Fuel prices in Nigeria are expected to climb further as Brent crude prices surged above $81 per barrel on Monday, marking a four-month high. The increase follows the imposition of broader U.S. sanctions on Russian oil exports, raising global supply concerns and driving up costs.

Brent crude futures rose by $1.48 (1.86%) to $81.24 per barrel after reaching an intraday high of $81.49, the highest since August 27, 2024. Similarly, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed to $78.10 per barrel, reflecting a 2% increase. Both benchmarks have gained over 6% since January 8.

The U.S. Treasury’s expanded sanctions, announced on Friday, targeted Russian oil producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, as well as 183 vessels linked to Russian crude exports. These measures are expected to significantly disrupt Russia’s oil shipments, particularly to major importers like China and India, pushing demand—and prices—higher across other markets, including Africa.

Impact on Nigeria

The latest price surge is set to impact fuel prices in Nigeria, as the nation depends heavily on imported refined petroleum products. Local fuel depots, which already saw selective price increases last week, are expected to implement further hikes.

Olatide Jeremiah, CEO of petroleumprice.ng, explained that higher crude prices directly influence the cost of refined products such as diesel and petrol. “As Brent crude surpasses $81, importers will face higher procurement and shipping costs, leading to inevitable price adjustments,” he said.

Analysts Warn of Prolonged Price Pressure

RBC Capital analysts noted that the new sanctions will remove significant volumes of Russian crude from global markets, particularly affecting exports to Asia. The sanctions cover tankers involved in shipping approximately 1.5 million barrels per day of Russian oil, including 750,000 barrels per day to China and 350,000 barrels per day to India.

Traders and analysts predict that China and India will now turn to crude sources in the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas, further straining global oil supplies and increasing costs. This could lead to higher shipping expenses for oil imports, which will ripple through markets like Nigeria.

Rising Fuel Prices at Home

Nigerian residents and businesses are already bracing for higher fuel prices after Brent crude prices hit $79.76 per barrel over the weekend. The new highs will likely exacerbate the situation, with diesel prices—already rising in Lagos depots—expected to climb further this week.

The latest developments underline the strong link between global crude prices and local fuel costs in Nigeria, highlighting the need for a more sustainable approach to managing the nation’s fuel supply and pricing mechanisms.

At least 20 people, including members of a local vigilante group, were killed in a misdirected airstrike by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State. The area is the hometown of the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.

The victims, members of the Zamfara Community Protection Guard, were reportedly struck on Saturday night, January 11, in Tungar Kara, a community where the Air Force and local defenders were responding to a terrorist attack.

A local resident, Salisu Maradun, explained that vigilantes and other residents had mobilized to defend the community and recover stolen livestock from fleeing bandits when the airstrike mistakenly hit them. “The victims came from neighboring communities in solidarity to support the attacked area,” Maradun said.

Eyewitnesses reported that at least 20 people died in the incident, with several others unaccounted for as of Sunday afternoon.

This latest incident adds to a series of airstrikes by the Nigerian Air Force that have unintentionally killed civilians. On Christmas Day 2024, 10 civilians were killed in airstrikes in Gidan Sama and Rumtuwa, neighboring communities in Sokoto State. Although the Air Force initially claimed the victims were terrorists, it later announced plans to investigate following public outrage.

According to SBM Intelligence, a pan-African consulting firm, the Nigerian Air Force conducted 17 accidental airstrikes between January 2017 and September 2024, resulting in the deaths of about 500 people.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has included such incidents as part of its ongoing investigations into alleged human rights violations by Nigerian security forces.

Attempts to reach NAF spokesperson Olusola Akinboyewa and Zamfara State Police spokesperson Yazeed Abubakar for comments were unsuccessful, as calls and messages went unanswered.

The tragic airstrike raises further concerns about the safety of civilians during military operations and the need for improved targeting measures to prevent future incidents.

