Muslims Should Remain Objective on Grazing Law

A Fulani man with his herd

Throughout the history of mankind, man has always had love for animals. This love pushed some people to keep some animals in close proximity; feeding, sheltering and protecting them. For those of us belonging to the Abrahimic faiths, we know that Habil (Abel) (one of the sons of Adam AS) was a shepherd and he carried his flock around to feed; he was an open-grazer. The culture of open grazing has been passed from generation to generation and has remained to this day.

Mention the word ‘Fulani’ and the first thing that comes to mind is ‘cattle’. Herding and cattle related businesses is the specialty of the Fulanis and has been centuries. Over the decades, there have been skirmishes between herders and farmers most often resulting from herders leading their cattle or allowing them stray into farmlands which cause large scale loss of farm produce for the farmers involved.

However, in recent times, the rate of these skirmishes has been unprecedented. Several theories have emerged, some say the Fulani herdsmen menace has come up because the enemies of northern Nigeria have realized that the Boko Haram scheme has failed to extirpate the region hence the need for another plot. Another theory goes by the belief that the Fulani herdsmen menace is being orchestrated by the political opponents of President Muhammadu Buhari being from the Fulani extraction himself. The mainstream opinion however remains that there is now an increased rate of herders leading their cattle into farmlands and the farmers have simply had enough.

On November 1, 2017, the anti-grazing law signed by the Benue state parliament took effect sparking the mass exodus of herders from the state. Another state, Taraba, passed the anti-grazing bill into law in July 2017 and has hinted that it will be implemented on January 18 2018. Nassarawa is another state gearing up to pass into law an anti-grazing bill.

It will be observed that these states are the three states in Northern Nigeria where Muslims are a minority. This development has not gone down well with the Muslim majority of Northern Nigeria; they feel their Fulani Muslim brothers are being cheated. 

The question I have in mind is- should Northern Muslims shudder at this development? To answer this question, let’s look at these parameters.

Effects of Open-grazing

a) Communal clashes: as has been witnessed, a lot of the skirmishes that have occurred between herders and farmers have been as a result of the invasion of farmlands by  cattle usually with the full knowledge of the herder.

b) Diseases: An area with a high cattle presence will have a high population of flies. This is because the cows defecate anywhere and anytime and flies are always in search of animal dung to incubate their eggs. High fly population means an increased risk of cholera, diarrhea, dysentery and other preventable diseases that result from poor hygiene.

c) Zero self-development: The continuous movement of the herders means they are never stable enough to learn anything new outside herding. They don’t benefit from any form of education; whether secular or religious. The more reason why Fulanis across West Africa have largely remained backward.

With the current spate of skirmishes between farmers and herders, many have suggested ‘ranching’ and the ultimate solution. Sadly, as has been observed, very few people are considering the consequences.

What is ranching?

Ranching is the practice of raising herds of animals on large tracts of land for meat or wool.  A ranch is an area of land including various structures used primarily for the practice of ranching. Ranching and the cowboy tradition originated in Spain, out of the necessity to handle large herds of grazing animals on dry land from horseback. Ranches generally consist of large areas, but may be of nearly any size. The person who owns and manages the operation of a ranch is usually called a rancher, but the terms cattleman, stock grower, or stock man are also sometimes used.

People don’t seem to be considering the parcels of land that would be need for effective ranching to succeed. Vital questions that should be asked are:

• Will the cattle owners need to buy these lands or will the government (state and federal) provide them with the lands free of charge?
• How will the cattle owners get fodder for their cattle? Is it possible for one man to gather enough food for 50 cows?
• Will the government assist the Fulanis with vehicles to transport fodder?
• Will the government provide the cattle owners with storage facilities to ensure an all year round supply of food for the cattle?
• How will the cattle owners get water for their cattle? Will the governments drill bore holes for them or will water ways be dug into the ranches for them?
• If the cattle owners are to spend from their pockets to achieve all of these, will Nigerians cope with the new price of beef that will ultimately come?

These and probably many other questions have not been asked by Nigerians which is indicative of the fact that most Nigerians do not really know what is at stake and are simply blinded by religious sentiments.

Prior to this era of war between herders and farmers, I have always held the view that open-grazing is obsolete as a means for rearing animals. Ranching on the other hand has a number of advantages some of which are highlighted below.

1. Epidemics are Prevented: open grazers often keep their animals at home (in close proximity), this means they live in close contact with the filth generated by the animals. If an animal contracts a disease, the people leaving close by could suffer the same fate. The animals and herders could also proliferate the disease since they move about. As we know, when diseases are transferred from animals to humans they tend to be more fatal on their human hosts. The bird-flu epidemic that swept through Asia in 2003 largely affected people who operated poultry farms where they lived. There have also been cases of humans contracting Mad-Cow Disease and Foot and Mouth Disease from cows across the globe.
2. Orderliness: We all hope to live in a fully developed, scientifically up-graded and beautiful city one day. Will we realize this dream if cows keep coming into the city urinating and defecating everywhere and every day? We have heard of instances where cows made their way into airports and run-ways endangering the lives of passengers on-board flights. This does not happen in civilized communities or communities that wish to become civilized one day.
3. Manure Collection: As has been confirmed, the best form of soil fertilizer is manure and not chemical fertilizers which have been found to rather damage the soil and pose some health risks to humans. According to experts, soil life is damaged by the salt content of chemical fertilizers; they may also contain heavy metals and other toxins. The plants get used to the quick rush of fertilizer-induced growth and may not be as strong as their organically grown counterparts. Plants might grown on poor soil with enough fertilizer but a wide range of nutrients will not be present, this means the produce you put on your table will be less healthy than those grown in organically-rich soil. The local, state and federal governments in Nigeria spend millions of naira importing fertilizers every year while our cow dung wastes. With ranching, the cows are concentrated in a known and defined location hence, their dung could be easily collected. This could even become a new source of income for the cattle owners as farmers will troop to the ranches to buy cheap and good fertilizer.

It is hoped that the Muslims of Nigeria, the non-Muslim states and the Federal government of Nigeria will come to an arrangement that will favor all sides.