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Tag: Ruga settlement

  • ‘No plan to establish RUGA settlement in Enugu’

    ‘No plan to establish RUGA settlement in Enugu’

    The Enugu State Government has said that there is no plan to establish Ruga settlement in any part of the State.

    The government’s reaction followed controversies and protests that have rocked Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area over alleged plan to establish a cattle ranch for herdsmen in the community.

    Nimbo is the community where scores of people were massacred with several others permanently disfigured in 2016 by suspected herders

    Last Tuesday, hundreds of the people of the community marched along the Nsukka – Uzo-Uwani – Anambra Federal Highway bearing placards with various inscriptions such as: “Nimbo Community Says No To Cattle Ranch In Their Land QED”.

    A video seen by our correspondent shows the protesters, mostly women and youths, displaying placards and chanting:  “Nimbo doesn’t want cattle, Nimbo doesn’t want ranching.”

    Read Also: CDV Properties CEO Mba felicitates Enugu Governor, Mbah on Award 

    The women also wailed as they marched on the roads with pictures of the caskets used during the mass burial of their husbands and sons.

    He said the alleged decision to establish Ruga/cattle ranch without the consent of the community, was the most insensitive of psychologically assaulting a people, whose deaths and injuries were still fresh from the activities of the same people.

    “I need to remind you that this same place is where our people were massacred eight years ago. Our crime then was that we asked the herders to stop using their cattle to destroy our crops. When the destruction became too much, we made attempt to chase them away. That was the reason they invaded and slaughtered dozens of our people.

    “Since then, the government had never asked how the families of such victims were doing, only for them to just want to establish the same cattle ranch again.

    “This is like adding salt to injury. Most of the children of the deceased have since withdrawn from school with hardship dealing with them. The only thing the government wants to remember us for is building Ruga exactly where our people were murdered. I wonder any community that will tolerate this kind of insensitivity,” he said

    But reacting to the development, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on mainstream media, Dan Nwomeh, insisted that there was no such RUGA plan by the State Government, adding that ranching would end the intractable crisis between herders and farmers.

    He however stated that there is a proposal to establish government owned and controlled ranches in local government areas where cases of farmers/herders crisis were rampant.

    Nwomeh said: “There’s no such RUGA plan please. There’s a state government initiative, a proposal really, to establish government owned and controlled ranches in local governments with the worst cases of herders%farmers clashes such as Uzo Uwani, Isi Uzo and Oji River.

    “The locations are still being considered. Government will seek the buy-in of the host communities. No government team has visited any proposed site.

    “The ranches will be open to all commercial cattle rearers and not just an ethnic group. Ranching is the global best practice that will end open grazing and clashes with farmers”.

  • Why Southwest should continue to resist RUGA, by Akintoye

    Renowned historian and Second Republic Senator Banji Akintoye on Tuesday urged the people of the Southwest to strengthen the resolve of the six governors from the region to reject the proposed Rural Gracing Areas (RUGA).

    He also warned about the consequence of incessant attacks, kidnappings, rape, killings and maiming by suspected intruders and invaders from outside the zone, saying that the people may resort to self-defence.

    Akintoye said: “To succeed in rejecting and rejecting it, we must re-orientate our approach to our governors. Our governors are our frontline of defence, and we need to understand the situation in which they stand. Under the current chaotic and unitary constitution of Nigeria, all power and control in Nigeria reside in the hands of those who control the federal establishment in Abuja.

    “Each governor, to be able to rule his state at all, must cautiously manage its relations with the Abuja federal community. So, each of our governors finds himself perched between the jaws of a pair of nutcrackers. While Abuja controllers demand that each governor must grant land in his state for cattle colonies, our people are threatening fire and brimstone, if any governor grants even one square inch of Yorubaland.

    “Certainly, our governors are our own men, and none of them would consent to having our Yorubaland overrun by anybody. Therefore, I humbly propose that we leaders of Yoruba nation should come close to our governors and give them support for the purpose of giving them confidence and strength to reject the Abuja demands.”

    Read Also: Governors row over Ruga

    The eminent scholar urged Southwest governor to instead, promote the establishment of modern ranches by Southwest entrepreneurs in the region, adding that the move will open up businesses and create job opportunities for the people.

    Noting that accusing fingers are allegedly pointed at many suspected herdsmen from a region, Akintoye, a retired Professor of History, urged them to “call off this campaign of killing, maiming and destruction,” stressing that “no ethnic group commands a monopoly of violence”.

    The elder statesman spoke on: ‘Power and Politics, and the Conflict of Ethnic Identity in Nigeria,’ at a one-day Summit on Peace-Building and Conflict Prevention in Lagos. It was organised by ‘Journalists for Democratic Rights, led by Wale Adeoye.

