The governor of Zamfara State, Mr. Aminu Masari has subtly opposed President Muhammadu Buhari on open grazing of cattle saying a plan was in the works to outlaw the practice in the state.
Masari and Buhari are from Katsina but the former’s stand on open grazing contrasts with the president’s who is pushing for the recovery of antiquated grazing routes and reserves.
Speaking yesterday on a television programme, Masari said nomadic herding would be proscribed once certain structures were put in place for ranching.
He said open grazing is an anathema to Islamic doctrine, which forbids allowing animals into other peoples’ land.
“We intend to ban unnecessary roaming about with cattle. But before we do that, we will make provisions where the animals will stay. I think the situation in the southern part of the country is slightly different from the northern part of the country.
“The majority of the herders are from the northern part of the country. So, for us, we need a law that should be obeyed, not one that will be disregarded.
“For us to come up with the law we will first of all put some structures on ground, then, we will have the law that can back up the structures so that nobody would roam or move about with cattle.
“Even that is un-Islamic. It says do not have the numbers you cannot feed that you have to stretch over to people’s land or on somebody’s farm. I do not think that it is right. And, certainly, once we put in place ranching for the grazing of all animals, the issue of anybody roaming about will be a past,” he said.
On his earlier romance with bandits, Masari said the state government did not have adequate information before negotiating with the criminals.
Recall that the governor had granted the marauders amnesty after negotiating with them.
However, he said he would never regret engaging them.
“I do not regret it. But the only thing I can say is that with the benefit of hindsight, I wouldn’t have done it. We realised: who are you talking with, because they do not have an umbrella.
“They are not pushing for any ideological view; they are not pushing for any religious view. They are simply bandits, criminals and thieves. Any person in the forest is a potential criminal and should be dealt with as such,” he added.
He said a majority of those involved in banditry in the state were the Fulani.
“They are the same people like me; who speak the same language like me; who profess the same religion like me. They are not aliens. So, what we have here on ground is banditry.
“They are people we know. They are people that had been living with us for 100 of years. They are also people of the Fulani extraction. Majority of those involved in this banditry are Fulani, whether it is palatable or not, but that is the truth.
“I did not say that 100 per cent of them are Fulani, but the majority of them are. They are people who live in the forest and their main occupation is rearing of cattle.
“Probably their fortunes dwindled over time with climate change and their lack of access to education, both Islamic and Western education, also aggravated the situation.”
He said the criminal gangs live in the forests which make access to them difficult, especially during the rainy season.
“They live in the forests. The terrain is very bad and reaching them is also very difficult. But with the help of technology and what we have seen the air force is trying to do, we will be able to reach some of their camps, get their leaders and bring them to book. The efforts of the military are yielding success in reaching the most difficult areas.
“A lot of these areas are ungoverned, because they are forest areas. Access to them is difficult in rainy season but not impossible,” he said.
He added that informants are a cog in the wheel to the fight against insecurity in the northwest.
“The biggest problem in our efforts and other places is their informants. They are everywhere in the markets and the villages and when they see military or police patrol they will inform.
“The problem is the support the informants are giving to the bandits, which empowers them with information. Once we are able to cripple the informants, especially, by taking away the networks, the informants can no longer help them. The armed forces have their own way of communicating.”