Armed assailants launched an attack on a mosque in Birnin Yaro village, Zamfara state, kidnapping multiple worshippers during evening prayers on Friday. According to counter-insurgency publication Zagazola Makama, the assault was orchestrated by notorious warlord Bello Turji and his armed group.

The attackers struck during Isha prayers, forcibly moving the captured worshippers into nearby forest areas. The total number of kidnapped individuals has yet to be confirmed.

This incident marks the latest in a series of escalating kidnappings plaguing Zamfara state. Just last week, armed attackers on motorcycles raided Gana town in Zamfara, abducting 46 people, including women and children. During that attack, the assailants fired weapons indiscriminately and set several buildings ablaze.

In a similar incident this past December, gunmen kidnapped 43 people in Kakidawa, located in the Gidan Goga district of Maradun LGA. Local witnesses reported that the attackers conducted systematic house-to-house searches after sending residents fleeing with gunfire, primarily targeting women and children who were unable to escape.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine won’t reclaim all Russian-held territories – Trump adviser

It is not possible to “expel every Russian from every inch” of soil claimed by Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, incoming US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz has admitted.

Acknowledging “that reality” has become a major step toward resolving the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, Waltz told ABC News in an interview on Sunday, adding that this idea is now in the process of being accepted by Ukraine’s backers. 

“Everybody knows that this [conflict] has to end somehow diplomatically. I just don’t think it’s realistic to say we’re going to expel every Russian from every inch of Ukrainian soil. Even Crimea – President[-elect Donald] Trump has acknowledged that reality, and I think it has been a huge step forward that the entire world is acknowledging that reality,” Waltz stated.

Waltz suggested that accepting the fact that returning to Ukraine’s original post-Soviet borders is unrealistic now opens the way to addressing the question of “how do we no longer perpetuate this conflict and how… we no longer allow it to escalate in a way that drags in the entire world.”

The remarks appeared to be reminiscent of statements previously made by other close Trump allies, including his vice president, J.D. Vance. Shortly ahead of the November election, Vance suggested Kiev could end up in a situation where it decides to cede some lands to Russia. 

The stance signaled by the incoming US administration sharply contrasts with the goal repeatedly proclaimed by Kiev of regaining the entirety of its post-Soviet territory. This has been accompanied by an explicit refusal by Ukraine to engage in any meaningful negotiations with Russia. Moscow, however, regards the five formerly Ukrainian regions, including Kherson, Zaporozhye, Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as Crimea, as integral parts of its territory. 

Crimea broke away from Ukraine in the aftermath of the 2014 Maidan coup in Kiev, joining Russia via a referendum shortly thereafter. The four other regions were incorporated into Russia in late 2022 after the local population overwhelmingly backed such a move during separate referendums. Last year, Moscow demanded that Kiev pull its troops out of the areas it still controls in its former regions in order to begin the long-stalled negotiation process.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

North Korean troop fatalities and injuries exceed 3,000 in Ukraine, Seoul says

North Korean troop fatalities and injuries in Ukraine have likely exceeded 3,000, including about 300 deaths and 2,700 injuries, a South Korean lawmaker briefed by the country's spy agency said on Monday.

North Korean authorities appear to have called for its troops to commit suicide by blowing themselves up to evade capture, the lawmaker said citing the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

Captured North Korean soldiers had not shown an intention to come to South Korea, though South Korea would cooperate with Ukraine if there was a request, Yonhap news agency also reported, citing NIS.

RT/Reuters

On 22 August 2024, Olukayode Ariwoola, the penultimate Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) retired from the bench and transitioned into a published author. At a well-attended event in Abuja, the former CJN beamed at the public presentation of his autobiography. Published under the title Judging with Justice*, the book was ghost written by Olanrewaju Akinsola (the author better known as Onigegewura).

Laid out in 13 chapters and 496 pages, the author tells his story in the first 250 pages. The remainder of the book is dedicated to testimonials on the author from colleagues in the judiciary, lawyers, friends, peers, and family members.

