Grazing routes: Miyetti Allah, Afenifere differ as states, farmers tackle FG

The digitisation and mapping of grazing reserves and routes across the country by the Federal Government has reignited a fresh row in states, triggering diverse views between the Pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, and the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria.

Also, while farmers and stakeholders in some states welcomed the initiative, others opposed it, advising the government to halt it.

The Minister of Livestock Development, Muktar Maiha, recently revealed that the government leveraged technology to digitise grazing routes and animal identification systems to curb cattle rustling and enhance livestock management.

Maiha, who disclosed this while responding to questions from journalists during the opening of the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing in Abuja, said, “Already, we have digitised the cattle routes in this country.

“We have digitised available dams and grazing reserves. So at the click of a button, we are leveraging technology to ensure that we can see whatever is happening in all the grazing reserves nationwide.”

He further revealed that the government had taken significant steps in mapping out all grazing reserves nationwide. A total of 417 reserves, both gazetted and non-gazetted, covering over five million hectares of land, have been identified.

He said these reserves would be equipped with the necessary infrastructure, including feed and fodder, water resources, veterinary clinics, schools for herders’ families, and other amenities.

Some agriculture and livestock stakeholders welcomed the development, saying it would enhance livestock industry management, security, and infrastructure.

However, the initiative reignited the debate on the ban against open grazing in the country’s southern regions. Afenifere, the Pan-Yoruba cultural group, and cattle breeders under the aegis of MACBAN are opposed to each other over what the Federal Government’s move means for open grazing.

The National Secretary of MACBAN, Aliyu Gotomo, in a phone interview, described the digitisation of grazing reserves as a “good development” that would improve livestock management. He, however, noted challenges, including encroachment on grazing lands and outdated livestock census data.

“When the grazing reserves and routes are digitised, they will be easily managed. However, there are a lot of challenges with getting them mapped. A good size of the grazing reserves have been encroached, and I don’t think they have been recovered,” Gotomo said.

He stressed the need for updated livestock data, improved infrastructure, and facilities such as watering points, veterinary centres, and market access. “Proper livestock data is required. The pastoralists that inhabit particular grazing reserves have to be known,” Gotomo added.

The planned digitisation has also raised concerns over the enforcement of open grazing bans in parts of the South. While MACBAN insisted that such bans are “tribalistic” and ineffective, Yoruba socio-political group Afenifere maintained that open grazing must end to prevent farmer-herder clashes.

Gotomo argued that anti-open grazing laws in states like Benue have failed to address the root causes of the conflict. “The reality is that all the open grazing bans are not helping matters. They have to be amended. They are tribalistic and they are not good laws,” the MACBAN national secretary asserted, calling for dialogue between affected parties.

He added that digitising grazing reserves would prevent herders from straying onto farmlands. “With digitisation, we are not going to enter anybody’s farm. We know our routes, we know our grazing land,” he assured.

However, Afenifere dismissed MACBAN’s stance, insisting that open grazing is outdated and disruptive to host communities.

Afenifere National Publicity Secretary Jare Ajayi, in a phone interview, told The PUNCH that ranching remains the only viable solution, stating, “We have moved past open grazing. Any attempt to reintroduce it in any form is unacceptable,” the source said.

Ajayi-Kadir argued that the extant laws of states such as Benue and Kwara do not recognise grazing routes, adding that the digitisation by the Federal Government did not seem to align with those laws.

When The PUNCH contacted Igbo socio-cultural group Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo to seek its position, its National Publicity Secretary, Ezechukwu Ezechi, said the group would refrain from commenting on the matter.

He said the group had yet to access a working document that would inform its position on the subject.

But the President of the Commercial Dairy Ranchers Association of Nigeria, Muhammadu Abubakar, commended the initiative, noting that the world is shifting from analogue to digital operations.

“Whenever the phrase digitisation comes up, I think the instinct is for one to give it a try. No matter what, it is a step forward, not backward,” he stated.

Similarly, the Chairman of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Agriculture and Allied Group, Tunde Banjoko, praised the plan, describing it as a progressive move for the sector.

“It can also help with some security in cases of cattle rustling. If we have to go the digital route and all practitioners stick to it, it can help reduce the farmer-herder clashes because the practitioners will have to stick to the routes mapped out for them,” Banjoko remarked.

AFAN reacts

The National President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Kabir Kebram, expressed full support for the clear demarcation of routes for herders to prevent conflicts between farmers and cattle breeders.

“We are 100 per cent in support of it. It is the way to go. You need to know exactly what the routes are so that nobody will impede on the routes. So there will not be any conflict between the herders and the farmers or anybody else,” he said.

Kebram explained that the lack of clearly marked routes often leads to clashes.

States, farmers speak

The Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Ekiti State, Mr Adebola Alagbada, opposed the idea of mapping out grazing routes in states.

Alagbada said, “I don’t support the issue of grazing routes. I don’t think there is anything like grazing routes. It is as good as going back to the dark ages.”

The AFAN state chairman said that rather than contemplating grazing routes, “it should be the issue of establishing grazing centres otherwise known as ranches.”

