The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN)

  • Taraba Speaker cautions against politicising anti-grazing bill 

    Taraba Speaker cautions against politicising anti-grazing bill 

    Taraba House of Assembly Speaker Abel Diah on Tuesday cautioned members of the public against politicising the anti-open grazing bill currently before the House.

    Diah made the appeal in Jalingo, when he received a delegation of Taraba Farmers Protection Association, led by its chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Bitrus, who paid a solidarity visit to the lawmakers.

    “Contrary to speculations that the bill is targeted at a particular ethnic group, its intention is to promote peaceful coexistence and reduce clashes between farmers and grazers,” Diah stated.

    The Speaker regretted that some sections of the bill were being altered or misinterpreted to cause mischief, and advised anyone interested in the bill to get a certified true copy from the House of Assembly.

    He said that the House had set up a seven-man committee to conduct a public hearing on the bill, and urged stakeholders to take advantage of the hearing to make inputs into it.

    While assuring the association that the bill, when passed into law, would be for the good of the state, he urged its members to attend the public hearing, saying that three hearings would be held with one in each of the three senatorial zones.

    Earlier, Bitrus had told the Speaker that the bill was long overdue, describing it as the best solution to the incessant clashes between herdsmen and farmers.

    “We are here to register our support for the bill because we are convinced that when it is passed and signed into law, peace and order will be guaranteed.

    “We want to assure the legislators of our unflinching support toward the passage of this bill. We also want to assure the House that we shall mobilise Taraba residents to support it,” Bitrus said.

    The association thanked Gov. Darius Ishaku for making fertiliser available to farmers in good time, saying that the gesture would boost food production in Taraba.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that hundreds of farmers, who converged at the Trade Fair Complex in Jalingo, had accompanied Bitrus to the House to register their support to the bill.

    NAN also reports that the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) recently mobilised its members to the House to register its displeasure over the bill which it said was “ill-motivated and discriminatory”.

  • Sallah: Zamfara donates food items to more than 8,000 repentant bandits, others

    Sallah: Zamfara donates food items to more than 8,000 repentant bandits, others

    The Zamfara Government on Sunday donated food items and clothing materials to more than 8,000 repentant bandits, local vigilance groups and herdsmen as alms, in line with Ramadan.

    The state’s Deputy Governor, Malam Ibrahim Wakkala, presented the items to the beneficiaries in Gusau.

    He stated that the assistance is aid of the beneficiaries to enable them to celebrate Sallah  happily.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that members of Vigilance Group of Nigeria (VGN), Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) were among the beneficiaries.

    The items donated included 300 bags of rice and sugar, 4,000 sets of women’s clothes and 4,040 sets of men’s wears.

    Wakkala, who is also the Chairman of the state government’s Peace, Accord and Reconciliation Committee, said the assistance was part of activities designed by the committee to improve the relationship with bandits groups that have renounced their criminal ways.

    ‘‘You know, it is part of the activities of this committee to always bring something that will improve the relationship among all the parties involved in the reconciliation process.’’

    He, therefore, called on the beneficiaries to sustain the peace agreement they had entered into  with the state to safeguard the lives of people and their property.

    He assured that the government would look into all problems arising from the negotiation in order to sustain the peaceful coexistence among all communities in the state.

  • Fayose releases detained cows, signs peace deal with herdsmen

    Fayose releases detained cows, signs peace deal with herdsmen

    •  Herdsmen to register within 14 days
    Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose on Thursday released nine cows ‘arrested’ and ‘detained’ in some parts of the state for contravening the Prohibition of Cattle and Other Ruminants Grazing Law back to their owners.
    The cows were seized by the operatives of Ekiti Grazing Enforcement Marshals (EGEM) recently inaugurated to crack down on grazing outside hours allowed by law and in unauthorised places.
    This was consequent upon a stakeholders’ meeting held by Fayose with the leadership of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in Ekiti and Southwest, traditional rulers and Fulani Community where the governor also signed a peace pact with the body.
    MACBAN after signing the agreement promised that its members will abide by the new law regulating grazing in Ekiti State and coexist peacefully with farmers and residents.
    As part of the measures to curb friction between the two sides, cattle breeders operating in Ekiti State are to register with the traditional rulers of their host communities. The governor also agreed to the pro‎posal that members of the MACBAN be part of the patrol teams.
    The free registration must, however, be done within the next 14 days after which the registered names would be forwarded to the state government for data keeping.
    The event, which took place at the Government House grounds, had farmers, traditional rulers, state government officials and MACBAN leaders and members from across the South-West region in attendance.
    But Fayose reiterated that the only hours allowed by law for grazing in the state remain 7.00 am to 6.00 pm insisting that any cow seen outside the 6.00 pm will be arrested alongside with the superintending herdsman and the owner face a jail term of six months without any option of fine.
    The governor explained that traditional rulers have been empowered to enforce the grazing law in their domains and apportion lands to herdsmen to do their businesses under a controlled situation.

    Fayose said: “I have decided to release these cows to strengthen our union. So, I expect you to comply with the law because after now if you contravene the law, we will take appropriate sanctions against you.

    “You can’t because you are rearing cows be destroying our farmlands. Our people rely on these  farms to survive and the moment you are destroying them, then they will not be interested in going into farming and hunger will affect all of us.

