No Grazing Routes To Recover In Southern Nigeria — Falana SAN

GRAZING routes never existed in Southern Nigeria, and there is
nothing to recover, leading rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, said at
the weekend. He was reacting to news report that the Federal
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was intent on
recovering grazing routes for pastoralists across
Nigeria. 

The senior advocate of Nigeria, reasoned federal authorities
can’t possibly be searching for grazing routes to recover in the
Southern part of the country, because none ever existed. He also
told Sunday Tribune that contrary to President Muhammadu Buhari’s
claim, there is no gazette, establishing grazing routes for herders
in Nigeria. 

According to him, “they (ministry officials) can’t be searching
for grazing routes in the South, because Southern Nigeria never had
them. There is also no gazette establishing grazing routes in
Nigeria. What they are implementing is the National Livestock
Transformation Plan (NLTP), which has commenced in four states of
Kaduna, Nasarawa, Borno, and Niger. 

“Kano is doing its own under a different name. Under the scheme,
even schools are to be built for the children of the pastoralists.
Let nobody deceive anyone. There had never been grazing routes in
Southern Nigeria, even when the regions existed.” 

When asked if he had any idea of where the routes, being sought
for recovery, could be, Falana said what the North had, during the
region system, was the Grazing Reserves Law of 1964, only
applicable to the Northern Region. The law, already supplanted by
the Land Use Act, had no general application because Western,
Midwestern and Eastern, had ranches for animal husbandry, he
explained. 

President Buhari stoked fresh controversy on the herders’ crisis
in Nigeria, when he publicly said he had directed the Attorney
General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami,
SAN to dust up an alleged gazette, allocating grazing routes to
herders across the country. 

He was immediately repudiated by reputable lawyers, including
Falana and senior citizens, mainly of Southern origin, telling him,
such routes never existed in Southern Nigeria. Southern governors
also spoke in unison, telling the President, their collective
decision to ban open grazing, was irrevocable. 

In what would amount to sustaining a streak of presidential
defiance, report emerged at the weekend that federal authorities
aren’t backing down on the controversial project that has ignited
the North/South usual crossfire, since Buhari became
president. 

Saturday Punch first reported that the recovery would go on,
despite half of the country, decrying it. 

The news medium quoted the acting Director, Animal Husbandry
Department, of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,
Winnie Lai-Solarin as saying, “There are some stock routes that we
have across the country and in the past, we had monuments along
these stock routes, particularly the primary stock
routes. 

“And in the course of farming or other human activities along
those stock routes, the monuments were altered, but we know where
they are. So we are saying that some of them, can be
retraced. 

“And this is particularly for areas that are not encroached upon
as of now. The pastoralists know the routes and on some of those
routes, you will see the pieces of the monuments along them. “So
for those that are not encroached upon and are not in conflict
zones, we will go ahead to retrace and guide the pastoralists along
them. We didn’t get to where we are today in one day and so we
cannot expect that every pastoralist should suddenly start ranching
now. 

“Some would still have to move but let’s keep the movement as
safe as possible and in areas that are not conflict zones. That is
what I am saying. We are not going to retrace stock routes where
there are infrastructures that are for the public good.” 

In an earlier interview, former Attorney General of old Ondo
State and lead counsel to President Buhari at election tribunal in
2019, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, explained that whatever law
established the alleged grazing routes, is now obsolete and
completely nullified by the operational Law Use Act. 

He said, “When you look at Nigeria as a whole, the law on land
matters, is the Land Use Act and it is entrenched in the 1999
Constitution. The law vests all powers on land issues, all over the
country, in governors and not the federal government. 

“In respect of land and the use, federal government, can’t
legislate on how land is controlled and distributed in any part of
Nigeria. Even if we assume, without conceding that laws for grazing
routes made under the Northern Region of Nigeria, covered
everywhere, the Land Use Act has superseded both routes and the law
establishing them. 

“Also, it is one thing for the President, to direct, it is
another thing for the Attorney General of the Federation, to
implement a law which doesn’t exist. He can’t enforce a
non-existing law.”