The story reveals the son of a doting and committed dad who appears to take family and his faith seriously. Judging with Justice is a deeply personal story of a judicial figure whose rise to the highest office in his country’s judicial grease pole was as improbable as his route was unusual. The author is quite open in his disclosures about his health, including open heart surgery in London in 2016.

Ariwoola became a lawyer at 27 and a judge at 38. In the eleven years that separated his enrollment at the bar from his elevation to the Bench, Ariwoola worked first as State Counsel in Oyo State from where he resigned into private legal practice. That stint of his professional career began in Ibadan, the state capital, under the tutelage of Ladosu Ladapo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who twice ran unsuccessfully for the presidency of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

After one year of practice under the Senior Advocate, Ariwoola chose to set up his own legal practice in Oyo, not far from his beloved natal community of Iseyin. At the time, there were only five lawyers in the city. Making ends meet was difficult and his clients were mostly reluctant litigants, many of whom had to improvise in order to find the currency for transacting business with a lawyer. He stuck with it and in 1992, the year after Oyo State was split in two to produce Osun State, got propelled to the office of a judge of the High Court of Oyo State by what from his narration surely was a stroke of providential happenstance. In the cohort of six new judges, Ariwoola was the youngest by all of nine years.

After 13 years as a judge of the High Court, Ariwooola got elevated to the Court of Appeal in November 2005. The major actors in his elevation to the appellate Bench included Aloma Mukhtar, who would later rise to become the first female Chief Justice of Nigeria; Bola Ige, a former Attorney-General of the Federation; and Bolarinwa Babalakin a former Justice of the Supreme Court. None of these three shared the same origins with Ariwoola. Aloma Mukhtar came from Kano; Bola Ige and Bolarinwa Babalakin both came from Osun State.

After six years on the Court of Appeal, Ariwoola ascended to the Supreme Court in November 2011, where he served for another 12 years before becoming the CJN. In all, his judicial career spanned nearly 32 years, including two years and two months served as CJN. All his judicial elevations (except his preferment to the office of CJN) occurred in the month of November.

Judicial autobiographies, especially in common law countries, are far from easy to confection. The balance between achieving a captivating narrative and preserving the mystique of the high judicial office is hard. The temptation to deodorize the tale can be tantalising. Judging with Justicewrestles valiantly with this dilemma and not always successfully.

The author offers about the Supreme Court that it is “more than a court of law. It is the tradition that the Supreme Court is regarded as a court of policy.” Having said this, the book offers no insight as to how the Supreme Court on which he sat for 13 years or the office of the CJN which he occupied for over two of those years, articulated or advanced this idea of the Supreme Court as a court of policy. If anything, the court did the opposite under him.

The best that can be said of the book and about its author is that they chose to be economical with any indication of a coherent judicial philosophy. Entirely in keeping with this, the author writes with what appears to be some pride that he never “had any cause to write a dissenting opinion be it at the Court of Appeal or at the Supreme Court.” He spent a combined 18 years in both courts.

The author, nevertheless, drops hints of inspiration. He counsels, for instance, that “a judge must not frequent social events where litigants and lawyers congregate.” Those who read this may wonder whether he remembered it when he showed up in Port Harcourt in November 2022 to serenade politicians (many of whom had cases before his court) in their quest for electoral victory in elections that were then impending.

Many who were witness to Ariwoola’s tenure as CJN will wonder when he came to what he claims in the book to be his long-held belief “that the judiciary is an independent and separate arm of government and should not be regarded as an appendage of the Executive or the Legislature”. The disposition of his entire term appears to have been the very opposite of these sentiments.

Judging with Justice is littered with a few more examples of warm and comforting shibboleths. Yet, it is what the book omits that is most telling.

The author thanks “God for the privilege to have been instrumental in the appointment of people into positions of responsibility”. As CJN, he sure had a lot of practice at this. He also claims that he always “ensure(d) that the persons to be nominated are credible, qualified, and people of proven integrity.” His record as CJN will show this claim to be worse than bogus.