    The theme of the summit was: ‘Engaging the media and community-based organisations for post-election reconciliation and conflict prevention in Lagos State. It was attended by representatives of Arewa, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, an official of the Meyetti Allah Organisation, Mekudi Usman, leader of  Supreme Egbesu Assembly, Chief Digifa Werinipre, and rights activist Omoyele Sowore.

    Sowore, who unfolded plans by his group to start what he called a revolutionary protest on August 5, lamented that the current leadership lacked a workable solution to the prospects of a failed state.

    Miyetti-Allah Organisation official Usman said the group was sensitive to the growing concerns, disclosing that its members now have identity cards to identify them and distinguish them properly from the unscrupulous elements.

  • Ruga project: Ganduje, Kano Igbo leaders reject call for Fulani’s relocation

    Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and Igbo leaders have rejected calls from some notable Northern political leaders that Fulani herdsmen living in the Southern parts should relocate to the North.

    They described the calls as divisive and retrogressive.

    The governor and the Igbo leaders spoke during a special dinner organised by Ganduje in honour of the Eze Ndigbo Kano and President General, Igbo Traditional Leaders in Diaspora, Igwe Boniface Ibekwe, on his 10th Offalla anniversary.

    The event took place Saturday night at Africa House, Government House, Kano.

    At the dinner were Kene Nzekwe, the representative of the former Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, Eze P.N. Wahiwe from Niger State, President-General of Igbo in Diaspora Assembly Chief Chi Nwogu, Chief Ebenezer Chima and many other Ezes and chiefs from the 19 northern states.

    Ganduje said: “Those who are calling on the Fulani to leave South, we don’t share the same feeling with them. People have a choice, as far as Nigerian constitution is concerned, to live wherever they chose to. But they must respect laws and cultures of those they are living with.”

    Read Also: Ruga: Anambra to assist farmers on cattle breeding

    Ganduje maintained that Nigeria is a heterogeneous society with different religions and nationalities, which calls for mutual respect among different people.

    He insisted: “As we are all creatures of Allah, it is duty bound on all of us to always respect Allah’s creatures. No two way about it.”

    He added that the issue of Fulani roaming about from one place to another should be stopped.

    “We must find a way of turning the table from being social and cultural engagement to become social and economic. Herders should drop the cultural attachment to their rearing activities and make their rearing become economically beneficial,” the governor said.

    He called on the Federal Government to put a halt to the ever-increasing movement of herders from one state to another.

    Igwe Ibekwe said: “Just look at what is happening now, some people are calling on Fulani to come back to the North. So, if they come back, what will happen to us here in the North? Our people will tell us to go back to South. Is that what our forefathers wished to see us doing? We are, therefore, rejecting such call coming from some quarters. It does not mean well for the corporate existence of our dear country.”

    He called on his people to always be law-abiding citizens, assuring them that the Igbo in Kano are safe in the hands of Ganduje.

    “Kano is the safest place in Nigeria,” he noted.

  • ‘Ruga settlement policy a failure of town planning’

    The former President, Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP),  Mr. Bunmi Ajayi, has said the suspended Ruga settlement programme is a failure of town planning rules and regulations and “government’s insincerity”.

    He spoke at the 40th anniversary of Molaj Consultants, a town planning consulting firm, where he was the principal consultant.

    Ajayi said Ruga should be private sector driven while the government should create an enabling environment for investors to set up ranches and run them profitably.

    He said the colonial masters provided cattle routes which herders followed and never destroyed farms or engaged in conflicts, citing the Obudu Cattle Ranch in Cross River State as an example.

    He wondered if the government would make the same provision for poultry and piggery farmers across the nation.

    Ajayi said the policy was ill-conceived, wrongly timed and in bad taste.

    Read Also: Ishaku: Ruga must be cancelled

    He said: “The failure of town planning is best illustrated by the failure of government to change the re- alignment of the cattle route to avoid conflict between herders and farmers as the population grew.  Agencies of government in charge of population also failed to note that population figure from the 70’s is not the same today and that some people with expansionist tendencies would want to create chaos in the country. Town planning practice in the last 40 years is not same as today, the technology has challenged,  if any planner want to be relevant he must grow with the times why is it difficult for the government to do right thing if colonial masters  thought of it decades ago.”

    Ruga Settlement, according to the government, seeks to settle migrant pastoral families in an organised place with provision of necessary and adequate basic amenities such as schools, hospitals, road networks, vet clinics, markets and manufacturing entities that will process and add value to meats and animal products.

    The benefits to the nation, the government said, include a reduction in conflicts between herders and farmers, a boost in animal protection complete with a value chain that will increase the quality and hygiene of livestock in terms of beef and milk production, increased quality of feeding and access to animal care and private sector participation in commercial pasture production by way of investments.

