The example of the Ngarannam cattle ranch

The grand ceremony on the penultimate Saturday at Ngarannam village unveiled the first modern cattle ranch of this era in Borno State and possibly the entire country. Built under the supervision of the Borno State Government, the 4-square-kilometre ranch was designed for over 400 residents, mostly from the surrounding communities that were sorely affected by […]

The grand ceremony on the penultimate Saturday at Ngarannam village unveiled the first modern cattle ranch of this era in Borno State and possibly the entire country. Built under the supervision of the Borno State Government, the 4-square-kilometre ranch was designed for over 400 residents, mostly from the surrounding communities that were sorely affected by Boko Haram insurgency. Each resident was equipped with a starter pack that included a fully furnished house, a mix of breeding cattle, sheep, goats, and fowls, as well as food items, clothing, and cash support. Within the ranch is also an earth dam for water supply, an area demarcated for pasture development, and milk collection points. There is also a school and a health clinic on the ranch.

The ranch is the first to roll out since the creation of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development late last year. I can, therefore, understand the gleeful encomiums lavished on the Borno State Government by the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, who, himself, is a veteran rancher who for many years had successfully managed the Zaidi Farms in Kaduna. Equally, one can understand the satisfaction expressed by Professor Attahiru Jega, the co-chair of the Presidential Livestock Reform Implementation Committee. It was his committee’s report that recommended the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development as a separate entity. The committee also wrote out a to-do list to capture the vision of the ministry including the development of ranches in the states to limit the age-old haphazard movement of livestock with all the attendant crises between herders and farmers.

This idea of ranching touted by the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development rhymed with the Borno State Government’s practicality of the ongoing resettlement of villagers who were displaced in the over 10 years of fighting with Boko Haram insurgents. Ngarannam is one of those villages dotted around Mafa town on the road to Dikwa from Maiduguri. It lies after Muna and Ajiri, all outlying villages on the highway to the border town of Gamboru-Ngala from Maiduguri. The entire rural areas in those parts were those that suffered most from the insurgents’ brutal attacks. Ngarannam village was reported to have been razed to the ground in 2015. Its hapless residents have been displaced ever since and were forced to eke out a precarious existence in IDP camps in Maiduguri.

Happily, Ngarannam was one of those villages fortune smiled on when eventually the insurgents were flushed out. Borno State Government with help from the UNDP, the federal government, the Lake Chad Basin Commission, the EU, Japan the UK embarked on rebuilding the village from scratch. The reconstruction of  villages is part of an initiative to increase security and stability in the region and give succour to those communities affected by the Boko Haram terror. At the completion of the works, two years ago, the village was transformed with gleaming new buildings.

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The ceremony to reopen the village in October 2022 attracted several dignitaries including the Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, the UNDP country rep, Mohammed Yahaya and a host of ambassadors. The village, then, could boast of over 500 units of houses, newly built along with a marketplace with lockup shops, a water tower complete with solar-powered pump, a school, housing for teachers and security forces, and a healthcare facility. The residents were also given business grants and agricultural inputs.

It is comforting to note that the commissioning of the cattle ranch came as an additional goody to the community in Ngarannam and its surroundings. The ranch’s continual survival would be a beacon of hope for those that would be coming up soon. I understand from the Borno State Deputy Governor, who superintended over the ceremony, that two more such ranches are already in an advanced state of completion in the other two senatorial districts of the state. We hope they will receive the same expeditious attention. And they would better succeed because a lot is hinged on their survival.

There have been many false starts with similar kinds of projects in the past. Borno State is home to plenty of them that were started with hope and vigour by governments of the past but left to rot due to the sloth and sloppiness of officials that were entrusted to manage them. The Borno governments of this era have, however, been saluted for being astute and firm-handed in the handling of the various projects they have initiated. They should not relent. These livestock projects must be supervised closely with eagle eyes for they are also going to serve as examples to other states of the federation that must be trudging the same path.

I am surprised that the other residual states in the far north are not falling over themselves to kickstart the ranches. After all, these states have the largest share of the herders’ population in the country, from where they stream down south for fodder during the dry spells causing mayhem and tension along the routes. The Minister of Livestock Development has his job cut out for him here. He must continuously breathe down the neck of these governors to get started and take the example of Ngarannam as a homily.