Stakeholders Rally for Compliance with Oyo's 2019 Ranching Regulation

News in Brief

-Oyo State defends the 2019 Anti-Open Rearing and Grazing Law at a summit, emphasising its role in preventing farmer-herder clashes, protecting farmlands, and promoting peace.

-The chairman of the enforcement authority called for better compliance via awareness, collaboration among farmers, herders, traditional rulers, and security agencies.

The Oyo State Government has strongly defended its 2019 Anti-Open Rearing and Grazing Law, describing it as a vital tool for curbing deadly farmer-herder clashes that have long plagued the state's agricultural heartlands while fostering peace and safeguarding farmlands. 

Speaking at a key stakeholders' summit in Ibadan, officials from the Oyo State Rule of Law Enforcement Authority (OYRLEA) reaffirmed the policy's role in protecting livelihoods and promoting harmonious coexistence among diverse communities, without targeting any ethnic group. The event is part of the ongoing push for compliance amid persistent conflicts that threaten food security and economic stability for Nigerian farmers and pastoralists.

Summit Spotlights Law's Purpose and Challenges

The stakeholders' summit on adherence to the grazing law, convened in Ibadan, brought together government agencies, security operatives, traditional rulers, farmers, herders, and community leaders to dissect implementation hurdles. 

Hon. Justice Aderonke Aderemi (Rtd), Chairperson of OYRLEA, explained that the legislation was enacted to address escalating farmer-herder disputes, farmland destruction, public safety risks, and economic disruptions across Oyo's 33 local government areas.

Established in 2024 to enforce regulations on open grazing and environmental protection, the authority highlighted the law's framework for order, investment protection, and community harmony.

Justice Aderemi noted that while the policy is firmly in place since its passage by the Oyo State House of Assembly and signing by Governor Seyi Makinde in 2019, the real battle lies in enforcement and widespread compliance.

"The summit is convened to critically examine adherence: where are we getting it right, where are the gaps, and what must we do differently to strengthen compliance?" she asked.

Aderemi further emphasised that success demands more than enforcement. It also requires awareness campaigns, stakeholder cooperation, and shared responsibility to realise the law's goals of lasting peace and sustainable development.

This comes against a backdrop of frequent clashes, with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) reporting up to 100 farmer-herder clashes monthly in Oyo, often involving cattle trespassing on crops, poisoning, and escalating violence in areas like Oluyole, Oke-Ogun, and Ibarapa. Such conflicts have devastated farms, displaced families, and contributed to national food insecurity, mirroring broader Nigerian challenges where open grazing has fueled over 60,000 deaths since 2001.

Call for Collaborative Enforcement

Justice Aderemi urged robust partnerships among all parties, including government bodies, security forces, traditional leaders, farmers, and herders, to enforce the law and ease grazing-related tensions. The state reiterated the law's centrality to public order, agricultural safeguards, and ethnic harmony, aligning with Governor Makinde's commitment to dialogue-driven solutions.