  • PDP berates Obaseki’s ‘silence’ on Ruga settlement

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State has accused Governor Godwin Obaseki of secretly conceding land to the Federal Government for a pilot scheme of the Ruga Settlement.

    It said Obaseki’s silence, when states are rejecting the initiative, was worrisome.

    Chairman Chief Dan Orbih, who addressed a news conference yesterday, urged Governor Obaseki to understand that land is finite and could not be used in exchange for political bargains and favour. The chairman insisted that Obaseki must listen to the people and the cries of victims of herdsmen activities.

    The chairman said the PDP was concerned about political events in the state, especially the lack of cohesion in the House of Assembly dominated by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    He said: “The APC can no longer blame the PDP for its misrule. The only achievement of Governor Obaseki is a huge debt profile for Edo State. Obaseki is celebrating birthday at a time Edo people have nothing to celebrate.

    “There is nothing to give the impression of hope. The new central hospital is now for high blood pressure test, radio diagnostics and dialysis. What is happening to the 200-bed hospital? There is urgent need to end the blame game and let the people have full benefits of the facilities in the hospital.

    Read Also: Controversy over Ruga settlement uncalled for, says Lalong

    “The government should let us know why they are bringing in a management consulting firm to run the hospital. The central hospital is our state equivalent of Federal Government University Teaching Hospitals, and they are not managed by consulting firms. Why is Edo State bringing in a consulting firm to manage the central hospital?

    “We sympathise with Edo people over the unpleasant political happenings in the state. It is indeed sad to observe that after 11 years of APC government, what they bequeath to Edo people is bickering, vendetta, corruption, hate and Ruga Settlement!”

    But Obaseki said his agricultural plan has nothing to do with the initiative. According to him, his plan for agricultural development involves the value chain in both crop production and animal husbandry. His plans were developed long before Ruga Settlement was muted, he added.

    The governor, who spoke through his media aide, Crusoe Osagie, said the safety, security and prosperity of Edo people were priority and non-negotiable. He assured the people he would not cede their rights and land to anybody, as his programmes as a sovereign state does not run on the back of any external entity.

    He said: “Edo people should disregard any contrary information circulated by the Edo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or any other group or individual.

    “As for the Benin Central Hospital, it is up and running, and providing tertiary healthcare services which it was set up to provide.

    “Its phased opening is in line with the vision of the government, and in the coming weeks and months, other phases will be unveiled to complement the primary and secondary health centres.

    “Governor Obaseki will continue to put the people’s interest first in all his policies and programmes, as he has demonstrated in the past two years and seven months.”

  • Still on Ruga settlement

    SIR: There is no doubt about the fact that the herdsmen, farmers and communities have been at loggerheads for quite some time now. The solution proposed by the Buhari administration will surely do more harm than good now and in the future if embarked upon by the federal government.

    The herdsmen are doing their personal businesses just like the farmers, traders, manufacturers and other entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Why then should the federal government pay more attention to supporting the business of the herdsmen with the government money without paying equal attention to the provisions of the basic infrastructures for other private entrepreneurs in Nigeria?

    What guarantee can the administration give to the host communities that the herders will not trespass into their lands to steal farm produce since they are not in the Ruga settlement to farm but to rear cows, rams and goats (animal husbandry)?

    What assurance and peace of mind will the farmers and other communities have that the herdsmen will not trespass beyond the boundary of the Ruga settlements considering the fact that the settlers would have become larger and stronger than their host farmers or communities?

    What security arrangement will the federal government put in place to guarantee the success and peaceful operation of the Ruga system that cannot be employed now to curtail the excesses of all the parties to the crises?

    Without doubt, this plan when implemented, will cause more agitations among the other tribes, particularly the south that will surely feel slighted or neglected. Nigeria will then begin to witness insurgency much more devastating than those perpetrated by the Boko haram and the herdsmen because it will then be assumed that such actions are the surest ways to attract government attention, infrastructures and supports.

    There are herdsmen in the United States of America, United Arab Emirates other countries. Are they trespassing on other people’s farms? Is it their government that financed their settlements? Just as other farmers and entrepreneurs acquire land or infrastructures to do their business, the herders are doing their private business and should do it right and peacefully like the operators in other sectors. We are all equal before the law.

    If the Muhammadu Buhari administration is truly interested in the unity, peace and progress of Nigeria, it should drop the idea of the Ruga settlements. The federal government should follow the examples in other countries and the recommendations of the governors’ forum. A stitch in time saves nine.

     

    • Jide Owatunmise, roadsafetytrainers@yahoo.com