Fields of Dispute: Navigating the Legal and Historical Crossroads of Nigeria’s Pastoral Crisis
A Nation Strained by Land and Law
Nigeria is once again at a decisive inflection point in its internal socio-political evolution. The recent decision by 11 states to adopt the Federal Government’s ranching initiative has sparked renewed debate over a long-festering crisis—violent clashes between pastoralist communities and agrarian populations. While security concerns dominate headlines, the crisis is much more layered, rooted in environmental degradation, weak institutional frameworks, colonial-era land policy, and growing national disunity.
The resurgence of violence, particularly in Benue, Plateau, and parts of Southern Kaduna, underscores the failure of both law and policy to adequately address an issue that sits at the very intersection of food security, constitutionalism, climate change, and human rights.
This article explores the historical origins of the pastoral conflict, the evolving legal frameworks that define land use and movement in Nigeria, and the constitutional tensions arising from the FG-led ranching plan. It seeks to engage critically yet impartially, proposing that legal reform and political consensus—not just military containment—offer the best path forward.
Historical Foundations: Mobility, Settlement, and the Collapse of Traditional Safeguards
Before Nigeria’s amalgamation in 1914, various ethnic groups across the region had developed indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms to manage pastoralist migration. Fulani herders, historically nomadic, moved across the Sahel and West Africa in search of pasture and water. These movements were often regulated by customary agreements with host communities—agreements that permitted seasonal grazing in exchange for payment, tribute, or mutual cooperation.
During the colonial period, British administrators institutionalised these practices by creating designated cattle routes and grazing reserves—most notably under the Grazing Reserve Law of 1965 in Northern Nigeria. This law attempted to demarcate specific areas for pastoral use, legally protecting herders while minimising encroachment upon farmlands.
However, with Nigeria’s post-independence population boom, increased urbanisation, and desertification in the north, the availability of grazing reserves diminished. By the late 1990s, only 3% of the over 400 legally designated grazing reserves were still functional. The pastoralist routes became obsolete or encroached upon by human settlements. The legal and environmental vacuum that followed paved the way for intensifying conflict.
Legal Analysis: Land Use, Federalism, and the Constitutional Dilemma
The legal underpinnings of Nigeria’s land ownership structure are complex. At the centre lies the Land Use Act of 1978, which vests all land in each state in the governor, to hold in trust for the people. Section 1 of the Act provides that all lands in urban areas shall be under the control and management of the governor, while local governments manage rural lands. While the Act theoretically aims to democratise land access, in practice it centralises power in the executive branch of state governments, creating legal bottlenecks.
This has crucial implications for the FG’s ranching policy. The National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP), launched in 2019, aims to modernise livestock management through ranches, veterinary services, and conflict resolution. It is, however, not a federal statute, but a policy framework requiring voluntary adoption by states. While 11 states have now subscribed, others—particularly in the South-East and South-South—remain opposed, citing constitutional overreach and land autonomy.
Additionally, Nigeria’s federal structure complicates matters. Under Section 4(7) of the Constitution, states are empowered to make laws on residual matters, including agriculture and land. Meanwhile, the federal government may only legislate on such matters to the extent that they relate to national economic planning or environmental regulation. This overlapping jurisdiction fuels contestation over who truly has the authority to enforce ranching schemes on state soil.
Furthermore, laws relating to property rights and trespass—such as those in the Criminal Code (Southern Nigeria) and Penal Code (Northern Nigeria)—provide for penalties where cattle destroy crops or individuals trespass onto private property. However, the enforcement of these provisions remains erratic, marred by institutional weakness, political interference, and insecurity.
The Human Cost: Rights, Security, and the Collapse of Justice
The most visible consequence of this unresolved legal-political tension is the escalating violence. According to the International Crisis Group and Amnesty International, over 3,600 people have been killed in herder-farmer conflicts between 2016 and 2021 alone. These are not mere communal skirmishes; in some instances, they resemble targeted massacres, often with ethnic or religious undertones.
The killings are not one-sided. Farmers, defending ancestral lands, have retaliated by forming vigilante groups. Herders, some armed and unaffiliated with the traditional pastoral hierarchy, have responded with raids, often at night, resulting in widespread displacement.
