The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Economic Community Of West African States

  • ‘Why FG needs to reconsider signing African Free Trade Agreement’

    Mr Emeka Okereke, Director General, Enugu  Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), has called on the Federal Government to reconsider the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

    Okereke said this in Abuja when the chamber officials visited the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    The visit was to create publicity for the forthcoming 30th Enugu International Trade Fair.

    The Fair is slated to hold between April 5 and 15 with the theme: “Promoting and Enhancing Value in Addition in the Oil and Non-Oil Sector for Robust Economic Growth And Development.’’

    He said that the agreement was meant for free enterprise and building block economy.

    According to him, many African countries have signed the agreement and so such can discourage bringing goods through the illegal ways.

    AfCFTA was adopted on March 21, 2018 to create a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of goods and ensure block African economy.

    Okereke said that the country had even signed the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).

    He said that the ETLS was established  to encourage entrepreneurship development in the region and increase intra-regional trade and boost economic activity.

    Okereke added that the  ETLS and Free Movement Protocol are the most promising tolls for enhancing regional integration in West Africa.

    ” For AfCFTA, Nigeria consciousness is good but we cannot run away from reality; we cannot be an island on to ourselves, even in ECOWAS, we have signed for free movement of goods, persons and services.

    Read also: Chamber seeks foreign tech for business growth

    ” I tell you those goods can still come into our country except we are not obeying the ECOWAS protocol we  have signed into,”  he said.

    Okereke said that challenge was that the country has an open border, adding that even if the country did not sign goods, it would still come into the country through the back door.

    He said that the agreement would  create a single market for goods and services, with free movement of people and investments across 55 countries.

    According to him, the government should try and develop the country’s infrastructure as the main challenge for manufacturers is the high cost of doing business.

    He also urged the government to address the multiplicity of taxes and levies.

    He complained that most companies left the country due to cost of doing business.

    ” The government needs to address issues affecting the business environment in order to boost the country’s economy.”  (NAN)

  • Flooding: ECOWAS, Edo Govt meet to mitigate impact

    The Edo State Government has rescheduled the two-day National Planning Workshop for Flood Emergency Response and Management for September 17 and 18.

    The government is organizing the workshop in collaboration with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Early Warning Mechanism for Nigeria.

    In a statement, the state government said the workshop, themed Building Flood Resistant Communities, will hold at the Government House and will help in synergising with development partners on strategies to avert diseases arising from flooding.

    Read Also: Edo hosts stakeholders for Industrial Policy validation

    The event will feature a number of issues on flooding and disaster management, including update on the states’ efforts to mitigate flood incidents; review of the 2018 Seasonal Rainfall prediction; and take a look at the 2018 Annual Flood Outlook.

    The workshop will also set up a technical committee on vulnerability assessment of the states.

    Expected at the event are state governors, state commissioners of relevant ministries; chairmen of local governments; recognized traditional rulers; international organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), stakeholders in emergency management, research centers and institutions of higher learning.

  • How to make ECOWAS trade liberalisation work, by LCCI

    The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Trade Liberalisation Scheme is supposed to be the operational tool for promoting intra-regional trade and boosting economic activities. However, some aspects of its implementation appear to have made the realisation of its objectives difficult, particularly for real sector operators. But the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry has suggested ways to make the scheme work. Assistant Editor OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE reports.

    Members of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI), particularly exporters, are literarily up in arms against Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) administration. Their grouse: the ETLS, under its current management by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, is not serving exporters’ and other real sector operators’ interests well.

    They noted, for instance, the difficulties in exporting goods from Nigeria to other West African countries as a result of bureaucratic bottlenecks of product registration under the scheme, negate ETLS objective.

    The ETLS is the main operational tool for promoting free trade within the West African sub-region. The scheme was in line with the regional trade bloc’s objective of establishing a common market through trade liberalisation by abolishing, among member states, Customs duties on imports and exports and abolishing non-tariff barriers.

    It was envisaged that a free trade area will, among others, increase intra-regional trade, boost economic activities and increase the sub-region’s competitiveness in the global market. However, the administration of the scheme, under its current management of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, has come under criticisms by the LCCI and other real sector operators.

