The head of Sulbawa village, a Fulani settlement in Bauchi state, Alhaji Abubakar Usman Walijo, who took AGI ONDA round a 10-acre community ranch in a recent visit, says ranching offers economic opportunities besides solving the lingering herders/farmers crisis.
The tension generated by the crisis between farmers and herders across the country demands the attention of all and sundry for peace to reign. Therefore amid curiosity and superstition, the visit to Angwan Sulbawa, a Sulbe Fulani village on Ningi road, five kilometres from Bauchi metropolis on Sunday, February 17 took two conflicting agitations as the Okada man meandered through the undulating terrain that led to the expansive Sulbawa Ranch. “Would I be ambushed by the herders, especially against the background of my state of origin (Benue) that had been communicated to my supposed hosts or would I be received as a friend on journalistic adventure?” I asked myself. Happily, a red carpet treatment was waiting for me as my hosts had prepared undiluted Fulani local delicacy fura da nono and had lined up to offer reasons for their choice of ranching as opposed to open grazing which had pitched many nomadic Fulani against farmers across the nation.
Background
The Sulbawa community ranch was muted few years ago by some Fulbe Fulani in Bauchi who decided to pull their animal and human resources together to cater for their cattle in the community. A prominent facilitator of the ranch, Dr Ibrahim Waziri Ningi, told Blueprint that the initiative followed the protracted farmers’/herders’ crisis in Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states with the need to neutralise growing anxiety over mass killings and destruction of property in the affected areas.
“The Angwan Sulbawa ranch is my personal contribution to peace and unity of the country. They (Fulani) came to me as a fellow Sulbe Fulani and I offered suggestions on how to go about it before Bauchi state government stepped in to give them that land. Today, I am happy to be part of the peace-building process in the country,” Dr Waziri stated.
Operating the ranch
The Sulbawa community ranch comprises mostly hornless (Bokolo) specie of cows, sheep, goats and other domestic animals. This species of cows are very productive in milk and can resist challenges posed by man and nature. Their main food sources include cassava peels, cotton seed cake (CSK) and dry grasses. The village head of Angwan Sulbawa, Alhaji Abubakar Usman Walijo, said most of the feeds are produced and supplied from Kano.
From the ranch, the cows produce up to 25 of 25-litre milk on a daily basis. This milk is marketed by the women across the state metropolis and surrounding villages. The cows themselves are arranged and hosted in clusters of about 300-500 with the calves sheltered in cages.
Within the ranch also are a variety of mini-houses usually for the young herders, who keep an eye on the cows, including their feeds, ill-health as well as other challenges. Abubakar said this is to protect the young cows and also give them extra care in order to enhance their growth and productivity.
Facilities in the ranch include a functional borehole provided by the state government, a nomadic school and a community mosque.
Abubakar said operating the ranch has increased their stake and kept them away from frequent attacks and molestation from those who see an average Fulani as a trouble maker. He queried allegations that most herdsmen carry sophisticated arms. “We love peace, unity and progress of this country and we cannot destroy what we love. People say we cause trouble by carrying arms. This is very untrue although they are some bad eggs amongst us which is the same to all people and races,” Abubakar stated.
Challenges
In the words of the herders, “Although a lot of gains are derivable from ranching, we are being faced with myriads of challenges.” Some of the challenges include the cost and logistics of the animal feeds. A bag of cotton seed cake costs N3, 500 while a bag of cassava peels costs N700. This is aside from the cost of transporting the feeds to the ranch.
Beside the above is the problem of inadequate water supply in the ranch. Abubakar who led this reporter round, said the only borehole serving the community cannot be extended to the animals. “We rely on surface water from ponds to feed our animals. The state government should help us with a solar-powered borehole to be able to take proper care,” he said.
Most disturbing to the herders is the lack of effective market for their milk. As much as 25 of 25-litre milk is produced daily but the product is wasted due to lack of adequate patronage or the non-existence of a dairy company to mop up the excess.
Although there are no issues of rustling, the ranch needs fencing to protect the cattle and herders from poachers. Blueprint learnt that occasional cases of petty thefts had been recorded in the past but the herders were able to handle them and nip in the bud tendencies for escalation of violence.
Appeals to government, others
An emerging force to reckon with in population and landmass, the Angwan Sulbawa community is in dire need of functional health and veterinary clinics to cater for the health needs of the people and animals in the ranch. And owing to the increasing need to participate in the electoral process, the people appealed to the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC) to create a polling unit to facilitate their civic responsibility. The snag, however, is that majority of them are yet to get their PVCs.
“We are ready to lead the way in showing other Fulani herdsmen that ranching is the way to go, but government both at federal and state levels, should help us to make the system work. Ours is a model for others to copy but people only copy what is attractive,” Abubakar stressed.
