Northern governors say open pastures are outdated
On Tuesday, northern governors called outdoor grazing obsolete. They said it must stop.
This decision was the result of a virtual meeting of the Northern Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
The decision is in line with the position of Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduja, who said that shepherds should take up farming and stop grazing their cows from north to south in search of pasture.
The Senate warned that the aggravation of the peasant-shepherd conflict could lead to inter-religious wars and famine.
The governors of the North, according to a communiqué from the meeting issued by its president, Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong, decided to draw the attention of herders to the need for breeding and other acceptable modern methods.
They said that the current livestock grazing system, carried out mainly by open grazing, is no longer sustainable given the country’s growing urbanization and population growth.
Read also: Rulers, Mietti Allah: Outdoor Grazing Must Stop
“Consequently, the Forum decided to aggressively attract the attention of the pastors.”
They called on the federal government to support states with grants to directly implement modern livestock pilot projects that will serve as a stepping stone and test to break resistance to fully adopting new livestock methods.
They also decided to engage older and young people in an in-depth discussion to ease the tense security situation in the north.
A committee of four, led by Lalong, was formed to develop a training plan for pastors.
The forum asked to moderate the leaders, including from the South, where passion is high. They also called on the citizens of the North to continue to live in peace with all Nigerians, regardless of their origin and origin.
They called on political leaders to distinguish between crime and social groups and to treat criminals like criminals.
“The Forum condemns all forms of crime committed by shepherds, hunters or farmers illegally occupying forest reserves,” they added and noted with concern the tensions caused by the order to evict shepherds in some parts of the country.
Northern governors described the evictions as warming an already fragile security atmosphere with threats of reprisals they were working hard to contain.
The meeting confirmed that there is an urgent need for the Forum of Governors of Nigeria to meet and discuss the issue comprehensively in order to resolve all areas of misunderstanding and conflict arising from these threats and suspicions in the name of national unity.
Source: – The Nation
