifestyle of a minority ethnicity in Nigeria be a threat to the peace and stability of our country, Nigeria? Why should the culture of one tribe turn Nigeria into Somalia?
“On behalf of all Yorùbás in Nigeria, we openly denounce any form of open cattle grazing in the Yorùbá part of Nigeria because it is out of date with modern cattle rearing practices, it is against our Yoruba culture, and it’s against the safety and peace of farmers in Yorùbáland of Nigeria.
“We hereby endeavour president Tinubu to enforce ranching as a permanent solution to this perennial Fulani herdsmen problem in Nigeria.
“Effective ranching of animals does not require 10 years to put in place. With FG backing via the Ministry of Livestock, there is adequate land in the Northern region whose culture is in cattle rearing, and state-of-the-art facilities can be put in place within 12 months to curb ongoing incessant bloodshed across the nation over another man’s business.
“In Ekiti State today, another farmer was killed, and four of them were kidnapped by Fulani herdsmen. Recommendations that open grazing should continue for the next 10 years while the government figures out how to solve problems of open grazing are reckless and inhumane.
“An injustice to one is an injustice to all; the many lives lost by hard-working farmers in the South and other parts of Nigeria demands justice and demands that open grazing be banned nationwide immediately; giving a date of 10 years showed the cruelty of the presidential committee on the issue and their lack of touch and cultural competency demanded to solve the crisis-inducing issues of a complex multi-ethnic, multicultural nation like Nigeria.”
The group also questioned the effectiveness of combining ranching and open grazing.
President Bola Tinubu has received the report, and its recommendations are currently under review.