He added, “If you are talking of grazing routes, you cannot establish it without affecting the farmers. Let us go back to the basics; let us establish grazing centres in each senatorial district in the states.”

Farmers in Benue State rejected the mapping out of grazing routes in the state. The immediate past chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria in the state and now the State Coordinator for Sustainable Agriculture, Aondongu Shaaku, said farmers in Benue are going into mechanised farming, which requires more land.

He noted that the old grazing routes have been taken over by development and advised that armed herders should rather embrace grazing.

Shaaku said, “We (farmers) are not prepared for that (grazing routes) and we will stand against it. Those routes have been overtaken by development.

“Benue farmers are going mechanized, and the land is not increasing; rather they should establish ranches for the herders and we farmers will grow the food and sell to them.”

No state government official in Benue was ready to comment on the issue.

When contacted, the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Prof Moses Ogbaji, after listening to the question, said he was in a meeting.

Also, the Technical Adviser to the Governor on Media, Publicity and Strategic Communication, Solomon Iorpev, did not answer his phone when called.

In Bauchi State, the government expressed its readiness for grazing routes. Governor Bala Mohammed recently spoke on the need to revive grazing routes and other infrastructure for livestock development in Bauchi.

Also, the Nasarawa State chapter of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria pledged to give the needed support to the grazing routes.

The Chairman of AFAN in the state, Isaac Kigbu, said the herders/farmers clashes had been a great concern to the association for many years.

He said, “The Nasarawa State chapter of AFAN will be willing to give the needed support to the federal and state governments to tackle the issues of herders and farmers in the state.

“These challenges between farmers and herders had led to the untimely death of farmers in the state, and it is really a sad situation. Addressing these issues has been my desire because I want our farmers to return to their farmlands without any restraints during the rainy season in order to tackle food scarcity in the state.”

On his part, the Director of Livestock Development in Kwara State, Dr Ahmed Umar, said the creation of stock routes for herdsmen would solve a lot of crises between farmers and herdsmen in the state.

“Although the Federal Government has not informed us in Kwara State of its plan to map out routes for livestock, Kwara State will support the mapping of the routes because it will prevent animals from grazing on other people’s farms and also prevent animals from moving on roads meant for vehicles to move.

“It will solve a lot of crises between the farmers and herdsmen which we usually experience in the state,” the director said.

On their part, the Cocoa and Plantain Farmers Association of Nigeria urged the Federal Government to shelve the plan to avoid another round of clashes between the herders and farmers in the country.

The President of the association, Mr Ayodele Ojo, said, “This is another ruga they want to introduce, we don’t want. If we allow it, there is no way we won’t be having clashes between our members and the herders again. We don’t want insecurity to occur in our farms again.

“At least we have been having relative peace on the farms nowadays, we can go to the farms without any form of harassment or attack from the criminal herdsmen. But mapping out grazing routes would renew the crisis, and we don’t want that. President Tinubu has been trying for us, but he should not bring grazing routes.”

But the Director-General, Media to the Katsina State Governor, Mallam Maiwada Danmallam, said the state is open to embracing any Federal Government initiatives aimed at bringing lasting peace between farmers and herders.

He said Katsina is one of the states majorly affected by the conflicts of space between farmers and herders; hence, it will embrace any initiative to restore normalcy and sanity in land administration for peace to reign.

He made this known while answering questions on whether Katsina would embrace the Federal Government’s recent initiative on the digital routes mapping across the country.

According to him, “Digital mapping of grazing routes is an innovative idea to end the seemingly intractable conflicts between farmers and herders.”

“From ancient times, Katsina State has had grazing routes which used to take care of the needs of both farmers and herders — two key economic aspects of the state. Subsequent bastardization and sustained abuse of these routes gave birth to conflicts between farmers and herders who are tied in a perpetual competition for grazing and farming spaces.

“Katsina State, one of the States majorly affected by these conflicts of space between farmers and herders will, therefore, embrace without inhibitions any initiative by the Federal Government to restore normalcy and sanity in land administration for peace to reign and to achieve the needed atmosphere for development.

“This is, however, with the only caveat that any initiative must be balanced and reflect fairness and the general development of the State”, Maiwada said.

Also, the Chairman of Southwest Commodity Farmers Organisation, Ogun State, Mr Adebayo Adeogun, said the federal government’s decision to map out the grazing routes across the country is a welcome development.

Adeogun said, “This is a welcome development because once there are designated grazing routes, it will be easier to apprehend and spot erring herders.

“I think the farmers in Ogun State will appreciate this because it will also allow us to monitor the herders since there is a designated route, and any recalcitrant ones among them could be isolated. It will help a lot to curb the incidences of herders grazing and destroying what the farmers had laboured to plant.”

Similarly, the Secretary of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Ogun State Chapter, Abiodun Ogunjinmi, hailed this move of the government, saying that it is one effective way to reduce the frequent farmers/herders clashes

Additional reports by Peter Dada, Faith Maji, Bankole Taiwo