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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Conflict & Security

Southern, Middle Belt leaders reject FG ranching plan, cite land grab fears

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Southern and Middle Belt leaders rejected the Federal Government's proposed ranching scheme, viewing it as an attempt to seize ancestral lands.
  • The forum expressed concern that the pilot areas are concentrated in the Middle Belt, questioning why sparsely populated land in the North was not prioritized.
  • Leaders stated they are not opposed to ranching but object to the policy's coercive and discriminatory implementation, suspecting it aims to create permanent settlements for Fulani herdsmen.

Leaders from Nigeria's Southern and Middle Belt regions have united to reject the Federal Government's proposed pilot ranching scheme. They describe the initiative as a "spurious" attempt to seize ancestral lands under the guise of livestock development.

The SMBLF is alarmed by the audacious attempt by the Federal Government to take over lands belonging to ethnic communities in the Middle Belt under a spurious ‘pilot scheme’ being introduced in the name of a New National Livestock Policy.

— Southern and Middle Belt Leaders ForumStatement issued by the forum detailing their rejection of the government's ranching plan.

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) issued a statement urging communities and governments in southern states to prepare to resist the policy. The forum expressed alarm that the proposed pilot areas, including Nasarawa, Plateau, Benue, Southern Kaduna, Taraba, and the Federal Capital Territory, are concentrated in the Middle Belt.

It is striking that this experiment is being concentrated almost entirely in the Middle Belt, despite the vast expanses of sparsely populated and unused land available in many parts of the far North.

— Southern and Middle Belt Leaders ForumQuestioning the geographical focus of the pilot ranching scheme.

"It is striking that this experiment is being concentrated almost entirely in the Middle Belt, despite the vast expanses of sparsely populated and unused land available in many parts of the far North," the forum stated. The leaders questioned the rationale behind this focus, especially given the region's history of farmer-herder conflicts.

Ranching is an economic enterprise that is privately driven. The government cannot disguise compulsory land acquisition for specific economic actors as public interest.

— Southern and Middle Belt Leaders ForumExplaining their objection to the government's approach to land acquisition for the scheme.

While not opposing ranching or the development of Nigeria's livestock industry, the SMBLF objected to the "opaque, coercive and discriminatory" manner in which the policy is being pursued. They argued that ranching is a private economic enterprise and that the government should not disguise compulsory land acquisition as a public interest move. The forum also voiced suspicion that the policy's true aim is to create permanent settlement zones for nomadic Fulani herdsmen, an allegation that the Federal Government and proponents of the scheme will need to address.

The SMBLF deeply suspects that the true aim of this policy is the creation of permanent settlement zones for nomadic Fulani herdsmen.

— Southern and Middle Belt Leaders ForumExpressing suspicion about the underlying motives of the ranching policy.
About this summary

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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