Buhari suspends Ruga settlement plan for herders after backlash

The presidency had released a statement on Sunday, June 30, 2019 to assure the public that constructing Ruga settlements in states would stop the roaming of cattle herders with the attendant clashes with farmers.

For years, nomadic herders have clashed with local farming communities over the access and control of lands. The wave of killings associated with this conflict skyrocketed last year with around 2,000 deaths recorded.

A majority of the attacks were blamed on the roaming herders, tagged invaders, who are usually, but not exclusively, of the Fulani extraction.

The presidency's statement was in reaction to the backlash that greeted the announcement by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Umar, that the settlements would put an end to the conflict.

However, the presidency's statement failed to ease criticism of the plan, and it has now been suspended by the Federal Government.

Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi, announced the suspension after a meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) committee, chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, in Abuja on Wednesday, July 3.

He said, "We are aware that today that Mr President has suspended the implementation of Ruga programme, initiated and being implemented by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, because it is not consistent with the NEC and Federal Government approved National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) which has programmes of rehabilitation of displaced IDPs, resulting from the crisis and also development of ranches in any willing state of the federation."

NEC backs implementation of National Livestock Transformation Plan

Umahi further noted that NEC is more interested in the implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan which he said the committee discussed on Wednesday.

He said, "We the NEC committee on farmers/herders crisis under the chairmanship of His Excellency Mr Vice President met today to deliberate on the approved programme of National Economic Council (NEC) and Federal Government, tagged, 'the National Livestock Transformation Programme'.

"The National Livestock Transformation Plan, its beauty is that what NEC and FG approved is a voluntary programme to all the 36 states who may like to participate. So, it is not compulsory, it is for any state that is willing, will key into the programme.

"Any state that is interested in this programme is required to bring up a development plan that is keyed towards the implementation in line with our own programme here that is unique to his state based on the challenges that he has in respect of the crisis. That's the decision of this committee."

NLTP is a N179 billion 10-year initiative (2018-2027) that champions ranching as the way forward for cattle rearing in the country.

The plan, presented by the National Economic Council (NEC) in June 2018, recommends that cattle herders are expected to be registered with cooperatives for the purpose of the ranching scheme.

These cooperatives will then be able to get rental agreements for land from state governments and also benefit from ranch resources on several terms including loans, grants, and subsidies.

The funding of the plan from the federal government and state governments is expected to last for the first three years in the pilot phase for a total of N70 billion while private sector interests and investments between the third and tenth year is expected to be in excess of N100 billion.

ALSO READ: How FG wants to put a permanent end to herders-farmers crisis with N179bn plan

In response to the outrage caused by the announcement of the Ruga settlements last week, Osinbajo publicly dismissed claims that the plan is associated with NLTP.

Ruga controversy

The Ruga settlements were set up to accommodate animal farmers, not just cattle herders, and provided with 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.

Sokoto, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Kogi, Taraba, Katsina, Plateau, Kebbi, Zamfara and Niger were listed as pilot states.

The presidency had called for leaders to not politicise the Ruga initiative in its Sunday statement, assuring the public that there is no plan to seize state land, colonise territory or impose Ruga on any part of the federation.

However, many alleged that there were sinister ethnic motives behind the settlements especially because President Buhari is Fulani.

Even though the conflict predates the 76-year-old, who was first inaugurated in 2015, his administration has received overwhelming flak as it's widely believed that the situation has worsened because the president is showing favour to the herders.