…blames states for not making laws to promote ranching
From Lateef Taiwo
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas has called on farmers across the country to embrace modern system of farming as a strategic measure to address farmers/farmers clashes across the country.
The speaker made the appeal on Wednesday , while presenting his address in a stakeholders meeting organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Environment, held at the National Assembly complex, Abuja.
The speaker further used the opportunity to commend stakeholders for attending the meeting even as he disclosed that farmers/herders Clashes in Nigeria has caused the government huge economic lost.
The Speaker who was represented at the meeting by Hon Dickson Teke even as he also blamed state governors for their inability to make laws that will support ranching inorder to outdate the old cattle-rearing system across Nigeria.
Earlier in his address, the speaker who also spoke of the negative impacts of climate change in the country used the opportunity of stakeholders meeting to call for strategic measures from all and sundry to check and prevent climate change.
He, therefore emphasised the need to address and arrest climate change problems in Nigeria noting that the global menace has led to desertification, famine among others.
He urged the country to adopt to the modern farming methods to address food insecurity.
The speaker equally called for a transition from nomadic to ranching, citing the lack of political will and legislation as significant obstacles.
He urged states and federal governments to allocate resources and legislation to resolve the farmer-herder crisis.
Consequently, the speaker emphasized the readiness of president Bola Ahmed Tinubu government to address all kind of farmers-herders clashes in the country maintaining that creation of Livestock Ministry was among the first delibrate action taken to arrest problems of farmers and herders in Nigeria.
In his address, the Secretary to the Government of Federation,SGF, Gorge Akume who was represented at the event by Bolaji Babatunde advised Nigerians to prepare for climate change challenges maintaining that most of the problems with the natural occurrence are agraviated by human activities.
He also blamed world leaders for deliberately ignoring the directives of scientists who had since warned against factors that might aggravate climate change.
He urged critical stakeholders to collaborate and partner with relevance public and government agencies as well as the lawmakers inorder to tackle farmer-herder clashes across the country.
In his address, the Deputy Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Environment, Hon Terseer Ugbor, informed that Benue State had lost over N100b due to farmers/herders conflicts in 2023 alone.
He further explained how repeated conflicts in Benue state has affected over three million people including many others who were displaced because of farmer-herder squabble.
Also speaking at the meeting was the Senior Special Assistant to the President on International Cooperation, Dapo Oyewola.
He informed that over 300,000 persons have been displaced because of farmers/herders clashes.
Oyewole also reiterated president Bola Tinubu commitment to tackle climate change issues in the country while advocating for active partnership and synergy.
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