Ladduga: The ugly face of Nigeria’s ‘best’ grazing reserve

The Ladduga grazing reserve was carved out in the 1960s, but it did not  come to life until the 1980s. Sir Ahmadu Bello, late Sardauna of Sokoto, was the guiding  energy behind the idea of the reserve, and his plan was to have all the nomadic Fulani settled in reserves by the year 1980. This […]

The Ladduga grazing reserve was carved out in the 1960s, but it did not  come to life until the 1980s. Sir Ahmadu Bello, late Sardauna of Sokoto, was the guiding  energy behind the idea of the reserve, and his plan was to have all the nomadic Fulani settled in reserves by the year 1980. This has not happened yet, and it can be said that Nigeria is 34 years late in fulfilling Sardauna’s vision.Today, many years have passed since Ladduga was carved out, but  there is very little federal presence in Ladduga, and the interventions by NGOs, private individuals, and other interested parties, are the only corridors which help in keeping Ladduga going. State and local government presence  in Ladduga ‘is  almost zero,’ residents  say.
The two clinics in the reserve are either privately owned, or were set up  by NGOs such as The Pastoral Resolve, and some of the communities  within Ladduga are 10 kilometres away from these clinics. The Millennium Development Goals office set up the boreholes that can be seen at the reserve, and the National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE) built the schools present. The people feel  both neglected and dumped such that Mairiga Sulaiman Hussani,  District Head of Ladduga  asks rhetorically “Why do people hate the Fulani so much?” Saleh Momale, Acting Executive Director, The Pastoral Resolve, says “Ladduga grazing reserve was set up to improve livestock, in terms of fattening, cross breeding, dairy development, capacity building of the pastoralists and a lot more. People will see wonders if the economy of the place is developed.”
He draws attention to a number of components  which a reserve ought to consist of, but which Ladduga totally lacks. “These include pasture development, improvement of breeds, capacity development of livestock breeders, dairy production and processing, livestock fattening schemes, support for cooperative societies, livestock health services, provision of water for domestic and livestock production, provision of supplementary and  improved seeds resources,  education for the pastoralists and extension services.” He says that of these elements it is only in education and the provision of earth dams, that Ladduga has received some assistance.

He adds that there are some schools in the reserve, but “these are actually schools without teachers. You have a situation where there are hundreds of pupils, and just one or two teachers to teach them.”
Another source says that “Of the  15 schools at Ladduga, only 12 have a teacher each for at least a minimum of 100 pupils in each school.” Saleh Momale draws attention to a major irony at Ladduga, “The key ministry with the mandate for the reserve is the federal ministry of Agriculture, but the federal ministry of education has more presence there than the ministry with the mandate for the reserve.”
‘Fulani Chiefdom’
Because of the losses the inhabitants  have suffered in the politics of the area, and the neglect which they have endured over the years, the people of Ladduga are now seeking to become a Chiefdom. “The other chiefdoms in the area are not up to ours in terms of population. It will be a Fulani chiefdom,” adds  Ayuba Hassan Ladduga, Ardo of Ladduga. He says they are  also seeking to have their own ward, for they have attained the population required to set up one. He says they are 60,000 strong, but Saleh Momale thinks the figure  should hover  around 30,000  persons. The bad road has brought out the good in the people, and made them political. Then he says, like Saleh Momale above, that the Wuro Nyako Nomadic Primary School, like many other schools within, is facing a number of challenges.
According to him, “This school is understaffed. We have only two basic teaching staff, with another two Islamic teachers. I will say the school has only two standard teaching staff. The other two are religious teachers. This is one of the greatest challenges we are facing.But some of the schools in the reserve have only one teacher. If the local government can provide more teachers, the basic issue of  teaching will be improved.”
He argues, ‘There is no way one or two teachers can teach pupils who are up to 300 in number.We are happy that the nomadic commission provided the basic structures, but these are not enough because some of the pupils are being taught under trees.”
2 polling units
Salihu Yunusa, Madakin Ladduga, agrees with the Ardo, saying ‘Our population is high but we have only two polling units. But we need at least 13 additional polling units.We wrote to INEC, and they came to assess our population.”

