The menace of cows roaming the streets of Abuja metropolis is becoming too dangerous and unbearable for motorists. The devastating impact of ramming into roaming cows or even hitting just one with a car, is better imagined than experienced. Just few days ago, I luckily missed ramming into two cows that were boldly and yet lazily moving into a major highway along Gwarimpa-Life Camp roundabout.
The two cows were straying from the herds of cattle dangerously moving along this busy highway. It was the mercy of God that saved me from that near dreadful encounter. The story of such near or actual encounters between motorists and roaming cows is no doubt a daily occurrence on the busy roads of Abuja metropolis. One may ask: for how long would Nigerians in this twenty-first century continue to tolerate such life-threatening situations in a cosmopolitan city where foreign diplomates reside?
Based on Sahara Reporters and Ripples Nigeria, news reports, here is an AI Overview’s summary of cow menace in Abuja: ‘Cow roaming freely through the heart of Abuja continue to cause traffic jams, safety hazards, and public outrage, prompting FCT Minister Nyesom Wike to issue a public apology and take responsibility…’. I am making reference to AI Overview to demonstrate that the issue is no longer local but already resides on the world stage.
Again, based on news reports by Sahara Reporters, Leadership Facebook News, Abuja Gist (Instagram Page), Realnews Magazine, and Independent Newspaper, the same AI Overview wrote copiously as follows:
Recent Sightings: Herds of cattle are still regularly spotted marching through major roads, residential neighbourhoods, and commercial districts. Videos frequently surface online of motorists and commuters stuck waiting in traffic while cows block lanes in central areas.
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Safety and Security Risks: Residents and groups like the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) point out that stray livestock create serious accident risks, damage public infrastructure, and tarnish the image of the nation’s capital. Some frustrated motorists involved in road incidents have even tried detaining stray cows on the spot as compensation for vehicle damage.
Minster’s Stance: FCT Minister…admitted failure on the issues during a media briefing, stating, ‘I apologize that up till now there are cows still roaming the streets of Abuja, I take responsibility.’ He previously labelled the unchecked movement of livestock a national security concern.
In another version of AI overview based on reports by Arise News (YouTube), and Independent Newspaper, Minister Wike was reported to have shifted tactics towards having dialogue with groups like the Miyetti Allah cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), alongside pursuing alternative long-term ranching and grazing barrier solutions. Meanwhile, in what appears to be a display of hypocritical policy posturing, the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) maintains that open grazing and stray animals on the streets of Abuja, remain illegal under the city regulations meant to protect motorists and the livestock. This empty policy statement raises the issue of enforceable policy against open grazing and roaming of cows on the streets of Abuja. Oddly any serious observer will notise that the FCT authorities have ringed off major Abuja flyover areas, which are regularly used by herdsmen for grazing. One may wonder whether this fencing was deliberately meant for grazing.
It will be recalled that our ever-strong man-looking minister once described the Abuja cow road menace as unacceptable, and as a practice that is not good and fair. As the Independent newspaper (September 13, 2025) rightly reported “a few days after assuming office as FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike had vowed to ‘send cows out of Abuja’ and arrest recalcitrant herders. Two years later, however, the once fiery minister admitted the task was tougher than he thought, acknowledging that dialogue with stakeholders had become inevitable”
There are a number of questions? First, how long will this dialogue take? Second, why is there official hesitation on dealing with the menace of cow roaming on the streets of Abuja? Third, why is the existing policy referred to earlier by the AEPB not being implemented or is it not implementable or enforceable? These and many other questions are begging for answers.
The issue of cow roaming and the broader issue of open grazing on the streets and residential neighbourhoods of Abuja, should not require a long period of time for a dialogue with the relevant stakeholders. A good and peaceful framework of understanding which should guide and quicken such a dialogue is that a sectional interest should not override broader societal or national interest. It is within this framework of understanding that a government with the right political will insist that first, cows should not roam the streets or along highways (an eyesore on airport road for instance). And secondly, cow owners should go the way of ranching in which case, the government can now work out the type of assistance that should be provided to them bearing in mind that cattle rearing is a business like any other agricultural business. Owners of such business should not pass the full cost of running their business to the government otherwise other business owners will demand the same full assistance.
On the issue of official hesitation on dealing with the menace of cow roaming, successive federal governments have been giving the cowardly impression that we are dealing with sacred cows in society. This is the same mentality that is killing the full implementation of public policies in this country. No democratic society makes full progress in its developmental strides when impunity reigns and culprits are allowed to go free without consequences. This accounts for why probes of wrong doings in governance do not produce the desired results. The protection of sacred cows in society therefore is one of the things obstructing Nigeria’s progress.
Furthermore, the reason for the non-implementation of the policy banning open grazing and roaming of cows in Abuja, is because of the unnecessary fear of sacred cows in society. This has made the policy to become unenforceable for lack of political will. Yet, the coercive power of the state lies with the government. When a federal government of Nigeria fails woefully to enforce its own laws, its weakness becomes very manifest, especially when such weakness reveals discriminatory tendencies. The protection of sectional interest against the interest of the whole is pure injustice, which is a violation our national motto of unity and faith, peace and progress. This violation is rooted in the fact that there can be no unity, peace and progress in a nation where discrimination and injustice reign supreme. Peace reigns for example, when justice is made a key principle of governance. Unfortunately, the lack of justice also makes corruption to fester because everybody is pursuing and advancing their own interests rather than national interest.
It is important to emphasize the elementary fact that government exists to make and enforce laws for the good governance of the people, and anything short of this, makes its existence utterly meaningless. Consequently, if the existing policy against cow roaming and open grazing in Abuja is not enforceable then, there is urgent need to develop an implementable and enforceable policy. Above all, this requires political will. As it is now, many peace loving Nigerians are tired of the unwarranted fear of sacred cows by a government that has the coercive power to maintain law and order thereby banishing the of reign of impunity and lawlessness in the society.
Prof. Obasi, a public policy expert and analyst is formerly of the Department of Public Administration, University of Abuja. Email: nnamdizik@gmail.com; Cell: 07065692668
