The Presidency on Monday said the southern governors did not offer any solution to the famers-herders crisis through the ban on open grazing.
Earlier in the month, southern governors had converged on Asaba, Delta State capital, where they arrived at some decisions which they considered as solutions to some of the pressing issues in the country.
They had asked the president to address the nation over rising insecurity and to review alleged lopsided appointments.
They also banned open grazing in the region.
But in a statement on Monday, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, said President Muhammadu Buhari had approved deep rooted solutions to herdsmen attacks and cleared way for ranching and revival of forest reserves.
Shehu said the announcement by the southern governors was therefore of questionable legality, given the constitutional right of all Nigerians to enjoy the same rights and freedoms across the country regardless of the state of their birth or residence.
He claimed that the declaration had been preempted as the President who had been worried about the problems more than any other citizen in consultation with farmers and herders alike, commissioned and approved an actionable plan of rehabilitating grazing reserves in the states, starting with those that are truly committed to the solution and compliant with stated requirements.
Shehu said President Buhari had expressed a strong resolve to address the conflicts of herders and farmers in a sustained and lasting manner that should lead to the emergence of a permanent solution to the frequent clashes between them, as well as the associated problem of the gun-wielding “killer herdsmen.”
The President, he added, had approved a number of specific measures to bring a permanent end to the frequent skirmishes as recommended by Alhaji Sabo Nanono, the Minister of Agriculture, in a report he submitted and the President signed off on it back in April.
He said the approval was given by the President well before the actions of the Southern Governors Forum which attempted to place a ban on open grazing and other acts of politicking intended by its signatories to demonstrate their power.
The statement read: “It is very clear that there was no solution offered from their resolutions to the herder-farmer clashes that have been continuing in our country for generations.
“But the citizens of the southern states – indeed citizens of all states of Nigeria – have a right to expect their elected leaders and representatives to find answers to challenges of governance and rights, and not to wash their hands off hard choices by, instead, issuing bans that say: ‘not in my state.’
“It is equally true that their announcement is of questionable legality, given the Constitutional right of all Nigerians to enjoy the same rights and freedoms within every one of our 36 states (and FCT) -regardless of the state of their birth or residence.
”Fortunately, this declaration has been preempted, for whatever it is intended to achieve and Mr. President, who has rightly been worried about these problems more than any other citizen in consultation with farmers and herders alike, commissioned and approved an actionable plan of rehabilitating grazing reserves in the states, starting with those that are truly committed to the solution and compliant with stated requirements.
“With veterinary clinics, water points for animals, and facilities for herders and their families including schooling – through these rehabilitated reserves, the Federal Government is making far-reaching and practical changes allowing for different communities to co-exist side-by-side: supporting farmers to till their fields, herders to rear their livestock and Nigerians everywhere to be safe.”
By Muideen Olaniyi
