Gombe State Governmemt has unveiled a new policy roadmap aimed at ending farmer–herder conflicts and modernising grazing practices in the state, with the inauguration of a White Paper Implementation Committee on grazing reserves, forests, game reserves and cattle routes.
Speaking at the inauguration, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya said the White Paper provided a comprehensive and forward-looking framework to tackle long-standing security challenges linked to unregulated grazing, banditry and environmental degradation.
The newly inaugurated committee comprises security experts, legal practitioners and geospatial technology professionals.
Its mandate is to translate government policy into clear, enforceable actions that will strengthen regulation and improve land management across the state.
Governor Yahaya explained that the committee’s work would be built on an earlier assessment carried out by a government-appointed panel, which examined challenges affecting grazing reserves, forest and game reserves, and cattle routes.
The panel’s findings and recommendations have since been approved by the State Executive Council and formally adopted in a White Paper, which according to the Governor, is designed to dismantle archaic grazing systems, reinforce security and legal frameworks and prevent clashes between farmers and herders, while also ensuring food security and peaceful coexistence.
He noted that competition over land and natural resources, particularly during harvest seasons, remains one of the most persistent causes of conflict in Northern Nigeria.
Governor Yahaya stressed that Nigeria still has vast areas of underutilised land which could be harnessed to support modern animal husbandry, saying confining grazing activities and ending long-distance cattle movement would help curb insecurity, banditry and kidnapping.
He further stated that restoring and protecting encroached grazing reserves and cattle routes was central to safeguarding the livelihoods of both farmers and herders, especially in a state where more than 80 per cent of the population depends on crop and livestock production.
Responding on behalf of the committee members, the committee chairman, retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, Babaji Sunday, pledged to deploy modern technology and best security practices to ensure the effective implementation of the White Paper in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.