    ‎”You are all my brothers and there is no reason to trouble you.‎ Many of you have been here for long and your families are here too.‎ Ali Garba from Malumfashi , Kaduna State was part of my first term administration and currently an Igbo man is a councillor in Ward 10 of Ado Local Government. What we are doing today is to ensure a peaceful relationship between you, your host communities and the state government.
    “Those killed in Oke Ako are gone and can’t be alive again and we should not allow a repeat of such terrible incident.‎ Ekiti people buy cattle from you and you are making profits.
    “We are not asking for much, just for you to obey our law.The law is not targeted at those who obey the law.You have to register with traditional ruler of your host community.
    ‎”It is you who will inform the monarch of new faces coming to join you ‎or pretending to be herdsmen. Going armed will not be tolerated. No form of weapon is allowed in Ekiti State for cattle rearing.
    “A company will be monitoring your activities fro‎m the air. They have done air surveillance of Ijero Forest Reserve and we saw some buildings deep down the forest. We must all be security conscious,” he noted.

    Fayose threatened to deal with whoever harasses the cattle rearers while doing their legitimate businesses, urging the leaders of Miyetti Allah to always report directly to him any case of intimidation and oppression against  their members.

    Speaking earlier, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Owoseni Ajayi said the law was drafted to curb the excesses of some cattle farmers.
    In his remarks, the Southwest leader of MACBAN, Alhaji ‎‎Mohammed Kabir, who said he was born and bred in Abeokuta, Ogun State, said his group had gone round states in the region to sensitise members on the need for peaceful co-existence.
    He added that the effort resulted in the few recorded cases of herdsmen/farmers clashes in the region compared to the South-East and the Middle Belt.
    Speaking on behalf of traditional rulers in the state, the Ajero of Ijero-Ekiti, Oba Adebayo Adewole, said the governor spoke the minds of Ekiti people.
    The monarch said: ‎”What we want is what our governor has said and that is peaceful coexistence. Farming is our profession and what the governor told you is what the people are telling him.
    “We are peace-loving here and not murderers. We want the peace to continue to reign and we are satisfied with how your leaders have spoken.”
  • Fayose meets cattle owners on new grazing law

    Fayose meets cattle owners on new grazing law

    Members of the umbrella body of cattle owners, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), will now be part of the patrol teams to enforce the new law to regulate grazing in Ekiti State.
    Governor Ayodele Fayose gave the directive on Tuesday at a meeting with the leadership of MACBAN where both parties ironed out ‘grey’ areas in the enforcement of the Prohibition of Cattle and Other Ruminants Grazing Act 2016.
    MACBAN leaders had requested to be part of the patrol of Ekiti Grazing Enforcement Marshals (EGEM) to enforce the law a request which was granted by Fayose who declared that he is not against the interest of Fulani people or any other ethnic group in the country.

    The meeting, which took place at the Government House, had Ekiti State executive of MACBAN and representatives from across the local governments in the stat‎e in attendance.

    ‎Fayose said: “I have nothing against you or any other ethnic group. Nobody should bring politics into this matter. If a Yoruba person destroys your property I will defend you too.

    “Leaders are not supposed to discriminate and as a leader, I don’t discriminate. The law of the land is not against anybody who obeys it but those who flout it. It is people destroying other people’s farms that are causing this problem.
    ‎
    “We have given lands to people to farm and they have paid, some for many years to use the lands and when somebody now comes and destroys their means of livelihood and make them suffer losses, we won’t allow that.‎

    “It ‎is the bad people that make others suffer. If anybody says Fayose is after Hausa or Fulani people, that person has no sense. During my first term, I appointed a man from Malumfashi as a Special Adviser. This term too, I appointed Musa Kanga into the Pilgrims Welfare Board.

    “In Oke Ako-Ekiti last May, two persons were killed, people’s wives raped by those hiding under the guise of rearing cattle. I have 83 cows too and I have told the person taking care of them that if he goes against the law and any of them is seized, he will be responsible for that.”

    Governor Fayose also emphasized against rearing cows along major roads and city centres, saying that had caused fatal vehicular accidents in the past.
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    He explained: “If you have not been to London or America, I guess some of you have been to Mecca, did you see cattle breeders leading their cattle across city centres and major roads, with the cows defecating everywhere? This is not done and it is not that the people in those places don’t have cows they breed too.”

    On the demand by the MACBAN leaders that they be part of the patrol teams to enforce the law, the governor acceded and commended their effort to support his administration in getting rid of bad eggs among the cattle breeders.
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    The Ekiti State MACBAN chairman, Alhaji Muhammad Nasamu, commended the governor for his frankness and openness.

    Nasamu noted that the meeting had disabused the minds of his members about wrong information being circulated by some people about the governor and the state government.
    ‎
    He said: “Seeing you face to face and hearing from you has quelled all the strange stories we are hearing. Leaders from across the federation have been calling me saying where are you‎ and that they have been hearing funny stories from the state, but now we know the truth. Ekiti is my home and anybody who spoils the name of Ekiti is spoiling my name.
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    “Today that we have met, we are suggesting that farmers and Fulani rearers be part of the marshals who will patrol across the state. When that is done, there will no longer be any trouble. Those in the office don’t know what is happening in the bush and we will try and bridge the communication gap.”