THE presidency has opened talks with the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) to stop cows from roaming freely in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
The dialogue, held on Friday, September 12, was convened by the Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman of MACBAN’s Board of Trustees, Sa’ad Abubakar, alongside the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Maiha.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Livestock Development, Idris Abiola-Ajimobi, said the meeting was part of efforts to provide lasting solutions to pastoralist challenges and end open grazing in the city.
“We are working together with the Ministry of Livestock Development and other relevant agencies to address the root causes of the problems.
”The issue of livestock moving around the streets of Abuja. We must first solve the issue of greasing reserves; we are working on ranches, and we are working on the Special Agro Industrial Processing Zone,” Ajimobi said.
He explained that the government was working on reviving grazing reserves, developing ranches, and establishing Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones to provide pastoralists with essential facilities such as veterinary services, water, and schools.
Accordingly, the Special Assistant to the Minister of Education on Almajiri and Out-of-School-Children Education, Balarabe Kakale, also disclosed that the session focused on the education of pastoralist children, many of whom form a large share of Nigeria’s out-of-school population.
He said MACBAN leaders had agreed to move into designated grazing reserves once the facilities are ready.
National President of MACBAN, Baba Othman-Ngelzarma, said the dialogue was aimed at finding a workable model for Abuja, with the possibility of replicating it in other parts of the country.
” You can see we have invited all the stakeholders, the leadership of MACBAN from the six Area Councils of the FCT, and those families whose cows are roaming the streets of the city centre.
“We all invited them to hear from them. Let’s know what the process is that is bringing them into the city, and how can we stop it?” Othman-Ngelzarma said.
He acknowledged that over 80 per cent of the estimated 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria come from pastoralist communities.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the committee will be set up to monitor the implementation of the resolutions.
The development comes months after repeated warnings by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, that open grazing would no longer be tolerated in Abuja.
In April 2025, The ICIR reported that despite Wike’s threats, cows continued to roam the streets of the FCT. Cattle were spotted in several highbrow areas of the city, including Maitama, Katampe, Jabi, Wuye, and along Airport Road, with residents forced to stop their vehicles to allow herds to cross.
Residents interviewed by The ICIR attributed the persistence of open grazing to political interference, claiming that many of the herds belonged to powerful figures. Others said the absence of ranching facilities has made it difficult to enforce the ban.
The Federal Government had earlier created the Ministry of Livestock Development in July 2025, raising expectations that the ministry would resolve the long-running problem of herder–farmer clashes and open grazing in cities. But months after its creation, cattle still roam freely in the capital.
Wike’s critics say his record of broken promises also undermines confidence. Aside from open grazing, his bans on street begging and the operation of second-hand markets (Panteka) were repeatedly flouted by residents and traders across Abuja.
A reporter with the ICIR
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