The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Grazing Bill

  • Tinubu: Grazing Bill’ll end communal clashes

    Tinubu: Grazing Bill’ll end communal clashes

    The Senate Committee Chairman on Environment, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has said the passage of the Grazing Areas Establishment Management Bill will reduce communal clashes.

    The Senator spoke at a Public Policy Forum on Desertification and Deforestation organised by the European Union (EU) yesterday in Abuja.

    She said communal clashes among farmers and herdsmen were of great concern to the Senate.

    Senator Tinubu identified desertification and deforestation as major causes of crisis in the country.

    She said about 351, 000 hectares of land are lost to desertification annually, thereby causing problem for herdsmen who need to feed their cattle daily.

    According to her, desert encroachment and tree logging should be addressed holistically for survival of rural communities.

    Tinubu said: “We must discourage tree logging, bush burning and monoculture. We must emphasise education and awareness on impact of deforestation.

    “The Senate will review necessary laws to ensure safety of the environment.”

  • ‘Anambra Assembly will never support grazing bill’

    Anambra State House of Assembly says it has passed about 10 bills and over 100 motions since its inception one year ago, even as it distances self from the controversial grazing bill.

    Among the bills are the 2016 Appropriation Bill, the Anambra State Housing Corporation Bill, the Anambra State Vigilante and Security Bill as well as the Tourism and Hospitality Bill 2016.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Awka, to mark the one year anniversary of the 6th Assembly in the state today (Sunday), the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Rita Maduagwu, said “The lawmakers have enthroned participatory democracy in their various constituencies through town hall meetings and constituency briefings which have enriched the quality of our bills and motions”

    “The present House of Assembly is playing pivotal role as I was elected the South-East chairman of Conference of Speakers of the House of Assembly in Nigeria.”

    Also, the Speaker said that Anambra State House of Assembly would not be part of the grazing bill arrangement in the country, adding that it should not be a priority in the country.

    She said her personal thinking was also the way other lawmakers feel on the grazing bill, adding that they would never support the grazing bill.

  • Grazing Bill misunderstood, says Rep

    Grazing Bill misunderstood, says Rep

    A member of the House of Representatives representing Yagba Federal Constituency in Kogi State, Mr. Sunday Karimi, has advised people to seek understanding of issues before opposing them.

    Karimi, the sponsor of the contentious National Grazing Routes and Reserves Bill, in a statement in Abuja yesterday, said the public outcry over the bill was hasty and unnecessary, as many have not read the content and digest it.

    According to him, the bill does not prejudice the right of the state to establish and legislate on grazing reserves to be controlled by them or establish ranches and criminalise indiscriminate grazing.

    The lawmaker said the bill will solve rustling, herdsmen’s violence, among others.

    He said suggestions and modifications are welcome from Nigerians, while people are “welcome to the public hearing when scheduled.”

    Karimi said contrary to fears that communities will lose their land and ownership of such land will be transferred to the herdsmen, the land to be allocated for grazing will be managed by a Grazing Reserves Commission to be established by the bill and the commission is to have representatives in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

    He said membership is to be drawn from the Land Use Allocation Committee of each state and that of the FCT.

    His words: “When we have a national problem on our hands like we are having it with the incessant clashes between herdsmen and farmers and communities, lives lost on a daily basis, what is expected of people in position of leadership? Do we fold our arms and say to your tents oh Israel? The functions and responsibilities of the representatives of the people in the Parliament include making good laws for peace, order, good governance and unity of our diverse citizenry.

    “What we are doing is finding a solution to a problem that has defied all solutions essentially for several years. So, in the first place, we have a problem that got everybody thinking. The bill should be considered a solution being proffered. Those against the bill, criticising the effort, do not even bother to know the content. There are no perfect laws, but this bill, when patiently studied, is a good law. Unfortunately, anytime we have a situation like this in this country, we tend to succumb to sectional, tribal and religious sentiments.”

     

  • OPC warns herdsmen against attack

    OPC warns herdsmen against attack

    Oodu’a Peoples’ Congress (OPC), a Yoruba socio-cultural group, has warned herdsmen against continuous attacks on innocent people and communities, saying it would not tolerate killing of farmers in the Southwest.

    The group also cautioned the Federal Government against initiating the controversial grazing bill, saying it would vehemently resist the move to promulgate a law that would give privilege to a section of the country.

    Rising from a general meeting held Tuesday in Gbagada, Lagos, OPC members described the controversial grazing bill as “insult” to the people.

    OPC National Publicity Secretary, Shina Akinpelu, said: “It is an insult to collective psyche of Nigerians to hear that a bill is being considered to allow or create grazing zones for the herdsmen. The OPC and the whole Yoruba nation reject such proposition and will resist it with all that we have.”

    The OPC members also called on Otunba Gani Adams to stop parading himself as leader of the group. They accused Adams of trading off the group for personal gains. They all condemned Adam’s style of leadership.

    More than 1,000 members of the group across states attended the meeting.

    OPC national officers, who attended the meeting, included Chief Boye Mayunpe, Alhaji Amusa Musiliu, Lagos Island chapter chairman, Alhaji Lateef Oshodi; Oyo State chapter chairman, Chief Adeola Adeagbo and his Kwara and Bayelsa states counterparts, Comrade Moruf Olanrewaju and Comrade Akeem, among others.

     

  • Ex-NBA president rejects Grazing Bill

    Former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Joseph Daudu (SAN), has rejected the National Grazing Bill pending before the House of Representatives.

    He backed Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, who said the Bill was against the Land Use Act.

    Daudu said the proposed law also breaches the Constitution and must not be allowed in a democracy.

    “It is unconscionable and a breach of the Constitution and the Land Use Act to seize land and give it to an itinerant businessman known and styled as the Fulani herdsman in a capitalist democracy to advance his own business.

    “If the Fulanis require land for grazing they should buy it just like every industrialist buys land to set up a factory.

    “They should learn to buy land and grow grass (alfalfa) on it and sell it to themselves. Government has no business promoting the business of the President’s kinsmen and killing other peoples’ businesses.

    “If not, let us boycott the eating of beef. Then the problem will go away,” Daudu said in a statement.