At the end of his narration, the author tells with pride his achievements as CJN. Among these, he lists attainment at the beginning of 2024 for the first time in the 70-year history of the Supreme Court of full judicial establishment size of 22 (including the CJN). He also points to the appointment since 2023 of new judges to the various courts, including the Court of Appeal, the Federal High Court and the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.

In Judging with Justice, Ariwoola is punctilious in listing all the people whom he processed for appointment in that frantic sequence of judicial elevations that occurred during the year preceding his retirement as CJN. He takes fulsome paternal pride in the fact that his son – also named Kayode Taslim – “is a jurist like Judge Taslim Olawale Elias he was named after”, but omits to disclose that it was him, the father, who appointed the son to the role of judge (with no need for the helping hand of a Holy Ghost). He did not stop there, he also appointed his own daughter-in-law as judge, as well as the daughters of the President of the Court of Appeal; of the Chief Judge of High Court of the FCT; the daughter of his predecessor in the office of CJN; the wife of the Minister of the FCT; and many more high-up insiders too numerous to mention.

Judging with Justice missed an opportunity to show how a judiciary of sons, daughters, wives and even a few mistresses, meets the standard of “credible, qualified, and people of proven integrity.” He may have been closer to the mark if he had chosen to title the book “A Convenient Memory.”

** A professor of law and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Cattle traders are facing an existential threat, especially in the northeastern part of Nigeria, with stakeholders calling for urgent intervention to save the sector. 

Investigation by Weekend Trust revealed that as a result of the spate of insecurity ravaging parts of the country and the ban on open grazing in some states, with no serious alternatives like ranches put on ground, cattle breeders are forced to migrate to countries like Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Sudan and Central Africa. 

Our correspondents who went round and interacted with market officials, cattle traders and residents across the North-East region, report that stakeholders in the business are worried over the dwindling fortune of their businesses.

Cattle movement 

Data generated after months of market survey in 63 different markets across the North-East indicate that 593 trailer-loads of cattle are transported to the southern part of Nigeria on a daily basis. The survey also revealed that each trailer, on average, carries 42 cows, which summed up to 25,499 being supplied to the South, especially Lagos, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Akwa Ibom, Onitsha, Uyo and others.

But based on state-by-state reports, Yobe now contributes 223 trailers as against the 400 it used to supply from 12 major cattle markets, Adamawa 200 instead of 300 from 12 cattle markets in the state.

Borno now supplies 50 trailers daily instead of 100 from its four major markets, while Gombe contributes 50 trailers as against over 80 from seven markets. Also, Taraba now supplies 40 trailers daily instead of 70, while Bauchi can only boast of 10 trailers daily compared to 40 it supplied years back.

However, these figures do not include the number of cattle being consumed everyday within the region and other parts of northern Nigeria.

Apart from the famous Potiskum cattle market in Yobe, cows are loaded from other major markets in Garin Alkali; Nguru; Geidam; Babban Gida; Damaturu; Kukareta, Yadin Buni, Ngalda, Jajere, Borno Kiti, Girgir, among others.

Market officials who spoke with Weekend Trust said pressure on herders, coupled with the spate of insecurity in the region, affected the number of cattle in the markets.

Our fortune has declined

Adamu Garba, the Potiskum cattle market superintendent under the Fika Emirate Council, told Weekend Trust that there’s a sharp drop in cattle supply in the region. He said, “Before now, more than 400 trailers of cattle were leaving this market to the South on a weekly basis; but today, we can only boast of 200 trucks, which is 28 trailers per day.”

He said the decrease in supply was noticed from October 2023 to January 2024.

Bello Bulama, the head of Garin Alkali cattle market, also confirmed a decrease in the number of cows supplied to the market.

“The supply kept dropping over time – from 70 trucks to 50. Now, we are getting less than 40 trucks on market days (Sundays). We now transport less than 30 trucks of cattle to the southern part of the country weekly as against the previous supply – between 60 and 50,” he said.

Also speaking, Muhammad Dala Mala, the Zango of Nguru Emirate Council, who was a leader at Nguru cattle market, confirmed the decrease in the number of cattle being supplied to the market. 

