Ladduga: The ugly face of Nigeria’s ‘best’ grazing reserve(Continued from yesterday)

At a point you need a break and pause beneath a tree, which makes Umar Umar, my guide, to laugh. We both laugh and return a wave from another traveller, who is also struggling through the mud. Then you get back on the motorcycle.It is a bumpy ride. We come across a  number of vehicles […]

At a point you need a break and pause beneath a tree, which makes Umar Umar, my guide, to laugh. We both laugh and return a wave from another traveller, who is also struggling through the mud. Then you get back on the motorcycle.It is a bumpy ride. We come across a  number of vehicles which are stuck in the mud, and people  gather  to push the vehicles out. They don’t make much progress. There are small valleys on both sides of the road, within which are numerous large cows, and the rolling countryside looks very exciting.
We meet Adamu Bale, a  herder who says that the main challenge the people of Ladduga face is the bad road which is untarred, and  has nine culverts along its entire stretch. Another huge problem is the absence of water during the dry season “Then in the dry season there is the problem of finding water for the  cows.The nearby river will dry up. Because of this we have to take the cows outside the reserve for pasture.”
Umar, who  also works with the WHO/Polio programme in Ladduga, confirms this, saying of the nearby river “In the dry season, the water reduces,and this is a problem for both man and animals. In the wet season those who live close to the river  come to fetch water from it. But they boil the water, before they drink it. The locals  have been trained on methods of purifying water.” There are countless heaps of sand between the culverts which seem to give the impression that work is underway. But this is an illusion, for the contractor left long ago. The silent heaps of sand mock the unfinished project, and  sneer at all those who don’t finish things which they started. Today,the most popular mode of transport into the reserve is the motorcycle. Along the way we come across a bridge. Bags of sand have been used to save it from collapse, and the bridge has managed to survive the effects of erosion and rain. But rains have washed away some of the bags, which means that the bridge is now just about half its original size.If heavy rains fall, and the bridge collapses, then Ladduga will be cut off from Crossing. Or crossing would be cut off from Ladduga.
But the children and adults within have learnt to enjoy the occasional walk, either to school, or to  houses on the other side of the reserve. Some sick women have died on account of the bad road,the women tell me, but this was before the two clinics were established. However, people manage to walk with a smile, and the locals have also mastered the countless detours which abound. When two motorcyclists draw close to each other at a difficult spot, the cyclists look into each other’s eye, smile and raise a greeting in Fulfulde, and the journey continues. Finally, after almost an hour of a winding journey we arrive Ladduga. This is a journey which ordinarily shouldn’t last more than 15 minutes if the road were in good shape. A lot of milk is harvested in the reserve every day. But because of the condition of the road, all this milk is consumed by the  community, with little or none  going  to the public. It is also hard to convey beef, cheese or other cow products out of the reserve, under the circumstances described above. A sparkling  new building has arisen within Ladduga. It  is as good as finished. The  building  is sponsored by the ADB, in conjunction with the federal ministry of education, and it will be a Vocational centre in the reserve.
Anthem in Fulfulde
It is the first day of Sallah when I visit, and children are in festive attire. Their eyes glow   as they sing the National Anthem not only in English, but also in Fulfulde. This is a plus for the reserve, for Fulfulde naturally flourishes in such locations inhabited 100% by the Fulbe, unlike when the nomads have to migrate and live in proximity to another group, picking up bits of the new language in the process. This inflicts some damage however slight, on Fulfulde,as it would on any language caught in such circumstances. Khadijah Ardido, National Secretary, Womens Wing, MACBAN, says “The dominant language in a grazing reserve is Fulfulde.” Ummukulsum Adamu, the young lady who taught them how to sing in Fulfulde, stands in front of the lines of excited children. They sing. Their little voices rise in song, and for a while one forgets about the rigour of the road. This is a Sallah gift of an auditory kind. They form straight lines in front of the Wuro Nyako Nomadic Primary school, and the sun shines upon us.
It began in 60s
Ardo  Ayuba adds  ‘This  reserve was established by the late Sardauna of Sokoto in 1963.It was not developed at that time,but simply carved out. Proper development of the reserve   began in the late 80s. The area was gazetted, dams were established and pastoralists were invited from various areas to come down here to settle.” Professor Aderinoye commenting on the significance of grazing reserves for the nomadic Fulani, says “The creation of grazing reserves will definitely create windows of opportunities  for  the Fulanis to settle and have unfettered access to social, political and economic provisions by government hitherto not enjoyed by them.  Above all, this will greatly reduce cattle rustling and conflict in the country.”