    Some of them, who spoke with The Nation, lamented that bureaucratic bottlenecks have made product registration extremely difficult for exporters. They insisted that to mitigate exporters’ sufferings, ETLS’s administration should be moved from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, specifically the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) to serve exporters better.

    LCCI President Mr. Babatunde Paul Ruwase, who pushed that the scheme’s administration be excised from of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, however, identified other gray areas that needed to be smoothened if Nigerian exporters must benefit fully from the scheme. He said, for instance, that there is need to address the multiplicity of foreign exchange (Forex) rate in the economy.

    Ruwase lamented that the gap between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) N305 rate and other rates at N360 and above, has continued to create undue arbitrage for banks and transparency issues. “The supply side of electronic forex market, transfers and card transactions are still being compelled to surrender their forex at N305 rate instead of N360. This will continue to discourage forex supply through these channels,” he said.

    The LCCI, according to him, therefore, recommends that this arbitrage opportunity be closed by applying Bureau de Change (BDC) rate to forex supply transactions in the inward transfer and card transactions segments.

    Ruwase also said efforts should be made to build external reserves further to hedge against potential decline in the price of oil. “This can be achieved by attracting larger investment inflows from Nigerians in the Diaspora and foreign direct investors looking to participate in Brownfield and Greenfield infrastructure investment in Nigeria,” he added.

    The LCCI president also drew attention to excise duty on locally- manufactured goods. While recalling that the government recently commenced the enforcement of the approved amendment to the excise duty rates for alcoholic beverages, spirits and tobacco in Nigeria, he expressed the Chamber’s worry over the move to extend the duty to cover several other basic items.

    Ruwase lamented that the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) excise duty list on its website was inclusive of many basic and essential products such as soap and detergent; toilet papers; cleansing or facial tissue and Spaghetti/Noodles.

    Noting that these are products consumed largely by ordinary Nigerians, he, however, argued that any the imposition of excise duty on them would further aggravate the poverty situation in the country and undermine the welfare of citizens. This, according to him, is particularly so, considering the fact that poverty incidence in the country was already over 60 per cent.

    He further lamented that the planned extension of excise duty to soaps and detergent will invariably increase their prices, make them inaccessible for the common man, and further heighten their plight amidst the current economic challenges that have reduced their purchasing power.

    The LCCI chief said excise duty rates penalises domestic production and incentivises importation, which conflicts with the vision of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) regarding economic diversification, job creation and local value addition. He also made a case for tax incentives to manufacturing firms.

    Pointing out that the manufacturing sector is one of the most vulnerable sectors in the Nigerian economy, he said the sector is already grappling with several challenges that have continued to undermine its productivity and competitiveness.

    Ruwase listed some of them to include high operating cost, high energy cost, consumers’ weak purchasing power, unfriendly tax environment, high regulatory compliance cost, and influx of smuggled products and high cost of logistics.

    He argued that if the government cannot give tax incentives to manufacturing firms, it should not impose additional tax burden on them, given the challenging operating environment for production in the economy.

    According to him, it is even worse when such burden is on necessities consumed largely by the ordinary people. He said the LCCI was requesting an urgent rethink of the proposition to increase or impose excise duty on the production of basic needs in the economy.

    He also spoke on the outcome of the recent CBN Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, noting that although, the monetary policy rates were retained, making it the 10th retention of the rates by the MPC, this may not be unconnected to the CBN’s worry about the risks to inflation, exchange rate, foreign reserves and capital flows.

    While asking that priorities be given to job creation and poverty reduction, which he claimed are the cardinal programmes of the present administration, he said low interest rate will stimulate investment, impact positively on growth, create more jobs, increase income, and boost output, which will ultimately have a moderating effect on inflation.

    His words: “We commend the creation of a single digit interest rate window through the issuance of commercial papers by the large corporates, especially for the real

  • Court orders Nigeria to pay two families N170m over rights abuses

    The Community Court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has ordered the Nigerian government to pay two families over N150million for rights violation.

