The Problem with Ruga Settlement
Scene One:
The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Mohammadu Umar, says the federal government has started to establish ‘Ruga Settlements’ for herdsmen in 12 of the 36 states as a pilot scheme for a nationwide programme designed to curb farmer-herder clashes.
Scene Two:
Following general uproar, the General Secretary of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN), Baba Uthman Ngelzarma, reveals that “This Ruga settlement model is a component part of the livestock development and transformation plan that is being implemented under the Office of the Vice-President.”
The Office of Vice President faults the statement by MACBAN: “Contrary to claims reported in sections of the media, Ruga settlements are not being supervised by the Office of the Vice President. Ruga is different from the National Livestock Transformation Plan”, tweeted Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande.
A 13th March letter signed by Osinbajo’s Chief of Staff, Ade Ipaye and addressed to the Aku Uka of Wukari in Taraba State becomes public. It introduced “Dr Kyantirimam Ukwen who will be conducting the mapping assessment in Taraba” as part of a federal government “strategy for tackling the farmer-herder crises.”
Apparently uncomfortable with media reports regarding the letter, Osinbajo’s office again pushes back with another statement from Akande that “as the said letter itself shows, the reference is to the National Livestock Transformation Plan, as different from RUGA. The two are not to be confused: the one is different from the other.”
A new letter dated 21st May this year, signed by Dr Hussain Adamu, Director Procurement, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development surfaces. Addressed to a contractor in Abuja, it states in part, “I am directed to inform you that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its meeting held on 8th May, 2019 approved the award of contract for the construction of 8 Nos. Ruga Infrastructure with Sanitary Facilities (Red Brick structure) each in Taraba State as detailed in the attached to your company at the sum of N166,336,380.00 (One hundred and sixty-six million, three hundred and thirty thousand, three hundred and eighty Naira)”.
Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu confirms that ‘Ruga Settlement’, is part of the federal government policy “to settle migrant pastoral families simply means rural settlement in which animal farmers, not just cattle herders, will be settled in an organized place with provision of necessary and adequate basic amenities such as schools, hospitals, road networks, vet clinics, markets and manufacturing entities that will process and add value to meats and animal products.”
Following a meeting with Osinbajo, Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State reads a statement announcing the suspension of the ‘Ruga Settlements’ project credited to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development “because it is not consistent with the NEC and FG approved National Livestock Transformation plan...”
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The suspension yesterday by President Muhammadu Buhari of the controversial ‘Ruga Settlements’ project was the right thing to do. It doesn’t matter how noble the intention was, for such a project to be conceived and implemented, it is only consensus that could have created a sense of ownership which would then lead to sustainability. Yet it was evident that even within the federal government, there was no agreement among important stakeholders about what exactly they were trying to do. And the moment many of the southern governors, including members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) realised they were being traded a lemon for an orange, the idea was dead on arrival.
Before I make my point, let me state that there are very few issues that I have interrogated more on this page than the challenge of Nomadism in Nigeria, essentially because we have a Fulani settlement called ‘Gaa Okanla’ in my village that dates back to more than a hundred years. Most of the current inhabitants are my contemporaries and friends. I have also in recent years visited Fulani settlements in Sokoto, Kebbi and Katsina States and I have shared my experiences and the economic opportunities we are squandering. Following a previous intervention on this subject in 2016 in a three-part column titled, ‘Herdsmen and the Killing Field’, a former World Bank staff in Nigeria sent me a mail, part of which I ran.
It is worth repeating: “I like the part of your article on ‘Gaa Okanla’ although you left out the fact that Baba Okanla and his children probably speak only Yoruba and Fulfulde. These types of settlements also exist in several communities in the South-east. I know for a fact that there is a major settlement of Fulani herdsmen in Adada-Nkpologu-Adani-Iggah axis with other minor settlements in AwguNkanu-Abakaliki axis all in Enugu state. They have lived peacefully for years. The Federal Government under a World Bank assisted Second Livestock Development Project (SLDP 1987-1995) established two Ndama Cattle Ranches in Adada in Southeast and another one at Fashola, a town not far from Iseyin in Oyo State in the South-west. Ndama are trypanotolerant cattle (that have some resistance to the disease Tryponosomosis caused by Tsetse flies) which were imported from Senegal. A credit model financed by the then NACB of THISDAY Newspapers Limited. five heifers (young female cows) and a bull was designed and disbursed to beneficiaries in these zones only. Most of the beneficiaries were from the communities I mentioned above. Obviously there will be exchange of labour and technologies between the Fulanis and the indigenous credit beneficiaries. These are some of the changes in cattle ownership in Nigeria that should be encouraged…”
If such a scheme worked in the past, the question to ask is what has changed? I can quickly point to two things. The first is the growing ethno-religious prejudices being fuelled by toxic politics and the manipulation of our differences. In the second part of my ‘Killing Field’ series three years ago, I started with an anecdote of what happened early in 2012 when I took my son to the birthday of a primary school classmate of his at Maitama Amusement Park, Abuja where I noticed a familiar face. As I muttered almost to myself, “is that not Mrs. Maryam Abacha?” my son (then 8-year old), replied in the affirmative. “Yes, that is his grandmother. His grandfather was General Sani Abacha that you wrote about in your book.” Although I didn’t say anything to that, my son then added with the innocence of a child: “They say his grandfather was a very wicked man. But he is not wicked. He is a good person.”
I will never forget that conversation and the lesson taught me by an eight-year old about how we judge others, not by their actions but by the family or ethnic group they belong to or the religion they practice. While it beggars belief that a president being accused of ‘Fulanisation’ would handle such a sensitive issue carelessly, there were also people who jumped into the controversy simply to promote discord, based on some petty prejudices. That explains why what started as an economic/ecological problem has now assumed ethno-religious dimensions with ancient grievances being exhumed for hate mongering on social media.
The second answer can be characterized as insincerity of leadership, mixed messages and incoherent policy formulation and implementation. As Nigerians were told last week by the presidency, the reason for the decision on ‘Ruga Setlement’ is to “stop roaming of cattle herders with the attendant clashes with farmers”. Meanwhile, the same presidency had claimed on different occasions in the past that the herdsmen involved in clashes with farmers are foreigners. Besides, as the law stands in Nigeria today, the rights to land are vested in the governors hence the presidential statement that “government at the centre has gazetted lands in all states of the federation” for Ruga Settlement also raised serious questions.
There is a short piece circulating on WhatsApp credited to a man who claimed to be the last farm manager of Oodua Farms Cattle Ranch at Akunu Akoko (8061 hectares of farm lands) that has five big dams, now abandoned. “We have over 16,000 hectares of land for cattle ranch solely owned by Oodua Investment”, established by the Western Nigeria Government in the First Republic, according to the man.