GRAZING routes never existed in Southern Nigeria, and there is
nothing to recover, leading rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, said at
the weekend. He was reacting to news report that the Federal
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was intent on
recovering grazing routes for pastoralists across
Nigeria. 

The senior advocate of Nigeria, reasoned federal authorities
can’t possibly be searching for grazing routes to recover in the
Southern part of the country, because none ever existed. He also
told Sunday Tribune that contrary to President Muhammadu Buhari’s
claim, there is no gazette, establishing grazing routes for herders
in Nigeria. 

According to him, “they (ministry officials) can’t be searching
for grazing routes in the South, because Southern Nigeria never had
them. There is also no gazette establishing grazing routes in
Nigeria. What they are implementing is the National Livestock
Transformation Plan (NLTP), which has commenced in four states of
Kaduna, Nasarawa, Borno, and Niger. 

“Kano is doing its own under a different name. Under the scheme,
even schools are to be built for the children of the pastoralists.
Let nobody deceive anyone. There had never been grazing routes in
Southern Nigeria, even when the regions existed.” 

When asked if he had any idea of where the routes, being sought
for recovery, could be, Falana said what the North had, during the
region system, was the Grazing Reserves Law of 1964, only
applicable to the Northern Region. The law, already supplanted by
the Land Use Act, had no general application because Western,
Midwestern and Eastern, had ranches for animal husbandry, he
explained. 

President Buhari stoked fresh controversy on the herders’ crisis
in Nigeria, when he publicly said he had directed the Attorney
General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami,
SAN to dust up an alleged gazette, allocating grazing routes to
herders across the country. 

He was immediately repudiated by reputable lawyers, including
Falana and senior citizens, mainly of Southern origin, telling him,
such routes never existed in Southern Nigeria. Southern governors
also spoke in unison, telling the President, their collective
decision to ban open grazing, was irrevocable. 

In what would amount to sustaining a streak of presidential
defiance, report emerged at the weekend that federal authorities
aren’t backing down on the controversial project that has ignited
the North/South usual crossfire, since Buhari became
president. 

Saturday Punch first reported that the recovery would go on,
despite half of the country, decrying it. 

The news medium quoted the acting Director, Animal Husbandry
Department, of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,
Winnie Lai-Solarin as saying, “There are some stock routes that we
have across the country and in the past, we had monuments along
these stock routes, particularly the primary stock
routes. 

“And in the course of farming or other human activities along
those stock routes, the monuments were altered, but we know where
they are. So we are saying that some of them, can be
retraced. 

“And this is particularly for areas that are not encroached upon
as of now. The pastoralists know the routes and on some of those
routes, you will see the pieces of the monuments along them. “So
for those that are not encroached upon and are not in conflict
zones, we will go ahead to retrace and guide the pastoralists along
them. We didn’t get to where we are today in one day and so we
cannot expect that every pastoralist should suddenly start ranching
now. 

“Some would still have to move but let’s keep the movement as
safe as possible and in areas that are not conflict zones. That is
what I am saying. We are not going to retrace stock routes where
there are infrastructures that are for the public good.” 

In an earlier interview, former Attorney General of old Ondo
State and lead counsel to President Buhari at election tribunal in
2019, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, explained that whatever law
established the alleged grazing routes, is now obsolete and
completely nullified by the operational Law Use Act. 

He said, “When you look at Nigeria as a whole, the law on land
matters, is the Land Use Act and it is entrenched in the 1999
Constitution. The law vests all powers on land issues, all over the
country, in governors and not the federal government. 

“In respect of land and the use, federal government, can’t
legislate on how land is controlled and distributed in any part of
Nigeria. Even if we assume, without conceding that laws for grazing
routes made under the Northern Region of Nigeria, covered
everywhere, the Land Use Act has superseded both routes and the law
establishing them. 

“Also, it is one thing for the President, to direct, it is
another thing for the Attorney General of the Federation, to
implement a law which doesn’t exist. He can’t enforce a
non-existing law.”