It was the great English naturalist and biologist – Charles Darwin, who proposed the theory of evolution through natural selection that ultimately, revolutionized our understanding of the origins of species; asserted that “it is not the strongest or the most intelligent species that survives but the one that is most responsive to change”. There is no gainsaying the fact that Ndi Igbo is the most dynamic group of people that populate this geographic space called Nigeria. The evidence is rife with the itinerant nature of the people, making her the only people willing to take calculated risk that has led to social integration and economic growth of our country, Nigeria.
However, the Igbo are emotional people, whose reactions to societal discourse are always misconstrued and/or misinterpreted. These emotions also make the people not to usually critically evaluate issues of utmost importance before reacting positively or negatively to such issues; be it in politics, governance, economy, culture or religion. Emotion is also responsible for the overreacting to issues of importance by the people, thereby causing friction between the people and the rest of other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. This is what is playing out in the age-long confusion in the farmers – herdsmen relationship in Igbo land; the need to introspectively look deeper and solve the problem once and for all.
All over social media and gatherings of people, the topic is now “Ruga has been established in Enugu”, “Fulani has taken over Enugu”, etc. In fact, one unknown writer titled “his” jaundiced piece – “Now That Ruga Is Here”. All these noise because of a Bill already in the Enugu State House of Assembly for “A Law To Establish Public Ranch Management Agency And For Connected Purposes”. Those comments were and are still made on point of ignorance, emotions I described above and political expediencies from those still bitter about their lose in the 2023 general elections, especially the Gubernatorial Elections. Before I proceed, it’s important we understand the concept of a Ranch and Ranching. A Ranch refers to a large farm where livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, horses, etc are raised. Ranches can vary widely in size and purpose, from small family – owned operations to large commercial enterprises. They often include a mix of grazing land, buildings for housing animals, and facilities for feeding, watering, and managing livestock.
On the other hand, ranching is the practice of managing and operating a ranch, which involves raising and breeding livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, horses, etc. Ranching activities include feeding and caring for the animals, managing their health, breeding and reproduction, and overseeing grazing on pastures or rangelands. Ranchers often have to handle various tasks such as herding, branding, vaccinating, and maintaining facilities like barns, fences, and watering systems. Ranching can be a traditional family – owned business or a large – scale commercial enterprise depending on the size and goals of the operation.
Putting it in proper perspective for layman’s understanding, it is like any other business venture embarked upon by entrepreneurs and investors; not minding if such an entrepreneur or investor has adequate knowledge or not of the business. What is required of the investor is to open the business and employ capable hands to manage the business, giving his/her terms and conditions of service. I know people who own big poultry farms, but don’t know how to manage it. They rather employed personnel who are doing the job of management. Another description to equate this scenario is a situation where an individual or a developer gets a piece of land to build a house, stalls, or an Estate; after which another individual in need of such facility comes to rent as a shop owner or for residence. The owner (landlord) gives its terms and conditions to the proposed tenant, which when such conditions are acceptable leads to the signing of necessary documents between the landlord and the tenant(s), before such facility will be put into use by the tenants.
What then is the fuss over this Ranching Bill regulation body by the Enugu State House of Assembly? The questions begging for answers from those who are bent on retarding the growth of Enugu State by insisting on the maintaining the status quo of open grazing with its attendant crisis with our local people are: 1) Must every mention of cattle business be attributed to only the Fulani? 2) Can’t an Igbo entrepreneur own a Ranch; manage or employ people to do so? 3) Can’t a community, town, village or group of individuals’ set-up a corporate body to own, manage or employ people to manage a Ranch, or let it out? Those with discerning and free minds already know the answers to those questions are in the affirmative. The objectives of the Bill are to:
a. Promote a holistic and end-to-end approach to the livestock farming value chain;
b. Ensure good health and bio-security management practices;
c. Prevent, control and manage the spread of animal diseases;
d. Protect the environment from degradation and pollution;
e. Optimize the use of land resources in the face of overstretched land and increasing population;
f. Create a conducive environment for large scale crop production;
g. Ensure security of lives and property and prevent killings, sexual molestation and clashes between arable farmers and pastoralists, herders and rustlers; and
h. Reduce incidence of road accidents caused by open rearing and grazing of livestock.
