Thanks to the public backlash that heralded the Federal Government’s plan to establish Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) settlements for Fulani herdsmen, President Muhammadu Buhari announced, yesterday, that the plan is hereby suspended.

Why was there ever the need for RUGA? 

The Government’s decision to introduce the RUGA settlement initiative was informed by the seemingly endless dispute between Fulani cattle herdsmen and farmers. As you may well know, the dispute has caused the deaths of thousands of Nigerians.

In defense of the RUGA, the Presidencyhad promised that the initiative will bring about a drastic reduction in the conflict between herders and farmers. RUGA was also envisaged to boost animal production. But despite these positives, many Nigerians were not quite happy with the move. Little wonder the initiative was met with widespread condemnation. Some Nigerians even alleged that the initiative is a preconceived attempt to “Islmatise” some parts of the country.

President Buhari in DauraA “No-Good” Policy

Without a doubt, there is a pressing needto amicably resolve the farmers versus herdsmen problem once and for all. However, Nairametrics believes that the RUGA move by the Buhari-led Federal Government could not possibly have been the best solution. This is mainly because the initiative does not make any economic sense. Below are some of the economic blunder the RUGA initiative could have triggered.

1. First of all, the billions of naira worth of “investments”: Note that the Presidency had earlier made it clear that the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) which was introduced in June 2018, is not the same as RUGA.

• The NLTP is a whopping N170 billion initiative by the Federal Government to champion ranching as the way forward for cattle rearing in the country. While this is already huge, more billions will go into RUGA.

• The billions will be assessed by cattle herders as they are expected to be registered with a cooperative for the purpose of the ranching schemes.

• Note that according to the Presidency, 13 States are already in the process of implementation of NTLP to transform the livestock production system in Nigeria along a market-oriented value chain while ensuring an atmosphere of peace and justice.

2. Too expensive for the Government to fund: According to statements recently released by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Umar, RUGA settlements have already started springing up. A total of 11 states have so far been designated as pilot states.

• These states include Sokoto, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Kogi, Taraba, Katsina, Plateau, Kebbi, Zamfara, and Niger.

• As stated by the Presidency, the RUGA settlement initiative would secure land from “willing states” to build schools, clinics, houses, and other infrastructure which would facilitate the nomads’ settlement in those locations.

• To say the least, the plan is for these RUGA locations to become mini towns. Providing these facilities will obviously gulp billions of the country’s already depleting revenue.

3. No clear-cut pathway to investment recovery: It is unclear how the Government intended to recoup the billions of naira worth of investments that would have been made if the RUGA initiative had been implemented. In other words, this could as well have been another socialist initiative, characterised by  “Jamboree” money splashing by the Government.

4. The threat of increased insecurity: There is the probability that the implementation of the RUGA initiative could eventually encourage insecurity. This is because as herdsmen increasingly multiply within communities, the possibility of friction between indigenes and immigrant herdsmen abounds.

In other words, full-blown conflicts mayensue in some states, especially those whose citizens are were gearing up to vehemently resist the Federal Government’s attempt to secure the states’ lands for herders’ settlements. The sovereignty of states’ lands resides in the state governments who can choose to allocate such lands to the Federal Government.

In Conclusion…

RUGA’s suspension is a move in the right direction. The Federal Government of Nigeria should probably consider learning a few things from other countries around the world who, through very strategic private sector participation, have been able to turn around their Agric sectors. Typical examples as regards cattle production are Brazil, Israel, Singapore, and Australia.

• Brazil, for instance, is the world’s highest cattle producer with 1.46 billion herds.

• Singapore tactfully introduced measures to stop open grazing which has ultimately resulted in the modernization of the country’s cattle industry.

• Also, Israel is reputed to have the highest milk yield per cow, all thanks to the cutting edge techniques it adopts.

In order for any country to truly diversify its economy, the need to fully engage the private sector can never be undermined. Therefore, it is high time private sector investors are encouraged to tap into the opportunities offered by the cattle industry. The Government’s role here should be to regulate.

