Chinedum Treasure
The apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide has regretted recurring crisis occasioned by farmers/herders clashes, including destruction of lives and properties with its attendant toll on Nigerian economy.
Acting national youth leader of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Mazi Chukwuma Okpalaezeukwu who stated this in a chat with newsmen, insisted that ranches must be established to control and manage the menace.
He commended Nigerian Senate for allowing the bill for an Act to ban open grazing and establish ranches, scale second reading.
The bill, proposed by Senator Titus Zam representing Benue North-West, as an antidote for the perennial violent clashes between sedentary farmers and nomadic herders scaled second reading after heated argument among members of the Senate.
Describing the argument as democratic tenet where people have opportunity to air their opinion, Okpalaezeukwu said, “The only way to manage the farmers/herders crisis is by the progressive establishment of ranches. Open grazing is costing us lives and property, food security, and destroying the economy.
“Open grazing in Nigeria at this time is counter-productive. The basic responsibility of government is to protect lives and property and open grazing negates this purpose.
“I am in touch with a leader of the Miyetti Allah in the Southeast, a genuine man who is doing business, and he has told me that these killer herdsmen are not part of them and that they are even endangering the genuine herders.
“It means that if we establish ranches, it will be easy for security agencies to protect herders who do that for genuine economic purposes because their cows will be in a well-secured environment, while it will be easier to identify the criminals in the forests and flush them out.
“If we establish ranches, our farmers will no longer suffer, their crops will produce more and we will be secured, for national unity and peace.”
According to Ohaneze boss, rearing of cows is not an ethnic phenomenom, but has become a matter of national security and not something to be sentimental about.
He added, “There are many countries that produce more cows and do other dairy businesses than Nigeria but they do not encounter this crisis, just because they don’t do open grazing.
“If we continue to do open grazing the way Nigeria is as of today, we will continue to have crisis and loss of lives.
“This is because there is no way that cows will not eat crops naturally and there is no way a farmer whose crops have been destroyed will be calm and there is no way a farmer will hurt a cow and the herder will not react.
“The continuous co-existence of crops and animals in the same environment is counter-productive.
“The essence of ranches is to seclude the animals within a given area so that they are not able to affect the crops negatively. So, it is important that we consider ranching as a viable option at this time.”
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