Three Years Since Launch, Nigeria's N68.3 Million DPI Tool Fails to Address Cattle Rustling

Two years have passed, and Hashimu Yahaya continues to tally his losses.

The young herder reflects on the fateful day when armed intruders assaulted his home in Rudwang, a minor Fulani community in the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, in 2023.

The violent incident, he explained, was an extension of unrest between farmers and herders that ignited in Mangu a month prior and persisted throughout the year, spilling over into surrounding areas and culminating in what has been referred to as the Christmas Eve attack.

Although Mr. Yahaya managed to escape, he tragically lost five family members, including his younger sibling, Ismail.

“They were murdered, their bodies mutilated before being discarded in a well,” he recounted, his voice breaking with emotion.

In addition to the human toll, Mr. Yahaya also reported that the assailants made off with 80 cattle owned by his family.

He stated that he reported the cattle theft to both police and military forces, but they were unable to recover any of the animals, estimating his loss at N40 million.

In recent years, violence in Plateau State has resulted in numerous fatalities. For herding families such as Mr. Yahaya’s, the loss extends beyond lives; their cattle are routinely stolen or lost, hindering their ability to rebuild economically.

A Technological Solution Outside the Reach of Herdsmen

Mr. Yahaya’s struggles reflect the disconnect between Nigeria’s livestock policy assurances and the on-ground reality.

In 2022, the Nigerian government, via the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, unveiled the National Animal Identification System (NAITS), which was marketed as a tech-based strategy to combat cattle rustling and enhance the livestock sector.

NAITS was developed around a digital livestock identification and tracing mechanism called Ranch.ID. Descriptions on the NAITS website detail that the tool implements two-dimensional “data matrix barcodes on ear tags.”

These ear tags are designed to incorporate “biometric identifiers like facial recognition as well as detailed cattle passport information.”

In principle, the system embodies crucial aspects of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) by aspiring to establish a standardized national database that enhances coordination among agencies and integrates pastoralists who traditionally operate outside formal structures.

Yet, despite being operational for several years, herders like Mr. Yahaya report that they have not felt the effects of this initiative.

“I only heard whispers about such a system four years ago during discussions among peers in our village,” he revealed.

Opaque Funding and Implementation Issues

Reports indicate that the federal government allocated N68.3 million (N68,363,636.36) for the initiative's development. However, there is an absence of a public dashboard showing the number of animals registered nationwide, details on states utilizing the system, or any instances where tagged cattle were recovered post-theft.

Experts express that this lack of transparency contributes to the problem at hand.

The Scope of Cattle Rustling

Cattle rustling has shifted from isolated thefts to a significant instigator of rural violence across Nigeria. Security analysts and herders’ associations note that armed groups now steal livestock en masse, trading them in unregulated markets and using the proceeds to finance terrorism.

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) estimates that over four million cattle have been rustled since 2014, coinciding with the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency. However, according to MACBAN’s national president, Baba Ngelzarma, no centralized data exists to verify this figure.

A 2024 study by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) and the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) suggests that cattle rustling commenced as sporadic theft in 2011 and transitioned into a primary revenue source for local terrorist groups known as bandits.

The criminal economy has since expanded, but it started to wane in 2019 as focus shifted to kidnappings and mining. By late 2023, research indicated that the scale of theft had reached a point where armed groups had become the predominant cattle owners in parts of the North-west, leading to conflicts over dwindling herds.

As herders search for safer havens, bandits have followed them, continuing to target their livestock.

A DPI Concept Yet to Mature

Digital governance specialists describe NAITS as a nascent DPI with potential but hindered by poor institutional execution. While the design indicates inclusivity and the potential for reusability, it lacks in critical areas of DPI functionality.

Although livestock management in Nigeria is predominantly decentralized, NAITS appears to function as a federated system. The government claimed in 2022 that deployment had begun in at least ten states, including Bauchi, Edo, Enugu, Lagos, Katsina, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, and the FCT. Yet, there is no reliable public record confirming operational effectiveness or adoption rates.

Mr. Ngelzarma mentioned that the scheme, originally piloted by the private firm Megacorps Nigeria Limited, has not yet come to fruition. He attributed this to ongoing “policy and bureaucratic challenges that have yet to be resolved.”

According to Mr. Ngelzarma, commencing initiatives like NAITS involves obstacles, one of which includes the establishment of the Ministry of Livestock Development, which will oversee NAITS. However, inter-ministerial competition remains, as evidenced by the recent launch of the initiative in Kogi and Kwara states.

Ezeaja Ikemefuna, a representative from the Ministry of Agriculture’s information department, stated that the initiative is now under the purview of Livestock Development and that all inquiries should be directed there.

Nonetheless, the Ministry of Livestock has not yet responded to inquiries.

NAITS also falls short in another key DPI area—interoperability. It is uncertain whether NAITS’ data is shared with relevant agencies like security departments.

As part of Nigeria's broader digital transformation agenda, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has been spearheading what it calls the ‘Nigerian e-Government Interoperability Framework (Ne-GIF)’ since 2018, aiming to standardize communication, data exchange, and service integration among ministries, departments, and agencies.

This year, it aims to begin applying the framework, indicating plans to deploy interoperable systems such as the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) to facilitate secure data sharing among government platforms.

“Sometimes we can trace the cattle, but recovering them is problematic without the involvement of security personnel,” noted Mr. Yahaya, caught up in the cattle rustling crisis in Plateau.

Echoing this sentiment, Mr. Ngelzarma remarked that while the technology might not suffice to end cattle rustling, it could enhance livestock production and consumption standards.

Digital governance expert and digital rights lead at the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Ali Sabo, reiterated that while tools can generate data, securing recovery against theft requires active involvement from security institutions.

Concerns were also raised among herders regarding the feasibility of ear tags, as criminals could readily remove them. Mr. Ngelzarma sought to alleviate these fears by explaining that various models are available, including some that can be embedded under the skin of the animal, ensuring that technical teams can determine the optimal options.

Current findings reveal that Megacorps continues to manage the technical elements of NAITS, a fact that Mr. Sabo worries could compromise government data sovereignty and pose long-term sustainability concerns.

He stressed the importance of transparency, accountability, and public scrutiny in procurement processes, highlighting the challenge of assessing value for public funds without accessible data on implementation and results.

According to Mr. Sabo, while NAITS holds promise as an emerging DPI, its execution remains incomplete, particularly concerning governance, transparency, and inter-agency collaboration.

Uche Ononye, Megacorps’ Chief Operating Officer and NAITS Project Lead, conveyed to this publication that the firm has established the system, which he asserts is inclusive, interoperable, and safeguards privacy. He acknowledged that room for improvement exists.

“The greatest obstacle,” Mr. Ononye stated, lies in the system's execution. “The technological framework has been developed; the focus now is on execution.”

He highlighted the necessity for effective sensitization and awareness towards the initiative’s functioning.

For herders like Mr. Yahaya, there's hope that the initiatives may mitigate the incessant cattle rustling issue if they are properly implemented.

“I have yet to formally hear about it,” he emphasized. “However, I trust that such technology could help alleviate this problem.”

This report is part of the DPI Africa Journalism Fellowship Programme of the Media Foundation for West Africa in collaboration with Co-Develop.