By Dan Mou

Tackling the persistent security challenges concerning the farmers and herders in Nigeria has become a very complex matter. It needs to be approached carefully, objectively, and dispassionately. So far, political considerations, rather than pure technical issues of policy making and implementation, seemed to have become the main determinant factor in this process of attempting to resolve these issues.

In his inaugural address to his fellow Nigerians at his swearing in ceremony, late President Muhammadu Buhari announced that, to paraphrase, his administration was not for anybody or group. It was for everybody and every group. However, late President Buhari is known to have completely abandoned this his initial philosophy of neutrality and objectivity in policy making and implementation when he assumed power. It was very clear to all keen observers, local and international, that most of the late President Buhari’s policies and programmes, became totally captured and hostaged by the Fulani Ethnic Group throughout the eight years of his administration.

To focus on the issue before us, all the policy initiatives that late President Buhari attempted to implement, supposedly to address the Killings and displacement of farmers by the Fulani Herdsmen Terrorists and Bandits, were all designed to favour the aggressors, the Fulanis.

They were couched in the political language of “peace, harmonious co-existence and security ” between farmers and herders. Yet, this was mere political language meant for deception of the public. This is because his intended policies and programmes had nothing in them for the farmers, who have always been victims in this unfolding insecurity drama in Nigeria. It was not surprising to anyone, therefore , that all his proposals, from RUGA to Fulani Cattle Colonies, were wantonly and openely rejected by Nigerians because of their hidden dangerous agenda.
Even though Buhari is late now, it appears that the capture of contemporary public policies and programmes to serve mainly the interests of the Fulani Ethnic Group, while pretending to be for the general public interests, has continued unadulterated at the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development under the leadership of Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha, the Honourable Minister incharge of that Ministry. No where is this unjust philosophy clearly demonstrated than in his recent announcement regarding the Policy and Programmes for the Development of “Pilot Ranching Reserves” exclusively in the Middle Belt States of Nigeria

The question that comes to mind is clearly telling of his ill motives: Why will he choose to locate the proposed pilot schemes for the development of ranching reserves exclusively in the Middle Belt States of Nigeria? These are: Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kaduna, and Adamawa States, alongside the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (FCT).

These are the same States that the Fulani Herdsmen Militia and their Associations, such as MACBAN, have vowed to capture them and take over the Native Lands by force, if need be, for the grazing of their cattles!

Even more shockingly, these states are not the ones known for cattle rearing and milk production. They are States occupied primarily by farmers who engage mainly in root crops and cash crops farming. These Middle Belt States would rather have Mechanised Farming Parks, Tractor Highering Centres, Ago – Processing Factories, and the likes, than Ranching Reserves.

The ONLY reason why the Hon. Minister Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha has chosen them is because these were and are the very same States in the country where late President Buhari also wanted to commence his Policies of RUGA and the establishment of Fulani Colonies.

Thus, to Hon. Minister Maiha, the primary goals are not the modernisation of Livestock Development and Production for local consumption and exports to earn foreign exchange. It is mainly to establish RUGA and the Fulani Settlement Colonies as had been proposed by late President Buhari, under the new name of “Ranching Reserves” within the Middle Belt States of Nigeria.

It is a known fact that objective policy thinking would have dictated that States in Nigeria where this policy and programmes of Pilot Ranching Reserves should have commenced were the far northern states. These are States where the rearing and milking of cattle is their primary business .

These states are: Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe, Bornu, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, Bauchi, and Gombe States. It is these States that should have formed the major focus for the development of Ranching Reserves and Modernisation of Livestock Development, Production, Distribution, and Sale in Nigeria. It is when this policy and programmes succeed fully in these far Northern States that one would have thought of scaling them up to the Middle Belt States and even to Southern Nigeria, if necessary. It is clearly a misnomer that the Hon. Minister of Livestock Development had instead chosen to commence his “Pilot Ranching Reserves” in the Middle Belt States, where cattle rearing is almost completely absent!