He said, “To be honest with you, only between 30 and 50 trailers go out with cattle every Tuesday, unlike before when we pushed out over 100. It is a situation that every cattle trader should worry about.”

Also, Shettima Alhaji Umaru, the secretary of the Geidam Cattle Market Association, said the unfavourable situation breeders found themselves in was affecting the flow of cattle into the market.

“Unfortunately, we sometimes have less than 12 trucks going out of the market. Before now, you would see over 50 trucks going out with cattle every week,” he said.

Gombe

In Gombe State, the national president of the Cattle Sellers Association of Nigeria (CSAN), Yahuza Yusuf, said that at least 50 trailers of cattle were transported to the southern part of the country every day, as against the over 80 in the past.

He said the cows were transported to the southern part of the country from seven major markets out of the 11 in the state: Gombe metropolis, Kashere, Lailaipido, Kurugu, Kumo, Kuri and Dukku.

200 trucks leave Adamawa

In Adamawa, against the 500 trailers of cattle that used to go out of the state years back, only 200 trucks now go to the southern part of the country every week.

The markets where the survey was conducted were Ganye, Mayo Belwa, Jada, Ngurore, Chigari, Gurin, Lafiya, Song, Gombi, Mubi and Toungo. Of these, Song, Mubi, Ganye, Ngurore, Gombi and Toungo are international cattle markets that receive and sell cattle within Nigeria and across the border to Cameroon.

Our correspondent gathered that each trailer carries 50 to 55 cows, depending on the destination, “which means that a total of 10,000 or 11,000 cattle leave Adamawa on a weekly basis,” our source said, adding that sellers pay N3,000 per cow as tax.

Borno supply crashes to 50 trailers 

In Borno, Abubakar Adam Umar, the secretary of the Cattle Market Management Committee (CMMC), said the closure of some cattle markets for a long time as  a result of Boko Haram insurgency affected the business.

Based on data generated from the seven affected markets in Gubio, Magumeri, Damasak, Mungono, Gajiram, Banki and the popular Gamboru livestock market, Umar said: “We usually get eight to 12 trailers loaded with cows from Gamboru market to Lagos, Port Harcourt, Umuahia, Calabar and other southern parts of the country. But sadly, in a week, less than 50 trailers now leave Borno instead of the over 200 that used to go out daily.”

He lamented how cattle traders lost their animals during crises, saying: “You will find traders that usually supply four trailers now struggling to buy three cows. Many cattle traders lost their capitals to crises in the South as well. Our members are always the target of attack whenever crisis erupts. Even cattle breeders in the bush are not spared. The government needs to look into that.”

He added that a lot of cattle dealers affected by such attacks were idle, even as the situation is compounded by the prolonged Boko Haram crisis.  

He noted that cattle business in many markets that serve as feeders to the renowned Gamboru market were dying slowly due to shortage of the animals in the bushes.

He said: “There is very little supply from the Gamboru Ngala route, Dikwa and other feeder cattle markets.

“When the business was booming, these were very reliable markets that produced a large percentage of cattle in the region.

“The Gamboru market, which supplied between 200 and 250 trailers of cattle to the South daily, is now struggling to send 50 per week. Considering the situation, at most, when the market fully recovers, our projection will not exceed 100 trailers.”

Also speaking, Adamu Damina, a cattle dealer and respected elder at the Gamboru cattle market, Maiduguri, said the rate at which cattle were migrating was alarming.

Damina, who has been in the business for over 35 years, blamed unfavourable actions taken against cattle breeders for the situation.

“For over 35 years, I have been buying cows from markets in Dikwa, Banki, Gamboru Ngala, Monguno, Gubio, Damboa, Damasak and Dikwa, but the situation now is precarious.

“Then, cows were always available, such that one could buy as many as one desired. We used to transport hundreds of trailers from Dikwa to Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri, Umuahia, Awka and other parts in the South-East, South-South and South-West.

“At that time, on average, we used to transport between 270 and 300 trailers of cattle every day, but now, we hardly transport 30 trailers to the entire South per week,” he said.