    The court gave the directive in two judgements it delivered on Wednesday in two suits filed by the two Nigerian families, whose members suffered rights violation in the hands of security agents.

    The first judgment was in a suit marked: ECW/CCJ/APP/13/14 was filed by Chief Damian Onwuham and 22 other members of a family, whose property was demolished four years ago under  a 2009 law enacted by Imo State, that allows for the demolition of the homes of kidnappers as part measures to curb the menace of kidnapping in the state.

    The plaintiffs had alleged the violations of their rights to fair hearing and effective investigation; right to presumption of innocence; right to property and right to dignity of the human person as guaranteed in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

    A three-man panel of the court led by Justice Friday Chijioke Nwoke, ordered the Nigerian government to pay N100,089,140 as special damages to the  family.

    The award, the court said, represents the total cost of the buildings and other household items destroyed by agents of the Imo State government, namely, one unit of bungalow of 15 bedrooms and two sitting rooms, another bungalow of seven bedrooms and a sitting room and a third bungalow of six bedrooms and a sitting room.

    the Court held that the 12th April 2014 demolitions on ‘account of an unsubstantiated allegation of the offence of kidnapping without trial is illegal, unlawful and violated’ Articles 7 and 14 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

    The Court also awarded another N20m to the family as general damages for the violation of the Applicants’ fundamental rights to fair hearing, human dignity and right to property but rejected the family’s claims for exemplary damages.

    The court directed the government to ‘investigate the circumstances surrounding the disappearance  of Chief Onwuham’s son, Obinna Kasarachi , with a view to determining his whereabouts, and where an offence is found to have been committed, prosecute the culprits.’

    Obinna, the alleged kidnapper, was allegedly handcuffed and taken from the family home on 19th December 2012 by members of Operation Rescue Imo, a state security outfit comprising of policemen, soldiers, members of the State Security Service and the Civil Defence Corps.

    Read Also: Lawyer slumps, dies in court

    While the court acknowledged the ‘devastating effect’ of kidnapping on the economy and safety of citizens of any state confronted with the menace which justifies ‘drastic measures,’ it held that such ‘measures have to be within the confines of the law, having regard to what is fair and just and in the circumstance avoid acts that tend to violate the right of others.’

    Justice Nwoke said: “It appears that the anti-kidnapping law of the defendant, if it exits, prescribes punishment without recourse to trial by an independent tribunal,’ which is inconsistent with international best practices that provides for trial by a court or tribunal for any offence created by law as well as against ‘all known human rights norms for punishment to be imposed on a suspect without the necessity of a trial.”

    He described, relied on by Imo State Government,  as “punitive, obnoxious and indeed an exhibition of the highest point of impunity,” which if “allowed under any guise then all of us are endangered species.’ It also criticised the demolition based on the State anti-kidnapping law as a form of collective punishment that is neither consistent with international law, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights nor the  country’s  1999 Constitution.”

    The second judgment was on a suit marked: ECW/CCJ/APP/29/15 filed by members of the family of a Nigerian politician, Ikyasa Chia, who was abducted and later killed three years ago by some policemen.

    The plaintiffs comprising the four wives and children of the late politician had asked for 500 million naira in compensation for the “physical assault and gruesome murder,” of Chia, who was allegedly abducted by officers of the Police led by one Inspector Benjamin Yankyaa.

    The court, in its judgment, ordered the Nigerian government to pay N50mn compensation to the family of the deceased politician.

    It said the compensation is for the ‘arbitrary, unlawful and illegal’ killing of the family’s breadwinner on 14th August 2015 by the police near Makurdi, the capital of the country’s Benue State.

    The court characterized the killing as a gross violation of the deceased’s right to life and respect for the dignity of his person as enshrined in Article 4 and 5 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

    The court said the failure of the defendant to investigate and prosecute persons connected with the said unlawful killing of the late Chia is a violation of the rights of the Applicants as well as abdication of the Defendant`s obligation under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

    It said: “A state has a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent human rights violations and use the means at its disposal to carry out serious investigations of violations committed within its jurisdiction to identify those responsible, impose appropriate punishment and ensure the victim’s adequate compensation.”