Yet, despite the scale of violence, Nigeria’s justice system has made scant progress in delivering accountability. Few high-profile prosecutions have taken place. Investigative lapses, delayed prosecutions, and a culture of impunity persist. Victims, both pastoral and agrarian, lament the state’s failure to uphold their Section 33 right to life and Section 46 right to seek redress.
There is also the matter of displacement. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), thousands have been displaced from their communities, living in camps with limited access to food, healthcare, or legal support. For pastoralists, many of whom lack fixed addresses or formal identity documents, access to justice is even more elusive.
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, domesticated under Nigerian law, guarantees cultural preservation, freedom of movement, and protection from discrimination. Thus, any solution must be crafted to avoid criminalising nomadic lifestyles or discriminating against minority communities. The question remains: how can these rights coexist within the realities of land tenure, state sovereignty, and national security?
FG Ranching Plan: Promise or Provocation?
The Federal Government’s ranching initiative is built on a four-pillar strategy: land acquisition (voluntarily donated by states), infrastructure development, veterinary services, and dispute-resolution mechanisms. Funding is partly derived from the National Economic Council (NEC) and international donor agencies.
States like Nasarawa, Adamawa, and Plateau have signalled readiness, citing both economic and security benefits. Others—particularly Benue State, which enacted an Anti-Open Grazing Law in 2017—have questioned the FG’s motives, suggesting it attempts to reverse laws passed through state legislative processes.
Critics of the FG plan argue that ranching, while desirable in theory, is capital-intensive, and risks dispossessing indigenous populations if not transparently executed. In regions with volatile land disputes and historical grievances, forced ranching may provoke rather than pacify.
Proponents, however, contend that modern ranching is inevitable. Nigeria’s cattle industry, valued at over ₦6 trillion, remains largely informal and inefficient. Ranching, if properly regulated, could boost GDP, create jobs, reduce emissions from uncontrolled grazing, and stabilise rural communities.
Yet, these outcomes require more than policy documents—they demand legal clarity. Ranching needs to be defined in Nigerian law, embedded within each state’s agricultural and land-use statutes, and protected by mechanisms for environmental regulation, equitable access, and peaceful coexistence.
Towards a Sustainable Legal Resolution
What then is the way forward? A number of recommendations emerge:
- National Grazing Framework: Nigeria urgently needs a unified legal framework—through federal legislation or multilateral agreement—on grazing, ranching, and pastoral regulation. This would harmonise the rights and duties of both pastoral and agrarian populations.
- Amendment of the Land Use Act: The Land Use Act remains a foundational obstacle. Its centralisation of land control, lack of clarity on communal land, and exclusion of indigenous tenure systems must be addressed through constitutional reform or a supplementary land reform act.
- Strengthening Justice Institutions: The police, judiciary, and land tribunals must be resourced and depoliticised to fairly adjudicate land disputes, investigate attacks, and prosecute offenders. Restorative justice may also be considered in heavily affected areas.
- Environmental and Climate Response: The FG must incorporate environmental mitigation in its ranching strategy. Desertification, water scarcity, and soil degradation are key drivers of pastoral migration. Without environmental sustainability, legal reform may fail.
- Community Dialogue and Reconciliation: Legal solutions cannot operate in a vacuum. Traditional rulers, religious leaders, and civil society organisations must be involved in rebuilding trust between herders and farmers, especially in historically volatile states.
Law as Arbiter of Peace, Not Power
The Nigerian pastoral crisis is a reflection of deeper fractures within the federation—constitutional ambiguity, uneven development, and lack of political consensus. The adoption of the FG’s ranching plan by 11 states marks progress, but without a solid legal and institutional foundation, such initiatives may falter or exacerbate tensions.
Ultimately, the role of the law must not be merely to regulate, but to reconcile. Nigeria has the human and legal resources to transform its fields of dispute into grounds for shared prosperity. But this requires courage: to reform obsolete laws, uphold justice impartially, and listen to every voice—pastoral or agrarian—that seeks to live in dignity and peace.
Latest Posts
- All Posts
- Business
- News
- News Update
- Politics