Bauchi 

In Bauchi, cows are also brought to small and bigger markets that operate on daily and weekly bases.

Some of the markets our correspondent checked are Soro, Azare, Alkaleri and Bauchi.

The Sarkin Turke Bauchi, Musa Firo, told Weekend Trust that cattle business was still thriving despite a sharp decline in the number of cows that come into the markets.

He said, “Some years back, over 40 trailers used to leave the state daily, but we are currently struggling with 20 from all parts of the state.”

Taraba transports only 300  

The Sarkin Turke/chairman of Chede cattle market, Alasan, told our correspondent in an interview that over 300 trailers left the 10 major markets to the southern part of the country weekly. He added that each of the 10 markets transported about 30 trailers weekly.

He attributed the decline to insecurity and certain policies of the government.

Supply to Lagos drops

Audu Lalega, a cattle dealer in Lagos State, confirmed that there’s a decline in the number of cows being supplied to the southern part of the country.

He said Lagos now received about 250 trailers of cattle from the North-East, which is half of what they were getting before.

He said: “Apart from the over 250 trailers from the North-East, Lagos now receives cows from other parts of the country and across the border to argument the shortfall.

“Cows are being supplied to Lagos from Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Ghana. It is also sad that most of these cows are from Nigerian herders who were forced to migrate to these countries.”

6 states in South-East, South-South get 60 trucks daily

The chairmen and leaders of cattle dealers associations in Akwa Ibom and Port Harcourt, Alhaji Muhammad Mijinyawa and Malam Muhammad Uba also complained of the decline in cattle supply.

Mijinyawa said that based on records, from January to December 2023, they received 750 trucks of cattle, but added, “Now, the supply has gone down to 10 trucks per day or even less.”

Uba also said that on the average, 20 trucks of cattle were supplied to Port Harcourt, 15 to Akwa Ibom and 10 each to Warri, Enugu and Abia on a daily basis.

They attributed the problem to unfavourable business conditions in the region on both cattle dealers and breeders.

Why we migrated to Cameroon, East Africa – Herders 

Some of the herders who migrated to other countries told Weekend Trust that they were treated as second-class citizens without rights.  

In Machina, Yobe State, a border town with Niger Republic, one of the migrating herdsmen, Abubakar Yolar Margami said, “I am tending the herd straight to Ngabuji cattle reserve in Niger, where I have freedom.

“It has gotten to the stage where one cannot get meadow for more than 20 cows to graze in Nigeria. All the cattle routes have been taken over by farmers and the government is not doing anything.”

In Cameroon, Muhammad Mahmuda, who migrated with over 1,000 cattle, also said unfavourable government policies forced him to leave the country.

Mahmuda said millions of cattle and other livestock had crossed over to the neighbouring countries.

He said, “In my family alone, not less than 20 households have migrated to Marwa and other places in Cameroon, while some travelled up to Central Africa.

 “I was the one that cleared our family’s herds into Cameroon this season, and I was baffled by the number of cattle I saw crossing the border through the Wurobuke/Bebeni cattle route, paying a huge amount as tax to the Cameroonian authorities.”

Mahmuda noted that Nigeria was losing millions in revenue and other economic gains from the migrating cows, hides and skin, job opportunities and nutrients for both humans and crops.

“I and other migrating families had to pay over N15 million equivalent of the CFA as tax before we were allowed to cross into Cameroon.

“We spent three days at the border watching more than three million cattle crossing into Cameroon. I watched how those Nigerian resources migrated to its neighbour’s territory and the border was closed,” he said.

He explained that apart from the entry permit tax and documentation, they also had to pay an annual rate for cattle tax per herd when they arrived at the meadow to graze, a CFA amount equivalent to N20,000.

“I paid tax for the four herds my family took into the country. I made this year’s payment six months ago to avoid a penalty,” he added.

Mahmuda said it was heart-breaking to see Nigerian businessmen who are into hides and skin trade relying on Cameroon, Sudan and Central Africa for the products.