What the Hon. Minister of Livestock Development, Alhji Maiha, has done, if not immediately, stopped by the Presidency and carefully managed, it will present the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration also in a very bad light as it was the case under the late President Muhammadu Buhari Administration’s attempts, supposedly, to deal with the herdsmen Massacre and destruction of farmers homes and farms. Thus, instead of the Hon. Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Maiha, talking about “Ranching Reserves ” in the Middle Belt States, including Benue State, the first thing the Federal Government should be thinking about is the setting up of a huge REHABILITATION AND RESTORATION FUND ( RRF) to restore the displaced victims of Fulani Terrorism and Baditry, most of whom have been in Intellally Displaced Persons Camps (IDPs) up to twenty (20) years, back to their home lands, particularly again, in all the Middle Belt States .This RRF could be used to build homes and other amenities for them (similar to those being proposed under the “Ranching Reserves “, such as schools, electricity, police stations, and hospitals. The RRF would also be used to give the returning farmers sufficient grants ( not loans) to reestablish their farms and other businesses they lost during their massacre and displacement by the Fulani Herdsmen Terrorists and Bandits.

While this is going on, the proposed “Ranching Reserves ” in the Middle Belt States should be completely cancelled. Instead, New Sites for the Pilot Ranching Reserves should be selected in the far Northern States of Sokoto, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kano, Zamfara, Bauchi and so forth, as I have already enumerated above.

The construction of these Pilot Ranching Reserves in these far Northern States where cattle rearing is their main business, will enable all the Fulani Herdsmen roaming all over the Middle Belt States and beyond, to go back to these Ranching Reserves in the far Northern States to occupy them and settle down there to continue with their cattle rearing businesses in peace and comfort.

Consequently, therefore, they will be no need for the Fulani Herders to be moving down to the Middle Belt and other Zones in the Southern Parts of the country destroying farms, killing people , and displacing the Native Inhabitants in these communities. Certainly, this will be a better and more permanent way of bringing about peace between farmers and the herders in Nigeria.

The current policy by the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development under the leadership of Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha of buying or even consificating the lands of the killed and displaced farmers in the Middle Belt States to commence Pilot Ranching Reserves for the Fulani Herdsmen who have done the killings and displacement of these farmers is totally unjust, inhuman, insensitive and presents the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration as being in support of the inhumanity and injustice being done to the farmers over these several years, simply to please their killers and destroyers, namely the Fulani Herdsmen Terrorists and Bandits.

This unfortunate impression should be totally avoided by the Tinubu Government.
Hence , there is the need to first or at least simultaneously, deal with the plight of the victims of these Fulani Militia and Herdsmen Terrorists. These are the indigenous settler farmers. Preferably, therefore, these proposed “Ranching Reserves” should immediately be relocated and constructed in the far northern States, as I have suggested here above.

The Tinubu Administration can not and should not, afford to adopt a one- sided approach in trying to solve the security challenges in Nigeria arising between the farmers and the herders, as the late President Muhammadu Buhari was always trying to do, with totally failure of such bias , unjust and inhuman policies and programmes, please.

By Isa Abdul

Weeks of protests in India over exam paper leaks and testing irregularities have forced the minister of education, Dharmendra Pradhan, to resign.

The protests which were started by students escalated, gaining national attention and support. They metamorphosed into a national movement: the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).

CJP, is not a real party, but a satirical campaign.

Protesters adopted the term”cockroach” after a senior judge used it for some unemployed young people, thus, Indian youth reclaimed it as a symbol of resilience and defiance.

With the protests appealing and becoming one of the biggest displays of dissent against Narendra Modi’s government in years, it got thousands camping in Delhi as demonstrations spread nationwide.

The police crackdown on protesters marching to parliament also sparked more fury from the public.

In addition, the movement’s protests gathered momentum, when last week, activist Sonam Wangchuk who became part of it, was forcibly taken to hospital to end his 26-day hunger strike on Friday.

However, with India’s education minister, Pradhan, resigning from office on 25th July, 2026, the ‘youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has called off its protest hours after the resignation.

In his comment, Activist Sonam Wangchuk said: “This is a victory for democracy.”

–My nightmare now over, ex-minister

By Isa Abdul

Former Nigerian oil minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has finally been cleared of all five charges preferred against her by a London court of taking bribes from wealthy oil executives in the form of luxury home stays and lavish spending sprees in the UK.