    The court noted that, while the defendant attached a statement by the officer that led the team in the arrest as well as the investigating officer, it failed to attach a “comprehensive report prepared by an independent officer, stating the circumstances that led to the death of Ikyase Chia.

    It also noted that “no evidence was led to show that interviews and interrogations were carried out on all the officers who took part in the operation.’’

    The court held that in the “case of lethal force by state agents, as in the present case, a prompt investigation is critical to ascertain whether the officers intentionally shot the deceased or it was ‘absolutely necessary’ to have shot him while trying to escape a lawful arrest.”

  • Manufacturers canvass protection for products

    Despite the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) trade liberalisation policy and other conventions to ensure free trade in the sub-region, there is a need for Nigeria to protect products.

    Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) President Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs canvassed this position at the unveiling of Oxytocin injection manufactured by an indigenous pharmaceutical firm, Juhel Nigeria Limited, which he described as the first of its kind in Africa.

    He said the country owed it to itself to protect exclusive industries producing products that have intrinsic quality, irrespective of ECOWAS conventions, such as the Common External Tariff (CET) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. He said this was necessary to protect jobs and grow the economy.

    Noting the high rate of maternal mortality in the country, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) said was the fourth-highest globally, Jacobs said the drug Oxytocin and magnesium sulphate were to deal with it. He called on policymakers, regulatory bodies and financial institutions to support the company to preserve lives.

    Juhel Nigeria Limited Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Ifeanyi Okoye regretted that Nigeria has assumed the unenviable position of fourth highest maternal death rate in the world, accounting for 19 per cent of 830 global maternal deaths daily.

    He said Oxytocin was a safe and potent drug to treat Post-Partum Hemorrhage (PPH). He regretted that despite the availability of imported varieties, the rate and frequency of PPH and, consequently,  maternal deaths were still very high.

    Okoye said a study by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United States Pharmacopeia (USP), and National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), carried out in 2016, indicated that 74.2 per cent of Oxytocin in circulation failed quality laboratory evaluation.

    Of every four imported brands, Okoye said three were fake. He said the high rate of sub-standardisation was as a result of the imported brands not having the right or stated amount of Active Pharmaceutical ingredient (API) or transported and distributed under unfavorable conditions.

    He said: “Some of the imported brands, overtime, cannot have their quality sustained because Oxytocin injection, which must be stored between two and eight degrees Celsius, may be exposed to negative conditions at the point of entry.

    “Furthermore, lack of manpower by exporting companies to monitor post sales activities can only ensue gradual loss of potency and degradation.”

    He pledged his company’s preparedness to check the cloning of its products. Also, the company, he said, has in place criteria for supplying to teaching hospitals and distributors. One of the criteria is that there must be storage facility and chillers that meet international standards. He said the company has the capacity to produce for the sub-region.

    NAtional Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Director-General Prof Moji Christiana Adeyeye said the agency had carried out market surveys to ensure that there was no fake Oxytocin in the market. He noted that whenever there was infringement, NAFDAC would evacuate and destroy such to protect the lives.

    MAN Pharmaceutical Group Chairman, Dr. Okechukwu Akpa, called for medicine security, warning on the dangers of unbridled importation especially of pharmaceutical products into the country.

    He said that a lot of challenges are encountered in product handling and storage and called on the government to come out with a protectionist policy and financing for indigenous manufacturing.

    A renowned gynaecologist and obstetrician, Professor Osato F. Giwa-Osagie, commended the company for the feat in reducing maternal mortality through their novel product.

    He urged NAFDAC and other relevant government agencies, including pharmacists, to protect indigenous pharmaceutical manufacturers from merchants of fake and adulterated pharmaceuticals.

    Giwa-Osagie said: NAFDAC and pharmacists should go round and pick the fake alternatives from chemists by evaluation and supervision including on the spot check of  the products.”

  • ECOWAS says multiple check-points among impediments to trade

    The Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS ) Taskforce on Trade Liberalisation Scheme says multiple check-points is one of the impediments to trade integration along the Nigerian-Benin corridor.