He said: “These are hides and skin they are supposed to buy from us in Nigeria. Before things degenerated, 70 per cent of these hides were sourced within Nigeria, but now, they spend a lot of money on transport and entry tax to about four countries to bring them to Nigeria.

“It is also sad that 70 to 80 per cent of the cows you consume in the North or transport to the southern part of Nigeria comes from the migrants, the Nigerian breeders living in neighbouring countries, particularly here (Cameroon) and Chad. And this is caused by bad governance and insecurity in Nigeria.”

On why they chose Cameroon, he said good policies, structure and infrastructure put in place by their government were the major attractions.

“Cameroon was able to separate farmlands from grazing reserves; they are well gazetted. Also, the forest has been divided into territories, with each being controlled by a traditional ruler; so this gives us the leverage to decide on wherever we want our animals to graze,” he said.

He noted that the Cameroonian authorities have a comprehensive database that tracks the movement of every herder within their boundary, making it difficult to commit crime.

“The tax we are paying helps them to monitor our movement and provides us the needed protection by the government,” he added.

He lamented that two major reasons were responsible for their migration—insecurity and rustling.

“As peaceful herders, we felt we no longer had a place in Nigeria because we were losing our wealth to criminals like cattle rustlers and kidnappers.

“Secondly, all our cattle routes and reserves were encroached upon and completely taken over by farmers.

“We were denied access to water points. How can cattle survive without food and water? They used thugs and security operatives to extort and harass us, while the federal government kept making empty promises for decades and failed to recover our gazetted routes and reserves.

“As peaceful herders we decided to move to countries with good systems that can accommodate us, and Cameroon is one of them, then Chad, Sudan and Central Africa. We live peacefully here and the business is thriving,” he noted.

On what the Nigerian government should do to convince them to return, he simply said, “Justice to both herders and farmers.”  

Another herder who migrated to Cameroon from the South-East, Abdullahi Ardo, said they were chased out of the forests in Enugu, where they lived for centuries.

How cattle resource policy sharply divides Nigerians 

Attempts to establish policies that would address herders-farmers’ crisis and develop livestock production as a critical sector of the Nigerian economy have faced serious setbacks over the years.

One of them was the Rural Grazing Areas (RUGA) programme, which was introduced by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. 

Leaders across the country reduced the conversation to political manoeuvre. The National Livestock Transformation Programme was meant to enable “willing states” to contribute large areas of land to the federal government for construction of animal husbandry settlements. The programme, which was approved by the National Economic Council (NEC) Committee on Farmers/ Herders crisis and the federal government, was chaired by former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Also, the secretary of the committee was a former governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, who said clearly that it was a voluntary policy for only the interested state.

However, politicians across the divide ignored the word “voluntarily” and rattled the policy with criticisms, accusing the then president of siding with his kinsmen.

For instance, the Benue State Government rejected the moves to establish RUGA settlement for herders in any part of the state.

The then Governor Samuel Ortom, backed by the State Assembly, said the approach to the initiative was a gross violation of the state’s anti-open grazing law.

He further attacked the “voluntary programme” as not only a gross violation of the ranching law, but also as an insult to the sensibilities of the entire people of the state.

Borno launches RUGA

Meanwhile, the Minister of Livestock development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, Co-chair of Presidential Committee on Implementing Livestock Reforms, Attahiru Jega among other dignitaries are in Maiduguri today for the launch of the Ngarannam livestock improvement and Ranch settlement to boost agricultural and economic potential of Borno state.

Weekend Trust recalls that governor Zulum recently established the ministry of livestock and fishery development.

Southern states reject intiative

Most states in the southern part of the country also rejected the implementation of the RUGA policy.

At that time, governors of the 17 southern states also announced the ban of open grazing in the region.

In Bayelsa, the former governor, Douye Diri, signed into law a bill prohibiting open grazing of livestock, making it a criminal offence.

The then Commissioner for Information in Abia State, John Okiyi Kalu said, “There is no RUGA settlement anywhere in the state.

