It has been hell getting grasses for our animals in FCT – MACBAN

The leadership of the FCT chapter of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has said the lack of grazing land for cattle is a serious challenge for herders in the territory. The secretary of MACBAN in the FCT, Alhaji Ibrahim Ciroma, told Abuja Metro by phone that the lack of grazing land […]

The leadership of the FCT chapter of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has said the lack of grazing land for cattle is a serious challenge for herders in the territory.

The secretary of MACBAN in the FCT, Alhaji Ibrahim Ciroma, told Abuja Metro by phone that the lack of grazing land has led to crises between farmers and herders in some parts of the FCT.

He said farmers have taken over the only available grazing reserves in Kawu, Rubochi and Paiko-Kore.

He added that the government has not compensated the farmers to allow herders to use the land for grazing.

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He specifically pointed to the grazing reserve in Paiko-Kore, the most recognized reserve in the FCT, which he said government has not compensated the farmers there for years.

Ciroma said that herders in several communities across the FCT often have to move their cows to the tops of hills to graze, but that even these hills are being used by farmers to plant crops.

“It has been hell for the herders in the FCT as most of the grazing reserves, especially that of the Paiko-Kore community in Gwagwalada have continued to degenerate into crisis between herders and farmers over the years due to the government’s failure to compensate the farmers,” he said.

He added, “Even on most of the hills that herders move their cows to graze, some farmers are still going to clear them and cultivate crops. So, you can see how herders are being frustrated when grazing their animals.”

According to Ciroma, the lack of grazing reserves is the reason some herders have been forced to allow their cattle to graze along the airport road and in other parts of the Abuja city center.

He recalled that grasses were planted at the Paiko-Kore grazing reserve during the administration of the former FCT Minister Muhammad Musa Bello, which attracted herders but ultimately failed.

“In fact, as I speak, if you go to the grazing reserve in Paiko, there’s nothing there. What you will see are maize farms all over the place, as the owners have cultivated the entire land because the government failed to compensate them,” he said.

The MACBAN scribe said that herders mostly have to go into far-off bushes with their cows to graze, and that even the grazing routes that cattle are supposed to follow have been taken over by the farmers.

“Even the grazing routes have been cultivated by farmers, making herders frustrated and helpless, which sometimes results in serious altercations between the herders and the farmers when cows mistakenly veer into farms to graze,” he added.

He attributed some recent farmer and herder crises, especially in rural communities of Gwagwalada and Kwali, to the lack of grazing reserves and the takeover of grazing routes by the farmers.

He recalled how a crisis almost broke out in Wumi village in the Dobi ward a few weeks ago after grazing routes in the community were taken over by the farmers.

“It took the intervention of the Aguma of Gwagwalada, HRH Alhaji Muhammad Magaji, who quickly mobilized security operatives and community leaders in the area to diffuse the tension,” he said.

Ciroma therefore called on the FCT’s Agricultural and Rural Development Secretariat to plant grasses and compensate farmers in grazing reserves across the three area councils so that herders can have easy access to land for their animals to graze.

It would be recalled that the FCT Minister of State, Hajiya Mariya Mahmoud had last month flagged off the planting of grasses at the Kawu grazing reserve in Bwari Area Council but since then, nothing has been done.