He also complains about the bad road linking crossing to the reserve. “The main road to Ladduga is our main challenge. The government has not tarred the road. The contract was given when the current Vice President was Governor of Kaduna state. The contractor started the work, and later he abandoned it.” Professor Rashid Aderinoye, Executive Secretary, National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE) also comments on the road project. “The government started a road network that would have brought relief to these people in terms of free transportation of their goods, but the road has remained abandoned up till today. If the road project is completed, it will link them to crossing town and other areas. As at now there is no easy access road, even for effective monitoring of programmes in our few schools.Thus economic activities in the reserve are paralysed.”
We need a Ward
Mairiga Sulaiman Hussaini also speaks,  “There is no motorable road into the reserve from the main road. In Ladduga, you see many children who want to attend school, but unfortunately, the schools lack teachers. When  a teacher is posted here, as soon as he sees the bad road, he leaves.”
Madakin Ladduga complains that graduates of the Secondary school within the reserve are unable to get jobs in the nearby local government offices. So, they sit at home doing nothing.
According to him, “We don’t have a single person in the local government. Even work as a security man is not available to us. Because of this some of our boys, despite securing an education, go back to cattle rearing, while some go into farming. They have no choice.”
Ardo Ayuba now adds, “We want a chiefdom. We also want a ward so that we can make our complaints direct to government, because here we are not represented in the government at all. If you don’t have a councillor, nobody will listen to you. We don’t have a councillor, but we are qualified to have a ward.”
Umar Julde, a teacher in one of the schools says, “Most of our schools are not equipped. They don’t have chairs and tables, and there are no textbooks too. Yet, we have a population of 15,000 pupils. This is why we need political representation in order to voice our case.”
‘Settled pastoralists’
Ardo Ayuba exults on the joys of living in the reserve. He says, “We are happy to be settled here. We are no more nomadic pastoralists. Rather, we are settled pastoralists. But, if you are moving from place to place, there is no time to allow the children to study, or to know what’s going on.” There is no time for politics. But now in Ladduga, everybody is politically conscious, and is either voting, or could be voted for. I think this is another achievement. If this reserve wasn’t established, this wouldn’t have happened. Even the adults are now seeking western education.” He expands on the importance of a good road linking crossing to Ladduga. According to him, “If government can provide a good road to Ladduga, we can supply milk to Kaduna and  Lagos, and many other places. When the road was okay, one milk company in Kaduna used to come in to buy milk, and transport  same to Lagos. Now, they cannot come in because of the poor state of the road. The road today is a silent road. If it is completed, we will have access to bigger markets, and veterinary doctors will be able to come in, and drugs can be provided. Animal feed can be brought into the reserve  during the dry season. This reserve can provide beef, milk, butter and a lot of things. A good road liberates a people.”
He describes the reserve as “the best grazing reserve in Nigeria’, and says that it needs more earth dams, arguing that  the current “13 earth dams  are not sufficient for  the human and animal population of the reserve. We need boreholes and more schools. We also need  more clinics for the human and animal population, but because of the bad road, veterinary doctors cannot easily come in here.”
Road to Ladduga
If you are travelling to Ladduga, then you should pass  by Keffi, capital of  Nasarawa state. You disembark at  Crossing  and get onto a motorcycle which conveys you into Ladduga that sits on some 73,411 hectares   and  has “300,000 cows.’ Crossing symbolises the fact that a railway line cuts  through the town, hence the name. The railways were alive  in these parts many years ago. But it  turns out that crossing into the reserve is no small feat. The river Kaduna flows through a part of the reserve. At that point, swift brown waters roll over rocks and flow downstream. It takes about an hour to finally arrive Ladduga once you leave Crossing, that is, if you make the trip on a motorcycle. This is because the road is untarred, and in the rainy season, it is in very poor shape. In the dry season, it is very dusty and brown. If you travel  in a car, you will need one and a half to two hours to make the journey into Ladduga, no matter the season.