FG shouldn’t build ranches with public funds —Southern, Middle-Belt leaders
It insisted that cattle rearing is a private business, noting that the government should not spend N178bn public funds to establish ranches for herdsmen who the forum said “are private businessmen without a record of paying taxes.”
The forum stated this in a statement on Wednesday in response to the declaration by the National Economic Council that the government had approved a 10-year National Livestock Plan which would cost about N179bn. About N70bn of the budget will be disbursed between now and the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s first tenure in 2019 for the establishment of ranches in Oyo, Benue, Nasarawa and seven other states.
The SMBLF in its statement co-signed by Yinka
Odumakin for South-West region, Senator Bassey Henshaw (South-South), Prof.
Chigozie Ogbu (South-East) and Dr Isuwa
Dogo (Middle Belt), however, commended the government for embracing ranching
for herders.
It explained that the 2014 National Conference had
reasoned out the issue and recommended ranching as being done in all civilised
countries.
“The decision to ignore this sensible
recommendation has led to a situation where untold terror has been unleashed on
farming communities with needless loss of hundreds of lives in the last three
years with not a soul under prosecution and top functionaries of the
administration making excuses for the killers.
“We, however, object to the FG’s decision to spend
N179bn of public funds to build these ranches over 10 years starting with N70bn
under this administration,” the forum said.
The SMBLF contended that rewarding the herders
with public funds to build ranches would only mean that “they have killed
enough to beat the country into pacification mode and this can only encourage
other people to arm themselves, cause sufficient killings to get an undue
concession.
“What would our society become if fishermen,
farmers and people in other trades begin to cause bloodbath so the Federal
Government could give them special consideration?
“We call on the Federal Government to shelve the
idea of committing public funds to ranches and allow the owners of the business
to attend to their business needs in the spirit of “I belong to everybody”
mantra of the President,” the forum stated.
It further said that those who wanted to engage in
the business should approach the states where they wanted to build ranches and
acquire land to build such with firm commitment to abide by the rules of host
communities.
The SMBLF stated, “To go ahead with the plan is to
say that cattle owners own this government and that would make other segments
of society to say ‘we have no inheritance in this arrangement.’”
The forum said it was unfortunate that the
government was comparing the proposed ranches to the Friesland Campina of
Netherlands without bothering to find out that the firm was put together by
cooperatives dating back to 1879 and with annual revenue of £11bn.
However, the Muslim community in Benue State on
Tuesday called on the Federal Government to deepen its support for cattle
ranching.
The leadership of the Muslim community made the
call when they paid an Eid-el Fitri Sallah visit to the Governor Samuel Ortom.
The Leader of the delegation and state Chairman,
Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI, who also represented the Sultan of Sokoto, His
Eminence, Sa’ad Abubakar in Benue, Alhaji Garba Baba, described ranching as the
only solution to farmers and herders’ crisis.
He also called on friends of Benue State at home
and in the Diaspora to support the implementation of the Open Grazing
Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law 2017 of the state.
Baba said, “May we call at this juncture, once
more on friends of Benue at home and in the Diaspora to assist in canvassing
support for the smooth implementation of the Anti-open Grazing Law 2017.”
Punch
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