Pendency Of The National Grazing Reserve Bill At The National
Assembly: Setting The Records Straight
(Onitsha Nigeria, 4th May 2016)-Our attention has, again, been drawn to public statements
credited to some serving Senators in Nigeria to the effect that the National
Grazing Reserve Bill is not before the Upper Chamber or Senate of the National
Assembly. The latest of such statements was credited to the Deputy Senate
President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu during his recent outing in Enugu. We wish to
state strongly that the referenced public statements are deceitful,
diversionary, distractive and misleading.The implication of such statements is
that there is nothing like “the National Grazing Reserve Bill 2008 & 2016”
before the National Assembly of Nigeria; whether passive or active; or that the
Bill is nonexistent.
We
had in our recent position paper sent to the National Assembly through the
Senate President and the House Speaker, dated 26th of April 2016,
disclosed as follows: “two Bills concerning the above subject
matter, originally drawn from the National Grazing Reserve (Establishment &
Development) Bill 2008, introduced and sponsored by Senator Zainab Kure of
Niger South Senatorial District of Niger State in the 6th National
Assembly (2007-2011); are presently before the House of Reps. The two Bills are
aimed at creating grazing reserves, ranches and cattle reserves across the 36
states to be funded with public funds through the establishment of a National
Grazing Reserve Commission, an agency to be placed under the direct control of
President Muhammadu Buhari, who is also the national patron of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association
of Nigeria (MACBAN)”.
We further disclosed that “one of the two grazing reserve Bills under
reference was published in the official National Assembly Gazette of February
1, 2016 and the other was published in the March 16, 2016 edition of the
National Assembly Journal. The two Bills contain details of the proposed law.
The first Bill with number HB.16.02.388 is titled: “A Bill for an Act to
Establish the National Grazing Route and Reserve Commission, to establish and control
Grazing Routes and Reserves in all parts of Nigeria and other incidental
matters thereto…” It is sponsored by Honourable Sunday Karimi from Kogi
State while the second Bill, published on March 16, 2016 and titled: “A
Bill for an Act to Establish Grazing Reserve in each State of the Federation of
Nigeria to improve Agriculture yield from livestock farming and curb incessant
conflicts between Cattle farmers and crop farmers in Nigeria and for Related
Matters,” is marked HB.16.03.448 and sponsored by Hon Sadiq Ibrahim of
Fafure/Song Federal Constituency in Adamawa State. The Bill is contained in
pages 931 to 941 of the National Assembly Journal, Volume 13. The two Bills are
being consolidated, having passed the Second Reading at the House of Reps (source:
Nigerian Tribune Newspaper, April 20, 2016). The two Bills are mostly a
replication or repetition of the first National Grazing Reserve Commission Bill
of 2008, sponsored by Senator Zainab Kure. The following link contains the
original National Grazing Reserve Bill of 2008 under reference: http://nass.gov.ng/document/download/147”.
Legislatively speaking, for a Bill to
be passed as a law before a presidential assent, it must have originated from
the two or either of the two chambers of the National Assembly. If such Bill
originates from the House of Reps, for instance, much of its ground works
including Third Reading and passage will be done at the same House of Reps,
after which, it will be transmitted to the Upper Chamber or Senate for a
concurrent passage. The passed Bill transmitted to the Senate undergoes lesser
legislative work and requires harmonization if there are grey areas. This means
that irrespective of the particular chamber where the Bill under reference is
presently located or rooted, the two chambers (Senate and House of Reps) must
pass or reject it concurrently at the end of the day. That is to say that the
controversial Bill is actively before the House of Reps segment of the National
Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and passively originated from the
Sixth Senate Session (2007-2011). Till date, its original version exists in the
National Assembly archive: http://nass.gov.ng/document/download/147:
A typical
example of the detailed explanation above is “A Bill for An Act for the Repeal
of the Nigerian Traffic Warden Decree 29 of 1975” (2016); which is one of the
worse existing bureaucratic injustices in the country against officers of the
Traffic Warden Service. The Bill was originally sponsored by Hon Victor Afam
Ogene of the Ogbaru Federal Constituency in Anambra State during the 2011-2015 session of the House of
Reps. The Bill was at the Committee stage when the 2015 general polls were held
and its sponsor did not return. In the present 8th National
Assembly, a Senator has dusted it up and it has, again, passed Second Reading.
If at the end, it is passed at the Senate, surely, it will be transmitted to
the Lower Chamber or House of Reps for concurrent passage before it can be
signed into law by the President.
We call on all
Nigerians and members of the international community to refuse to be distracted
or have their minds diverted. Strictly and factually speaking, the
controversial, genocidal and ethnic war drumming “National Grazing Reserve Bill
2016” is passively originated from the Senate of 2007-2011 session and actively
laid, presently, before the House of Reps section of the 8th
National Assembly of Nigeria. It is already on its way from Committee stage to
the Third Reading/Debate session. Attempts by the powers that be to manipulate
and suppress the rising public opinion against the obnoxious Bill; by denying
the pendency of same, must be resisted with utter vehemence by all and sundry.
We restate our
strong opposition to the Bill and insist that some religious fundamentalists
have hijacked the Federal establishments in Nigeria and vowed to Islamize the
country through a combination of violent and political means. The crude
practice of Fulani Animal Husbandry throughout the country must be abolished
and strictly restricted to the core north. The Federal Government must also hands off the
epidemic Bill and refrains from its steady moves to plunge Nigeria into
genocide and intractable anarchy.
The Southern
Nigeria and its sister old Middle Belt must say no to institutionalization and
nationalization of crude and violent Fulani Animal Husbandry in their ancestral
areas with the exception of its trading. They must say no to crude and violent
Fulani Cattle grazing and pasturing methodologies in Nigeria. The Fulani Cattle herders and owners must be
reminded that Right to freedom of movement guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution
does not allow “right to freedom of violent movement” or “unprovoked guest
hostilities against the host”. Nigerians
must keep vigil and be vigilant until the criminal Bill is massively and
legislatively destroyed to be dusted up no more.
Signed:
For: International Society for Civil Liberties &
the Rule of Law
Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman
Barr Obianuju Joy Igboeli, Head, Civil Liberties &
Rule of Law Program
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