“We do not have any RUGA settlement in Abia State and we do not intend to have it. What we have are cattle markets, such as the ones at Lokpanta and Waterside in Aba.’’

He added that the state did not even have enough land for agriculture and other uses, not to talk of ceding any part of the state for cattle colony or RUGA settlement.

At the height of the debate, the Commissioner for Information and Value Orientation in Ekiti State, Akin Omole said, “We don’t want to go into the politics of RUGA, which in public definition and meaning is ceding ancestral land to those who are not indigenes of Ekiti. We will not be a part of it. What we are promoting is livestock farming, having banned open grazing of cattle in Ekiti.’’

Challenges of implementation in northern states

The federal government had in July 2019 announced the suspension of the RUGA settlement programme, saying it was not consistent with the approved National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP).

Umahi, the then governor of Ebonyi State, disclosed this at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday.

“The NEC committee on farmers/ herders crisis under the chairmanship of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo met today to deliberate on the approved programme of the National Economic Council (NEC) and the federal government, tagged, ‘The National Livestock Transformation Programme.

“We are aware that today, Mr President has suspended the implementation of the 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, which has programmes for the rehabilitation of internally displaced persons, resulting from the crisis and development of ranches in any willing state of the federation,” he had said.

Investigation by our correspondents revealed that the programme is also suffering in some northern states since the time the federal government suspended it.

‘Livestock ministry will resolve the problem’

Months ago, President Bola Tinubu created the Ministry of Livestock Development following recommendations of the National Livestock Reforms Committee, which he did.

In an interview with Weekend Trust, the secretary to the Presidential Implementation Panel of the new Livestock Development Ministry, Mohammed Kuta Yahaya, said the establishment of the ministry would avail Nigeria the opportunity to uncover and utilise her full potential in the livestock sector.

Kuta recalled that the committee report they submitted to Tinubu on September 14, 2024, convinced him that Nigeria had gotten a solution at hand, which was what Nigerians have been waiting for.

“He (president) promised that as the committee recommended that Nigeria should have a Ministry of Livestock Resources as other West African countries like Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, it shall be implemented. 

“Those countries have huge potentials for livestock. They are maximising their potentials in the West African region and Africa. You can see that countries like Kenya, Botswana, South Africa and Senegal are doing extremely well. In Nigeria, despite its huge potential, massive land and highest concentration of animals in the entire Africa, production is very low.

“So, with the huge potential, we needed to think about the productivity and other quality products to compare to the rest of the countries in Africa in terms of yield,” he said.

Expert speaks 

Reacting, a livestock expert and former Commissioner for Livestock and Fisheries Development in Sokoto State, Professor Abdulkadir Usman Junaidu, said the sector is facing many challenges that needed urgent government’s attention, saying the country’s livestock resources faced existential threats.

He said, “Certainly, there is a decline in the population of our animals. This may be due to several factors, including climate change, cattle rustling, banditry and kidnapping, leading to displacement of both the animals and their owners, harsh economic conditions in the country, farmers/herders conflicts, leading to limited grazing areas and killing of the animals and movement to other parts of the world. Others include lack of commitment and political will on the part of the government to address the challenges of livestock resources in the country at all levels.

“If you look back at the previous budgets and compare the allocation to the livestock subsector as against crop and other sectors, you will certainly know that we are not serious,” Prof Junaidu said.

He said the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Resources Development “is a step in the right direction as this will ensure that the livestock subsector is set to claim its deserved position in the scheme of socioeconomic development of the country, but that can only be achieved if we have a holistic strategic plan, including putting the right pegs in the right holes to surmount the challenges facing the sector.”

He listed some of the measures the government should take to improve livestock productivity to include “providing more feed through creation of more grazing reserves and rehabilitation of the existing ones with all the required and necessary facilities, veterinary care, good animal husbandry, improved security, as well as genetic improvement of local breeds. Adequate funding with proper monitoring and evaluation is very critical to the success of any of these programmes.”

Daily Trust