    The Executive Secretary, Mr Justin Bayill of ECOWAS made this known in a statement on Thursday in Lagos.

    Bayil said that persistence collection of illegal fees at the borders and along the corridors were also some of findings of the taskforce which had impeded trade integration at the border.

    He also identified civilians managing check points/roadblocks, ransoming the drivers of trucks, cars and extortions at the border as other hindrances to trade.

    “The taskforce will work through the ECOWAS Heads of States to bring to a stop the human excesses that have been  thwarting trade conventions in the sub-region.

    Read Also: ECOWAS Commission calls for peaceful run-off poll in Sierra Leone

    “Notably at Malanville, Hillacondji, Krake Benin axis and at the Seme Nigeria side, the unwholesome trend have continued unabated with its dire consequences on the regional economy.

    “There are bilateral agreements supporting such social interactions but it is very disturbing that unprogressive elements have constituted themselves as clog in the wheel of economic advancement of the area,’’ he said.

    Bayil said the taskforce would work toward strengthening political will within ECOWAS to facilitate trade, border awareness and capacity building of ECOWAS citizens on the provisions of existing protocols and policies.

    He said it would encourage efforts by leaders of the member states to ensure the effective implementation of ECOWAS community policies also known as peer review mechanism to engender healthy competition.

    NAN

  • UN expert seeks review of land tenure

    The United Nation (UN) Women’s Representative to Nigeria and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Ms. Comfort Lamptey said review of the land tenure system will encourage more  women to participate in agriculture.

    Speaking at the just concluded Global Shea Alliance Conference in Abuja,Ms.Comfort Lamptey, observed that rural women face serious obstacles  accessing farm land because of the land tenure system , which denies them such opportunities , despite their growing importance in food production and food security.

    She reiterated that women in rural areas are the ones sustaining agriculture andfood production across Africa since they constitute theb ulk of farmers, but that they are the most vulnerable group with respect to access to land.

    According to her, men are five times more likely to own land than women.

    If women had the same access to productive resources as men, she stressed that they will boost national production volume with increased output from their farms.

    She wants statesto ensure that women have equal tenure rights and access to land.

     

     

  • Cameroon: Dabiri-Erewa condemns deportation of Nigerians

    Cameroon: Dabiri-Erewa condemns deportation of Nigerians

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on  Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, says alleged forced deportation of over 100,000 Nigerians by Cameroonian military is worrisome.

    In a statement by her Media Assistant, Abdul-Rahman Balogun, she decried the “inhuman treatment’’ meted to Nigerian asylum seekers, who were affected by Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East.

    Dabiri-Erewa noted that in spite of the friendly disposition between both countries, Cameroon allegedly forced Nigerians to leave.

    She said that Cameroon should heed the UN’s call on all countries to protect refugees fleeing the carnage in the North-East of Nigeria and not to return them there.

    “This unfriendly attitude of the Cameroonian soldiers to Nigerian asylum seekers is really worrisome,’’ Dabiri-Erewa stressed.

    She appealed to Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and other West African regional groups to prevail on Cameroon to be “their brothers’ keeper in a situation like this’.’

    She said that deportations, according to Human Rights Watch, defied UN refugee agency’s plea not to return anyone to North-East of Nigeria until the security and human rights situation had improved considerably.

    The presidential aide said that a 55-page Human Rights report entitled “They Forced Us onto Trucks like Animals: Cameroon’s Mass Forced Return and Abuse of Nigerian Refugees,” condemned the act.

    The report, according to her, states that since early 2015, Cameroonian soldiers had tortured, assaulted, and sexually exploited Nigerian asylum seekers in remote border areas.

    She said that the report added that the soldiers also denied the Nigerians access to the UN refugee agency, and summarily deported, often violently, tens of thousands to Nigeria.

    “It also documents violence, poor conditions and unlawful movement restrictions in Cameroon’s only official camp for Nigerian refugees as well as conditions recent returnees face in Nigeria,’’ she said.

    Dabiri-Erewa said that Cameroon’s forced returns breached UN principles, which prohibited the forceful return of refugees and asylum seekers to persecution and, under regional standards in Africa, to situations of generalised violence such as in Nigeria’s North-East.

