Tinubu’s 417 Grazing Reserves Plan Sparks Middle Belt Outrage
Our Correspondent
A coalition representing over 300 ethnic nationalities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt has rejected the federal government’s plan to convert 417 designated grazing reserves into “Livestock Villages,” warning that the policy amounts to an attempt to create exclusive Fulani territories on indigenous lands.
In an open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu dated August 19 and signed by CONAECDA Secretary General Suleman A.D. Sukukum, the Conference of Autochthonous Ethnic-nationalities Community Development Associations said the proposal violates constitutional provisions, international law on indigenous rights, and decades of customary land ownership in the Middle Belt.
The group’s objection follows the Minister of Livestock Development’s recent announcement to convert the reserves, and the President’s earlier statement that “unoccupied public land can be fenced into grazing areas or ranches and leased to herders on a very low-cost, nominal basis.”
CONAECDA also cited the President’s reported directive to Benue leaders after the June 13-14, 2025 Yelwata massacre to “set up a committee to allocate land to the Fulani.”
“We therefore acknowledge this obvious position and alignment of your intention with the desire to have lands allocated for the creation of Fulani territories across the nation,” the letter stated, describing the move as a revival of the abandoned Grazing Reserves Bill that sought to set aside 10% of land in every state for grazing.
CONAECDA said it welcomed the creation of the Ministry of Livestock for the development of all livestock in Nigeria, but insisted that cooperation does not mean acquiescence to policies that dispossess indigenous communities.
The group grounded its position in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Article 27, which requires states to establish a fair process with indigenous peoples to recognize land rights with Free, Prior and Informed Consent.
It also cited Nigerian law, from the Land and Native Lands Ordinances of 1916 and 1948 to the Land Use Act, as affirming customary land rights as inalienable.
The coalition raised several questions about the 417 reserves, asking where they are located, when they were created and gazetted, and whether compensation was paid.
It alleged that many farmlands have been mapped as grazing reserves and cattle routes without community knowledge, and accused some traditional rulers of selling community land without consent.
CONAECDA cited the Bolewa in Gombe and Ikulu in Kaduna as communities displaced “to make way for Fulani in the name of grazing reserves,” and pointed to the El-Rufai administration’s expansion of the Kachia Grazing Reserve in Kaduna from 34,000 to 70,000 hectares, after which it said armed groups moved into the area.
The coalition further argued that most of the so-called reserves were only “designated” and not legally acquired.
“The so-called grazing reserves were only designated, and not gazetted. Most of the areas designated for grazing reserves were the customary lands of communities, on which there were actual settlements, which the officials deliberately failed to capture on the maps,” the letter said, giving the example of a Kaduna reserve with seven large communities omitted from official maps.
On the rationale for the policy, the group said Fulani already have two legitimate options, including indigene status in established emirates across Northern Nigeria, and the right to live as citizens in any host community, own property and do business.
“These options make the desire for exclusive territories in the indigenous space of Autochthonous Communities unnecessary and unreasonable,” it stated, adding that any attempt to create exclusive Fulani territories would be viewed as “armed invasions designed to occupy their native lands and ‘colonize’ them.”
While saying it supports livestock economic zones, CONAECDA insisted they must be open to all Nigerians and not dominated by one ethnic group.
It noted that the current focus appears to be on settling Fulani across the country rather than building genuine economic zones, and that most Fulani who have developed private ranches are doing better than those in reserves.
The letter also raised security concerns. It linked the 2021 establishment of a grazing reserve in Kagarko LGA to the area becoming a haven for violent groups attacking indigenous people and FCT residents, and cited the Lakurawa group’s reported takeover of parts of Kainji National Park.
It asked whether Livestock Villages would attract cross-border Fulani, including refugees from the Central African Republic and Mali, and questioned why the government would create what it called “a haven for the possible use of terrorists.”
CONAECDA recommended that the government answer its questions on the 417 reserves, address past displacements, and promote integration by supporting Fulani to buy land and settle among communities. It proposed that livestock economic zones be run as public corporations with indigenous representation, and that any land acquired be purchased or leased in line with the Land Use Act.
It also called for adherence to Free, Prior and Informed Consent protocols and for a clear standard for determining citizenship for migratory Fulani.
The group concluded by affirming that Middle Belt communities remain accommodating but will not cede ancestral land.
“The Autochthonous Peoples of the Middle Belt have always been and will always be accommodating to all… yet we cherish our identities, our freedoms and our lands. As such, we cannot surrender our precious heritage to any group of persons. We will continue to cooperate with Government in the implementation of the livestock transformation programme. We will, however, not cede our ancestral lands to anyone,” the letter read.
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