Shehu Sani, former senator representing Kaduna central, says
the solution to the crisis between farmers and herders in the south-west is the
setting up of grazing reserves and agro-allied industries in the north.
Speaking on Arise Television on Friday, Sani said it is not
possible for herders to move around with cattle and not clash with farmers.
The former senator said the meeting of the south-west
governors with Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) will only
douse the tension but not solve the problem.
On Monday, the governors met with the national leadership of
Miyetti Allah after some herders were given an eviction notice in Ondo and Oyo
states.
Rotimi Akeredolu, Ondo governor, blamed the high rate of
crime on herders who have allegedly made forests in the state their haven.
Sani said the north has enough landmass for cattle to graze
without problems.
“The dialogue going on between the governors of the
south-west and Miyetti Allah is a good step but it is not going to permanently
resolve the problem,” he said.
“As long as people are allowed to move and roam about with
cattle from one state to the other, there is bound to be conflict. It will calm
the problem down but it is not going to solve it.
“It is for the northern states, particularly where these
cattle-rearers and the Fulani ethnic group come from to set up grazing reserves
and attach them to agro-allied industries involved in hides and skins and
cheese to make business out of it.
“Cattle business in the 21st Century is a multi-billion
dollar business. It is not possible for people to move about with cattle on
people’s ancestral lands and property and you don’t expect a crisis to come
in.”
The former lawmaker warned against politicising the issue.
“It has reached a point where the whole issue has been
politicised because nobody went through the details and then it became a major
issue,” he said.
“The killings and kidnappings have been going on and what
the people of Ondo and Ogun states have been suffering is the same thing we are
suffering in the north.
“I wonder how possible it is for anybody to defend or
justify the murderous, hideous and heinous activities of these herdsmen. They
occupy lands, kidnap people, rape and collect ransom.”
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