Everyone is now waking up to reality. With pitched battles between “Fulani herdsmen” and local communities leading to loss of lives as well as dislocation. Apart from the loss of lives, we have a national security issue here as well.
It is difficult to comprehend how Fulani herdsmen suddenly came into contact with sophisticated arms. This means that they cannot be the traditional Fulani herdsmen.
The sooner the grazing reserves are resuscitated, the better. They were prevalent in the pre-1966 Northern region. In this day and age, you move beef and not cattle.
The Niger State government, for example, is to conduct census of the state and re-activate 23 of its abandoned grazing reserves.
The decision followed the report of a committee investigating clashes between farmers and cattle herdsmen. The economic loss in moving cattle, rather than beef is why our cows are so scrawny and their milk yield low.
Apart from stopping the killings and ending the friction, there is an economic benefit. Grazing lands will increase yield. A properly structured ranching industry will bring in investments and increase productivity. Nigeria will then be able to take part in the $100 billion a year demand for “halal” beef. This being cattle slaughtered under Islamic tenancy for export to the middle-east and elsewhere.
It is a huge market and demand is increasing due to demographics. If we are really serious about diversifying our expert base, we must go for it.