The Bill, in clarifying glare areas explicitly defined some of the concepts, some of which is expedient I repeat them here:
a. *Ranch* means a secured area of land used for nurturing, grazing and rearing of livestock. This definition is in sync with our explanation above.
b. *Permit* means the ranching permit issued under this Law (A Law To Establish Public Ranch Management Agency And For Connected Purposes) for purpose of setting up and running a ranch. Meaning one must acquire a permit before operating a ranch in Enugu State, just like other business ventures.
c. *Personal Ranch* means an enclosed area used by the owner of such area to contain livestock that is strictly for personal consumption and not for commercial purposes.
d. *Private Ranch* means a ranch owned and operated by a person other than the Agency established by this Law upon the grant of a permit to own and operate such a ranch by the Agency.
e. *Public Ranch* means a ranch owned and operated by the Agency established by this Law. Meaning, a ranch owned by the Enugu State Government.
This Bill, if passed into Law by the Governor of Enugu State, Barr Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah has achieved two major things: one, there is not only an established law banning open grazing in the State, but infusing the needed political will to criminalize open grazing; and two, the law now requires all those involved in cattle rearing to stop forthwith open grazing of cows in the State with its attendant destruction of farmlands, crops, properties and human lives. Part VI: Offences, Penalties and Legal Proceedings of the Bill highlighted and clarified this assertion in Section 27, subsection 1, 2, 3, and 4; of which I have to recreate some here:
i. Any Herder, Herders or group of herders who graze, herd or rear cattle or livestock outside the permitted ranches after the commencement of this law shall be guilty of an offence.
ii. Any person or persons found conveying livestock on foot within or across urban centres, rural settlement or any part of the State in contravention of this Law is guilty of an offence.
I repeat, what then is the fuss over this excellent piece of legislation if not politics and emotions. We cry and demand for decentralization of our Federal structure, but frown when some of our leaders with the vision is embarking on that. Enugu State became the first State to have her own Electricity regulatory body because the State House of Assembly was swift enough to process the Bill that established the Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC). In no distant time, the dividends of that swiftness will materialize in steady power supply because the Governor has promised to do an independent power plant using our abundant resources of Coal and Natural Gas. The EERC Law also opened Enugu State electricity market to willing investors in that sector. We ought to by now be appreciating the Enugu State House of Assembly and the initiator of this Bill for such foresightedness and vision in creating conducive environment where businesses will thrive, attract more investors in the livestock value chain, and create employment opportunities for our teeming unemployed youths.
Ndi Igbo are very intelligent people in all ramifications, but we sometimes lack the patience to interrogate issues before going public to criticize or condemn. With this Bill, and the presence of the political will to implementing it, the issue of killings associated with herdsmen and rural farmers will be a thing of the past. It will now afford the people to take anybody seen in the farms or forests as pure criminal(s); QED. It will also afford the people to reach personal agreement with businessmen and investors in the livestock value chain, and terminate such agreement whenever there is a breach. The various communities now have the legal backing to chase away any unwanted elements in their forests and farmlands. It will also afford the various security agencies the opportunities to set their priories and binoculars aright, and easily track perpetrators of crimes, especially those related to farmers and herdsmen.
Ndi Enugu State should rather pressure the Governor, Barr Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah to expeditiously sign the Bill into Law and ensure its implementation. Let’s not forget that a good leader takes the people to where they want to be, but a great leader takes them to where they ought and should be. We are on a great sea of discovering our true potential as a people, with Barr Peter Mbah as the captain. He needs our support and sacrifices to attaining those objectives. Let us shun political bickering and armchair criticism; it will rather retard our growth than expedite our development. In the words of William Shakespeare; “there is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries”. On such a full sea are we now afloat; and we must take the current when it serves, or lose our entire ventures.
_Ability writes from Achara Layout, Enugu._