Photo: Vanguard
When Government Priorities Miss the Real People
Imagine waking up every morning under a tarpaulin sheet that does nothing to keep out the harmattan cold. Imagine your children have not attended school in months. Imagine you cannot plant your farm, cannot bury your dead properly, and cannot even mourn in peace — because you are still living in a makeshift camp, years after violence chased you from the land your grandfather left you. This is the daily reality for thousands of Benue State residents who have been displaced from their homes, and yet — somehow — the Federal Government wants to talk about ranching before sorting this mess out.
Na wa o.
Benue socio-cultural and community leaders have now come out strongly to tell the Federal Government what should be common sense: before you start implementing any ranching policy on our land, first help our people go back home. Simple. Direct. And yet, here we are, still having this conversation.
The Human Cost Nobody Wants to Talk About
Let us be very clear about what is happening in Benue right now. These are not statistics. These are actual families — farmers, teachers, market women, old men and young children — who have been living in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps for months, some even years. They left with nothing but the clothes on their backs when herdsmen-farmer clashes and other violence swept through their communities like wildfire.
The numbers are staggering. Benue has consistently ranked among the states with the highest IDP populations in Nigeria's Middle Belt region. These displaced persons are not enjoying some government-sponsored holiday. They are surviving on whatever humanitarian aid trickles in, dealing with disease outbreaks, poor sanitation, trauma, and the kind of hopelessness that breaks a person's spirit.
And while all this is happening, federal policymakers are busy drawing up blueprints for ranching — a policy that, at its core, involves land management for cattle grazing. You see why Benue leaders are vexed? Their people cannot even access their own farmland, and someone in Abuja is planning what to do with that same land for cattle.
Leaders Speak Up — Finally
The Benue socio-cultural organisations have appealed to their people to remain calm and law-abiding — which, if you ask me, shows remarkable restraint given the situation. They have also promised to keep engaging relevant federal authorities to press their demands. But make no mistake, the message is clear and firm: our people must return to their homes before any conversation about ranching can begin.
This is not just emotion talking. This is logic. How do you implement a land-use policy on land where the original inhabitants are still displaced? How do you talk about cattle settlements when human beings — Nigerian citizens with voter cards and national identities — are still living like refugees in their own country? The disconnect is almost insulting.
The Dangerous Gap Between Abuja and Ground Reality
This situation perfectly captures a problem that has plagued Nigeria for decades: the massive gap between what federal policymakers think is happening and what is actually happening on the ground. In Abuja, ranching sounds like a progressive, modern solution to the age-old herdsmen-farmer conflict. On paper, it looks great. Create designated grazing areas, modernise cattle rearing, reduce conflict. Beautiful.
But in Benue, in the actual villages and communities where this policy would land, the people are still traumatised. The wounds are fresh. Trust has broken down completely. And the very communities that are supposed to coexist peacefully under this new arrangement cannot even access their own homes yet. How do you build a future on land where the past has not been addressed?
It is like telling a man whose house just burned down that you want to redecorate his living room. Oga, first let the man find somewhere to sleep!
What the Federal Government Needs to Do — Now
The demands from Benue leaders are not unreasonable. If anything, they are the bare minimum of what a responsible government should be doing. Here is what needs to happen:
- Prioritise IDP returns immediately: Create a structured, safe, and funded programme to help displaced Benue families return to their communities with security guarantees in place.
- Security must come first: You cannot send people back to communities that are still unsafe. The Nigerian military and police must establish visible, sustained presence in affected local government areas before resettlement begins.
- Rebuild destroyed communities: Many homes, schools, and health centres were destroyed during the violence. Rebuilding these is not optional — it is a condition for sustainable return.
- Consult communities before ranching policy: Any policy that affects land use in Benue must involve genuine consultation with the people who live there. Not just governors or senators, but actual community leaders and residents.
- Accountability for past violence: Justice must be served. Perpetrators of violence that caused this displacement must face consequences. Without this, returning residents will always feel unsafe.
The Bigger Picture: Nigeria's IDP Crisis
Benue is not alone in this struggle. Across Nigeria's North Central and Northeast zones, millions of Nigerians are still displaced due to various forms of insecurity. The UNHCR and various humanitarian organisations have consistently flagged Nigeria as having one of the most serious internal displacement crises in Africa.
Yet it sometimes feels like this crisis gets treated as background noise in Nigerian politics — something to mention during campaigns and then forget about once in office. The displaced people of Benue deserve better than to be a campaign talking point. They deserve to go home.
Bottom Line: Fix the People Problem First
Ranching or no ranching, the Federal Government cannot in good conscience push any land-related policy in Benue while thousands of its citizens are still living in displacement camps. The optics alone should be enough to give any serious government pause.
Benue leaders are right to push back. Their people have suffered long enough. And if the Federal Government truly wants peace and development in the Middle Belt — and not just policy wins they can celebrate in Abuja — then the first step is clear: bring our people home. Everything else comes after.
Because at the end of the day, no ranching policy, no matter how well-designed, will work in communities that are still bleeding.
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