As a member of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, one wants to take side with cattle being bred and reared in Nigeria. If cattle were to present a case of abuse of Animal Rights by humans, there would be heart-breaking testimonies. Neither would many Nigerians agree that cattle are so sensitive that they have means of communicating with other animals, including humans. They obey directions and natural laws better than humans. Just visit Botswana, a Southern African country, and see what dignity cattle enjoy!
Benue State Governor, Dr Samuel Ortom, can be described as an animal-friendly gentleman, despite vilification by ill-disposed persons who consider him to be cruel to animals. According to the Governor, “Nigeria is ripe for the implementation of a policy on ranching as captured in the National Livestock Transformation Plan that was adopted by the National Economic Council (NEC)”. Doing so would not only protect farming communities but also stop cattle rustling and cattle flogging.
Ortom who delivered a keynote address at the 2021 Annual Law Week celebration, urged the Federal Government to publicly condemn the atrocities perpetrated by herdsmen in Nigeria. His suggestion that the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kauta Hore be arrested and prosecuted, may not be supported by many Nigerians. However, true his claim that “other Fulani socio-cultural groups owned up to killings and destruction of communities”, there is need not to overflog the cattle issue.
Nigerian elites who have lived in or visited some countries in the civilised world would agree easily that cattle and other livestock are never seen roaming about in urban streets. Even in rural communities in the civilised world, livestock are kept in pens, enclosures and ranches where they constitute no menace to humans or road users. Even in many African countries open grazing is rarely encouraged or tolerated, but in Nigeria, school fields, farms and campuses are grazing grounds. No place is spared, even worship centres!
It is quite sad that anyone would suggest digging up over-60-year old law on grazing routes in Nigeria. Rather than revisit such archaic law as an elixir to the cattle menace in Nigeria, serious thoughts should be directed on how to stop flogging cattle, allowing them to defecate in urban streets and protecting under-age children from rearing cattle. Such under-age children who roam about with cattle and sleep in the bush with animals, should be in schools where they can be transformed to become humane and noble.
When we think of the fact that Nigeria is a signatory to a United Nations’ adoption of the Rights of the child, then we should ask why the Fulani child should not be protected from a life of hazard. Or, can we deny that children below the age of 12 are not roaming Nigerian streets and forests with cattle daily? What future do such children have? Similarly, can we say that the cattle rearers are the owners of the cattle they move about with every day, under sun or rain, and with no decent home to live in? Is the nation being fair to them?
Someone would say that culture does not die away easily, and that since cattle rearing is a cultural engagement like crop farming, then everything should stay the way they were in ages past. Such argument would not hold any water because, culture actually means practices and values which build up rather than debase humanity. An old film: Daybreak in Udi, was banned because it depicted women going nude, so long as they are not married. Nudity was a cultural symbol of virginity and purity. Should such cultural mindset continue in the modern times?
Ortom’s vehement stand against grazing routes and any policy under the guise of open grazing, should be commended. So also should there be a policy against flogging of cattle with big sticks or horse-whips. Those who want to revive an old law on cattle-grazing routes rarely mean well for Nigeria. Ortom described such move as “not only archaic but anti-development and retrogressive.
Giving support to Ortom’s stand on the issue, Barrister R.C Ndefor who represented the Rivers State Governor, described open grazing as a threat to peace and unity of Nigeria.
The time has come for the APC-led government of Muhammadu Buhari, to address the issue of open grazing and its attendant effects, with seriousness rather than subterfuge. Many Nigerians are now aware that cattle are being co-opted into a game that would obviously plunge Nigeria into some unpleasant experiences. What does it take to establish ranches? Must such ranches be in the south when vast land is available in the North?
Anybody doing an objective assessment of the cattle issue in Nigeria would come up with a verdict that it is a jinxed affair, in which some powerful vested interests think that all Nigerians can be led by the nose like asses. Who are the owners of over 80% of all the cattle in Nigeria? Valid research findings point at top military officers, serving and retired, coupled with some traditional rulers and politicians. Besides, the livestock affair is a private business for which a government must not be seen as taking sides.
Research studies in the cattle business in seven African countries reveal a great deal of intrigues and shenanigans, with the Nigerian case described as the most insecurity-prone one. Without going into what singles out the Nigeria case as the most volatile, research documents did mention three vital issues, namely: Absence of strict state regulations, impunity and archaic methods. A law on stray animals in urban towns is not strong in African countries, including having licenses and inoculation certificates for dogs. Local government authorities should dust up these bye-laws on animals.
Someone said that cattle yield great revenue for Nigeria, comparable to oil and gas, while another attributed herders’ hostility to rustling or stealing of cattle by intruders. There is an old book titled Excusitis, full of humours and satires, with the substance that when human authorities run short of services and ideas, excuses come into service. Music students always memorise: “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour”, and “All Cows Eat Grass”, to master “G” and “F” clefs.

Dr Amirize is a retired lecturer from the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.