Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Reject FG’s Pilot Ranching Plan Over Land Fears
The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum has rejected the Federal Government’s proposed pilot ranching scheme in parts of the Middle Belt. The group says the policy could lead to the takeover of ancestral community lands under the guise of livestock development. The forum questioned why proposed pilot locations include Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Southern Kaduna, Taraba and the FCT. It demanded full disclosure of the proposed sites, land ownership arrangements, beneficiaries, funding, security plans and legal basis for any acquisition. The Federal Government says the initiative is meant to modernise livestock production, reduce open grazing and address farmer-herder clashes. However, the forum insists ranching should be privately driven, with operators buying land rather than communities losing land for a private economic venture. I do not think it is right to convert ancestral land for private business. Ranch operators should buy land for their operations, and if the government insists on allocating land, it should not place the burden mainly on Middle Belt or Southern communities.
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