A Benue-born Professor of Mathematics at Taraba State University, Jalingo, Prof John Tyavbee Ajai, has advised President Bola Tinubu to consider the immediate enforcement of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranching Establishment Law, passed by the Nigerian Senate.
Nigerian Tribune reports that Prof Ajai, in an opinion piece dated 27th April 2025, titled OPEN MEMORANDUM TO HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU, GCFR, called for the reassessment of Nigeria’s commitment to the ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol, and the adoption of the global best practice of ranching to end the current trend of forceful land grabbing and killings under the guise of pastoralism.
Prof Ajai alleged that the ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol, conceived to facilitate pastoral mobility across West Africa, has, in practice, exacerbated security challenges such as weaponised pastoralism and land grabbing, increased insecurity and violence, exploitation by criminal networks, and discouragement of modern livestock practices.
Prof Ajai writes:
OPEN MEMORANDUM TO HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU, GCFR
His Excellency, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR
President and Commander-in-Chief
Federal Republic of Nigeria
State House, Aso Rock, Abuja
Subject:
Urgent Call for Executive Action on Open Grazing and Reassessment of Nigeria’s Commitment to the ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol
Your Excellency,
Every nation experiences defining moments, moments when uncomfortable truths must be confronted with courage and when history demands decisive leadership. Nigeria, at this critical juncture, compels such sober reflection.
Our predicament transcends policy inconsistencies or administrative inertia; it strikes at the very soul of the republic.
Despite the unyielding hopes and sacrifices of generations, the Nigeria we aspire to, seems ever at risk of receding into mere hallucination; suffocated by cycles of insecurity, institutional fragility, and contradictions that erode the foundations of nationhood.
Nowhere is this grim paradox more evident than in the escalating crisis of violent land occupation disguised as pastoralism. Armed herders, many of whom are not engaged in mere grazing but in the forceful occupation and grabbing of ancestral lands, now operate under the cloak of the ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol.
This reality, when a sitting Governor can simultaneously defend cross-border grazing rights under the Protocol and lament the devastation wrought by foreign militias in his state, exposes a dangerous erosion of sovereignty, security, and national cohesion.
This moment demands not cautious rhetoric but courageous action, anchored in constitutional fidelity, national interest, and an unwavering commitment to the sanctity of Nigerian lives. Our future depends on bold choices that place Nigeria’s security and unity above external agreements that however unintentionally, have become conduits for violence and dispossession.
The ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol: Noble Intentions, Dire Consequences while conceived to facilitate pastoral mobility across West Africa, the ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol has, in practice, exacerbated security challenges in Nigeria and across the region. A sober assessment reveals:
1. Weaponised Pastoralism and Land Grabbing: The unregulated cross-border movements have enabled not just pastoralists but heavily armed groups to enter Nigerian territories under the guise of transhumance. Rather than engaging in seasonal grazing, these groups often pursue violent land occupation, displacing indigenous communities, destroying livelihoods, and sowing deep-seated animosities across affected regions such as Benue, Plateau, and Nasarawa States.
2. Increased Insecurity and Violence: The influx of undocumented, armed actors under the cover of transhumance has fueled deadly confrontations with farming communities. Between 2015 and 2019 alone, a USAID-funded report estimated that approximately 7,000 lives were lost, and Nigeria incurred $13 billion in economic losses annually.
3. Exploitation by Criminal Networks: Criminal networks and insurgent groups, including Boko Haram, have reportedly disguised themselves as pastoralists to transport arms, conduct surveillance, and perpetrate acts of terror. This exploitation has compounded Nigeria’s internal security challenges, especially across the Middle Belt and North-East regions.
4. Discouragement of Modern Livestock Practices: By entrenching archaic models of migratory pastoralism, the Protocol inadvertently discourages investment in ranching, feedlots, and other modern livestock systems essential for national agricultural transformation.
5. Inadequate Implementation and Enforcement: Despite the existence of transhumance regulations since 1998 and 2003, their enforcement has been abysmally poor. Consequently, what was designed as a regulated system of cross-border movement has deteriorated into an unmonitored, often militarised influx that threatens Nigeria’s internal cohesion.
These concerns were recently echoed by Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, who, as reported by the Nigerian Tribune (July 27, 2024), identified the ECOWAS free movement protocols and Nigeria’s complex border management as major drivers of insurgency, terrorism, and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
Scholarly analyses further confirm that continuing outdated transhumance practices disincentivise the necessary investments in ranching and modern animal husbandry, vital for a stable and prosperous agricultural economy.
A Clarion Call for Executive Intervention:
Considering these realities, Your Excellency, I respectfully propose the following urgent measures:
1. Order a Comprehensive Review of Nigeria’s Commitment to the ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol.
A complete reassessment is needed to determine whether continued adherence to the Protocol serves our national security and constitutional interests. Where it does not, Nigeria must renegotiate its terms or decisively withdraw.
2. Champion and Fast-Track the Enactment of a National Law to Outlaw Open Grazing and Promote Ranching.
We acknowledge, with great appreciation, Your Excellency’s visionary creation of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, an important step toward transforming the livestock sector. However, the imperative of fast-tracking the enactment of a comprehensive national law to outlaw open grazing and promote ranching cannot be overemphasised. Such a framework will significantly reduce violent conflicts, enhance food security, and stimulate rural economic development.
The Anti-Open Grazing Bill, sponsored by Distinguished Senator Titus Zam, PhD, which has passed the third reading in the Senate, presents a historic opportunity to address the root causes of violent land occupation. I respectfully urge Your Excellency to champion its swift enactment and facilitate broad-based national consultations, ensuring that the voices of affected communities shape a responsive and lasting solution.
Conclusion:
Your Excellency, these are not ordinary times. They demand extraordinary leadership, which future generations will honour as the turning point when Nigeria chose survival, sovereignty, and renewal over drift and disintegration.
Indeed Nigerians, the entire West African sub-region, await your decisive action to secure peace, safeguard territorial integrity, and reaffirm the enduring promise of Nigeria as a just, united, and prosperous nation. I am confident that under your visionary stewardship, Nigeria will rise from its present challenges to reclaim its destiny as the giant of Africa.
Thank you for your esteemed attention and steadfast service to our nation.
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