President Bola Tinubu’s directive urging herders to end open grazing, surrender illegal weapons and fully embrace ranching has drawn sharp criticism from major opposition parties, who accuse the administration of offering rhetoric instead of a coherent security plan.
In separate interviews, spokespersons of the Labour Party (LP), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) said the President’s new national livestock initiative fails to address the root causes of insecurity and misdiagnoses the scale of the crisis facing rural communities.
The President had on Wednesday unveiled a national livestock plan designed to curb farmer–herder conflicts, curb armed violence and modernise livestock production. The policy forms part of the government’s broader security reforms and aligns with the mandate of the newly created Ministry of Livestock.
The directive came amid fresh school abductions in Niger and Kebbi States, as well as persistent violent clashes between farmers and herders across the North-Central region, where hundreds have been killed in recent months.
But opposition parties argue that the administration’s approach is inadequate.
“It is an organised criminal invasion,” Labour Party spokesperson Obiora Ifoh said, insisting that the government must recognise the attacks as coordinated armed aggression rather than a dispute over grazing systems.
The PDP and ADC similarly questioned the feasibility of Tinubu’s directive, arguing that armed groups involved in rural violence are unlikely to surrender weapons without a more robust security strategy, improved intelligence, and stronger deterrence measures.
They warned that relying on policy announcements without urgent on-the-ground interventions risks perpetuating insecurity, further destabilising rural communities and undermining public confidence in the administration’s reforms.
