Human rights lawyer, Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, has countered the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Christopher Musa, warning that any attempt by the Nigerian government to impose ranching on states is unconstitutional and a veiled attempt to revive the controversial RUGA policy.
Ejimakor made the statement in reaction to comments by the CDS who recently advocated for the establishment of ranches across the country to address the persistent herder-farmer crisis.
Some media reports quoted the CDS as calling for the creation of ranches as a way of stemming the tide of farmer-herder clashes across the country.
The defence chief was quoted as saying on Wednesday, “In order to address insecurity, two things are basic. We must be able to control the movement of animals across the region. In doing that, it is important we create ranches.
“Ranches will do a great deal in securing our control and will prevent the conflict between the farmer-herders clashes.
“Secondly, we must learn to stop killing animals crossing into farms. What is done is you arrest the animals and compensations are made.
“If we are able to address these two things, over 65% of challenges we have against farmers will be dealt with.”
Reacting to the advocacy of the military chief, Ejimakor in a brief statement on Thursday warned that such a move amounts to nationalising a private agricultural practice and would infringe on the constitutional rights of states and citizens.
“It’s unconstitutional to nationalise ‘nonindigenous’ RANCHING or force it on States/ citizens that do not desire it,” Ejimakor stated.
He emphasised that ranching, like other forms of animal husbandry, is a private enterprise and should be driven by market forces, not by government imposition.
“Ranching is merely another form of animal husbandry that should be left to market forces (not government) to decide,” he said.
Ejimakor further argued that any Nigerian government push for nationwide ranching infrastructure could be a disguised reintroduction of the rejected RUGA (Rural Grazing Area) policy.
“Ranching should not be a subterfuge for RUGA,” he warned.
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