Source: https://nairametrics.com/2019/07/04/why-the-ruga-settlement-initiative-never-made-economic-sense/

The write is sounds very shortsighted, myopic and grossly simplistic. RUGA is off the table even though the preferred plan is RUGA in theory and practice.

1. The government is not giving out loans for the program to be repaid by the benefactors of the program, they are talking about laying down the necessary infrastructure and creating enabling environment for comprehensive livestock, Animal husbandry and allied businesses so no need for any serious exception for ROI upfront, but the potential is there to generate revenue via taxes on businesses, goods and services and export products.

2. RUGA or the other variation is not going to be primarily a Fulani settlement because its a comprehensive plane designed to accommodate other animal farmers, tanneries, meat products processing and packaging plants. It's going to be a business location for anything and everything livestock, meat and meat processing.

3. At the moment, headers and their owners make generate billions in un-taxed revenue everyday because it's a mobile business with zero address to send tax bills to, but RUGA or the other plan means we know where to send our tax collect to to collect taxes.

4. It's always hard to locate and arrest criminal herders because of the mobile nature of herding, but with RUGA, it means no more clashes with local comm unites and God forbid in case of criminal activities, we know where to go and who to arrest because we've confined them to a physical location.

5. With RUGA and the other plan, we are killing many birds with one stone because we are eliminating violent confrontations with farmers and local communities, we are setting up a comprehensive livestock husbandry industry and businesses in Nigeria, something we should have done, but better late than never.


People need to be honest with their facts and understanding instead of peddling half baked and confusing info.

deomelo:
The write is sounds very shortsighted, myopic and grossly simplistic. RUGA is off the table even though the preferred plan is RUGA in theory and practice.

1. The government is not giving out loans for the program to be repaid by the benefactors of the program, they are talking about laying down the necessary infrastructure and creating enabling environment for comprehensive livestock, Animal husbandry and allied businesses so no need for any serious exception for ROI upfront, but the potential is there to generate revenue via taxes on businesses, goods and services and export products.

2. RUGA or the other variation is not going to be primarily a Fulani settlement because its a comprehensive plane designed to accommodate other animal farmers, tanneries, meat products processing and packaging plants. It's going to be a business location for anything and everything livestock, meat and meat processing.

3. At the moment, headers and their owners make generate billions in un-taxed revenue everyday because it's a mobile business with zero address to send tax bills to, but RUGA or the other plan means we know where to send our tax collect to to collect taxes.

4. It's always hard to locate and arrest criminal herders because of the mobile nature of herding, but with RUGA, it means no more clashes with local comm unites and God forbid in case of criminal activities, we know where to go and who to arrest because we've confined them to a physical location.

5. With RUGA and the other plan, we are killing many birds with one stone because we are eliminating violent confrontations with farmers and local communities, we are setting up a comprehensive livestock husbandry industry and businesses in Nigeria, something we should have done, but better late than never.


People need to be honest with their facts and understanding instead of peddling half baked and confusing info.

TAXATION IS IMPOSSIBLE HERE BECAUSE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES AND DERIVATIVES ARE TAX FREE.

RUGA BY FG IS TRYING TO GRANT AMNESTY TO A BUNCH OF CRIMINALS. IT IS NOT IDENTIFYING THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE CLASHES AND ADDRESSING IT. OUTLAW OPEN LAND GRAZING AND ALLOCATE LANDS IN SAMBISA FOREST TO THEM.

WOULD FEDERAL GOVENMENT ALSO GO OUT OF ITS WAY TO ESTABLISH FISH TOWNS FOR THE POOR FISHERMEN OF THE NIGER DELTA WHOSE SOURCE OF INCOME AND LIVELIHOOD HAVE BEEN AFFECTED AS A RESULT OF OIL EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES AMONGST OTHERS?

Those who probably have agendas about the Ruga settlements have been disgraced ..

Let each states governors provide ranches for non violent herdsmen...

Also both innocents herdsmen and state governments should work together in exposing the few bad eggs among them( Herders)

RUGA is fulnai settlement. Stop trying to deceive yourself and others.

Only a fool doesn't know that