Saleh Momale, while emphasising the value of grazing reserves, adds “In Africa, countries like Botswana and Sudan have gone far. Nigeria, despite its huge potential, is lagging behind other countries in terms of livestock production such as Burkina Faso and Senegal. Today, Nigeria is a  net importer of live animals from many West and Central African countries. From the livestock that are locally produced and those that are imported, meat supply is still deficient and Nigerians have a very low protein uptake that needs to be improved.”
He says “I strongly support the creation and development of grazing reserves, and it should be one of Nigeria’s strategic national development priorities. I am optimistic that the forthcoming generations of Nigerians will benefit from this endeavour and investment.”
Dr. Ibrahim Abdullahi of the CDC also comments on the need for grazing reserves, which the government has recently keyed into “The establishment of grazing reserves is absolutely necessary. The human population is increasing, and the competition for land is increasing. But the land itself is always decreasing. Its difficult for a Fulani nomad to practice animal husbandry the way he used to know it. The provision of grazing reserves is going to help a lot. The nomad will also learn new animal husbandry techniques, and staying in the reserve will curb crises between  farmers and the nomads overgrazing land,and watering points. The advantages are so many. Government can also provide schools, hospitals and so on in the reserves.”
Dr. Leo  Nyam, outgoing regional Director, North West, Agricultural Transformation Agenda, adds that there are “415 grazing reserves in the country. Of this number  only 120 have been gazetted. However, among the gazetted ones there is a high level of encroachment. Some people out of pressure for land,encroach upon the grazing reserves.You will be shocked to find that a whole village has been established inside a grazing reserve. The Kachia (Ladduga grazing reserve) has suffered encroachment, but Kachia is the most developed grazing reserve in the whole of Nigeria.” He regards Ladduga as ‘a model with flaws’ in the sense that though it is still the best reserve in Nigeria, yet there are many  challenges confronting it.

Dr. Nafissatu D.  Mohammed, former Executive Secretary, NCNE, also speaks on some of the interventions by the NCNE at Ladduga “We arranged with some of the dairy outfits. They opened a milk selling centre around the Kachia area, so that the women in the grazing reserve will bring their milk. If they bring two calabashes, they will be paid for the two calabashes they brought. So, the women are now free. They are not going to the market, and they can sit down now and do some adult education. Literacy is very important. We found that in all these projects that came, that if you don’t build on  the foundation of literacy, they will come to nought.But  if you have freed this woman from illiteracy, you can empower her more easily.” Dr. Nafissatu Mohammed also comments on the uplifting impact of a reserve such as the one at Ladduga “We have shown them that they can restock, and this can help the victims of cattle rustling. It’s a challenge we can overcome by helping them to restock, and we focused on the women who are in charge of the small ruminants, that is the sheep, the goats, and the small calves.”
1 nomad to a forest
Baba Othman Ngelzarma, National Secretary General, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) shows what other countries have done  for the nomad, in terms of the setting up grazing reserves “All the neighbouring countries have plans for the Fulani. You see this in Niger Republic, Cameroon, Benin and Chad.In Cameroon, you find one nomad with 20,000 herds of cattle.The government has given him a whole forest to himself, and they have given him a dam, schools, a veterinary clinic and hospitals. They have also gone to look for markets for his milk.The nomads control  the economy of Cameroon, so that the country is a major exporter of milk. Then they have a good breed of cows in these reserves. They can get 30 to 40 litres of milk in a day from one cow.But here in Nigeria, we get 1 to 3 litres of milk from a cow in one day. The difference is enormous.”
He comments on the economic benefits which a grazing reserve gives promise of. His words “You can imagine the economic benefits of this. We will dominate the milk market, and with the encouragement of government, we will have enough to export.” But he thinks the government will have to do more to woo the nomads to the idea of grazing reserves “It’s a beautiful idea, but it cannot happen immediately. Roaming is part of the culture of the nomad, and for them to depart from a culture they inherited will be difficult.It calls for a lot of advocacy over a period of time.”
Lament by widows
The  grazing reserve has also attracted a huge number of women who lost their husbands to cattle rustlers. These include Zulai Yakubu, whose  husband was killed when the rustlers attacked. She is now left with 8 children to look after. Aisha Ibrahim is next to tell her story. Her husband was felled in the incident, and she is now left with 4 children. Safiya Adamu also lost her husband when the rustlers came. She has 6 children to feed and educate. The same story is narrated by many other women that morning, when we gathered at the palace of the District Head of Ladduga. Each one has many children to look after, and no reliable or tangible source of income. These widows of Ladduga are women caught in a quandary. They confess to being hypertensive which seems to be a natural outcome of rising everyday worries. Daily Trust gathers that there are 300 widows at the reserve. Today, there is a steady trickle of widows into Ladduga, and this swells its population of ‘sedentary pastoralists.’ I get back on the motorcycle, and we retrace the route we had taken earlier. We go past the nine culverts, the heaps of sand, past  vehicles freshly stuck in triumphant mud, the defeated drivers in a fix, the numerous green detours, and  past the  women glowing in their Eid finery. We navigate the dying bridge, finally alighting at Crossing, just before the rain comes down.