Malami Urges FG To Create Agency For Herdsmen’s Activities

The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), on Tuesday charged President Muhammadu Buhari government to creat agency that will regulate the activities of herdsmen.

The minister stated this while speaking at the Peace, Unity, and Security Lecture Series at the ECOWAS main auditorium, Abuja on Tuesday.

Malami noted that the farmer-herders crisis has become a serious issue and needs urgent actions to tackle it.

He also said there was a need to revitalise the Nomadic Education Commission.

He stated, “Nigeria is predominately agricultural in nature and by geography. To that extent, there is constant mobility of herders across the different belts of Nigeria. It is perhaps time to consider the setting-up of a commission for pastoralism regulated by law.”

“This might provide recipes for resolving protracted farmer-herder conflicts. The commission may even engage in or facilitate in-depth analytical studies with a view to providing lasting solutions for the benefit of people and the country.”

He also called for the “revamping of the activities of the Nomadic Education Commission with a view to complementing the efforts of the government in resolving the farmer-herder clashes.”

The AGF also restated the commitment of the Buhari administration in supporting initiatives and programmes that would help resolve the lingering farmer-herder crises in the country.

Malami argued that some of the ways for a peaceful Nigeria include strict adherence to the rule of law, respecting the sanctity of the fundamental human rights in all ramifications, including freedom of movement and the right of citizens to stay at whatever part of the country they choose to and other provisions as contained in Chapter 4 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria remain fulcrum for a peaceful society.

He stated, “The better approach towards resolving the crisis over the short, medium and long terms is to directly involve the stakeholders in coming up with solutions at the conception, implementation and monitoring faces.”

Malami also recommended the creation of regulated grazing reserves to replace the “Burtali” or “Hurumi” pastoral system.

He called for the “intensive enlightenment to livestock breeders on the need for sedentary farming and transhumance agriculture as a complementary economic process to nomadic farming.”

Malami took the opportunity to call for the provision of boreholes in remote grazing locations, subsidised veterinary care, and mobile ambulatory services for surgeries and other medical interventions for livestock.

He said there was also a need for the provision of infrastructure – social amenities, educational facilities, and cattle markets at central locations to accelerate nomadic settlements.