  • Freetown mudslide a monumental regional disaster, says Ekweremadu

    Freetown mudslide a monumental regional disaster, says Ekweremadu

    …Calls for immediate regional action

     

    Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Wednesday described as a monumental regional disaster, the floods and mudslide that killed hundreds of persons in the outskirts of Freetown, the Sierra Leone capital.

    Ekweremadu is the immediate past Speaker of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS Parliament,

    In a statement by his Special Adviser, (Media) Ekweremadu called for immediate regional and international action to boost rescue efforts and alleviate the sufferings of the victims.

    He said: “The personal account by the Vice President of Sierra Leone, His Excellency, Victor Foh, confirming the death of at least 300 persons as a result of the tragic mudslide is heartbreaking.

    “It is a natural disaster of monumental proportions, not only for Sierra Leoneans, but also the entire ECOWAS family. My heart goes out to the people and government of Sierra Leone as well as the serving and former members of the Sierra Leonean National Delegation to the Community Parliament.

    “This calls for immediate intervention by the ECOWAS and the international community to boost rescue efforts and provide robust humanitarian support to both the injured and the displaced”.

    While praying for the peaceful repose of the souls of the deceased, the former regional Speaker also prayed God to grant the sub-region, especially the affected families and the people of Sierra Leone the fortitude to bear the irreversible loss.

  • Fulani, Herdsmen crisis: Struggle for natural resources – Association

    Fulani, Herdsmen crisis: Struggle for natural resources – Association

    • Kicks against Benue anti-open grazing law
    • Calls for establishment of grazing reserve commission 
    Cattle breeders association under the aegis of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore on Tuesday kicked against anti-open grazing legislation enacted by the Benue State government.
    The group argued that they were original inhabitants of Benue valley in the State, thus the lingering crisis was a struggle for the state’s natural resources.
    The National Secretary, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Engr. Saleh Alhassan said during a world press conference in Abuja that it was inappropriate to treat members of the association as outcasts, adding that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocol even allows the Fulani community free movement into and across the country.
    The Benue State Governor, Samuel Otom recently passed the anti-open rearing and grazing bill into law.
    Alhassan said: “We are ever ready. We are peaceful people. What we don’t accept is for people not to welcome us and want to annihilate us. We will not accept that.
    We know our history. We know our root. If you see us in the bushes, don’t think we don’t have our history and particularly in the Benue. We are challenging the Tiv people. We were there in the Benue valley before them…before they moved from Congo and settled in Cross River and later moved to the Benue valley. So they met the pastoralist there. This is a struggle for natural resources. You cannot beat us and say we should not cry, No. Even God will not be happy with that.
    However, he said the nation should acknowledge the existence of pastoral farmers and provide grazing reserves to develop new breed of cattle and embrace modern technology.
    “The Nigerian state must recognise that the Fulani pastoralist exists and as a socio-cultural group that has a right to the shared resources. We must be allocated land to do our cattle grazing, which systematically we can settle our families, change the breed of cattle they need and improve on the technology of cattle rearing,” he added.
    Speaking on ways to end the communal clashes, he stressed that the association was partnering on experimental ranching and nomadism with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as part of gestures to provide lasting solution to the crisis.
    In his remark, President of the socio-cultural association, Alh. Abdullahi Bello, described the enactment as wicked, obnoxious and repressive.
    He said it was wicked to criminalise their means of survival and freedoms.
    However, Bello urged the National Assembly to intervene on the issue, stressing that inter-state movement of pastoralists is synonymous to inter-state commerce.
    Our association view the current attempt by the Benue State government to criminalise our means of economic livelihood of cattle rearing through the enactment of an obnoxious anti-open grazing law as the most wicked act any government can do to us and our economic interest.
    “We want to state here that we reject that repressive and oppressive law and will deploy all the necessary legal means as enshrined in the constitution to challenge it,” he added.
    The association vowed to mobilise herdsmen in the country to resist the law as it was a deliberate attempt to enslave their members,”through this wicked legislation ever contemplated in the history of our nation.”