The 65-year old ex-oil minister was found not guilty after a trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court that lasted over a decade based on charges of accepting bribes and a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Alison-Madueke was Nigeria’s petroleum minister between 2010 and 2015 under President Goodluck Jonathan government and the first female president of the oil exporters group OPEC.

The verdict is seen in some quarters as a blow for the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), which had been investigating one of Africa’s most prominent political figures for 13 years.

From the start of the trial in January, defence lawyers questioned the fairness of the prosecution’s case, suggesting vital documents showing Alison-Madueke’s innocence had gone missing in Nigeria.

They also said the long delay in bringing the case to court was unjust and a sign of Britain’s “broken criminal justice system”.

Also cleared by the jury were Alison-Madueke’s older brother Doye Agama, 69, an archbishop at a Pentecostal church in Manchester, who was acquitted of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Oil industry executive Olatimbo Ayinde, 54, too was found not guilty of bribery and bribery of a foreign public official.

She had faced prosecution despite being an informant in an anti-corruption probe by the Nigerian authorities.

‘Madam due process’
Alison-Madueke portrayed herself in court as a role model for women, a tireless fighter against corruption, and someone who was such a stickler for the rules she was nicknamed “Madam due process”.

She became the first female member on the Nigerian board of oil and gas giant Shell in 2006, and four years later was appointed oil minister, the country’s second most senior politician. She became president of Opec in 2014.

“In a very patriarchal society, to have a woman sitting at the helm was a major no-no,” she told the court, suggesting this had made her a target for unnamed male opponents.

Prosecutor Alexandra Healy KC said the former minister improperly allowed powerful men with lucrative government contracts in the oil business to bankroll her extravagant lifestyle.

Six of them were named on the indictment, although none were charged.

But the prosecution failed to provide evidence she awarded contracts to any of the oil tycoons named because of bribes.

“At no time did I ask, take, ‌or ⁠seek a bribe or bribes of any sort,” Alison-Madueke told the court, saying many of the luxury items purchased were not for her, and that she had been with the oil men to offer advice on interior design in their own properties.

Alison-Madueke told the court that Nigerian ministers were not allowed to hold foreign bank accounts when on service overseas, and her department’s office in London was in such disarray that she relied on wealthy businessmen funding her living expenses.

She said they were always reimbursed in Nigeria and evidence proving this had been seized from her home in Abuja but never produced by the authorities there.

Former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, who had appointed Alison-Madueke, did not appear as a witness. But he provided a statement in which he said third parties would often pay for transport, accommodation and other items for ministers on official overseas business.

Questions raised by the case

Diezani Alison-Madueke said the verdict means her “nightmare is over”
There were a number of unanswered questions that seem to have fatally undermined the prosecution.

Defence barrister Jonathan Laidlaw KC questioned why the Nigerian government had not sought to prosecute Alison-Madueke.

He said Alison-Madueke had “effectively been kept prisoner in this country for almost 11 years… unable to work, unable to travel” while the NCA had “done nothing to bring about the extradition” of the six oil men said to have paid bribes to her.

The jury was not told why they had not been charged.

The defence claimed the investigation had been compromised from the start because the NCA was denied access to the search of Alison-Madueke’s Abuja home in 2015.

They relied on work done on their behalf by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

But while the prosecution told the jury to trust how the EFCC had gathered evidence against Alison-Madueke, at the same time it advised them to disregard the commission’s evidence in relation to a co-defendant in the trial.

The defence case of Olatimbo Ayinde, the oil industry executive who was also found not guilty by the jury, was that she had been working as an informant for the Nigerian authorities to expose corruption.

Ayinde, a Nigerian businesswoman with British citizenship, said she had been encouraged by the west African country’s security services to “play along” with those in government who were asking her for bribes.

An EFCC investigator, who had travelled to London from Nigeria, told the court Ayinde had given “vital information that assisted the investigation”.

“Miss Ayinde’s plan was to help law enforcement and now she’s there in the dock,” said her barrister Jonathan Lennon KC who had sought unsuccessfully to have his client’s case thrown out of court.

In a statement after the verdict, Alison-Madueke said her “nightmare is over”.

She said: “For 11 long, gruelling years this case has hung over my head and has tormented me and my family. But today, the past decade of relentless and unjust vilification, condemnation and scrutiny has finally come to an end.”