Yoruba Group Rejects Grazing Zones In South West

A pan Yoruba group, the Conscience of Yoruba Nation Group (CYNG) has rejected the proposal by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to the state Governors to provide land for grazing zones for herders in an attempt to curtail the incessant farmer-herders crisis in the country.

The CYNG, an affiliate of Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba Socio-political group said grazing zones as proposed by President Tinubu would not be able to curtail clashes between the farmers and herders.

In a statement by the Convener of the group, Otunba Adekolejo Kole Omololu said grazing zones as a proposal to combat the farmers-herders crisis has proved ineffective in the middle belt of the country.

Omololu said members of COYN rejected the proposal of President Tinubu on grazing zones saying Benue State banned open grazing and provided ranches yet the crisis in Benue has continued.

Similarly, he said Plateau and Nasarawa States where lands were donated by the President Buhari administration as grazing zone did not stop the continued farmers-herders clashes.

His words “Southern Kaduna is another example of cases of failure of the grazing reserves: they have the longest record since the 1960 grazing reserve act where the former Northern region let the herders lease land for grazing, the reserve land subsequently becoming disputed land, leading to further conflicts till today and continued killings in the region.

“We are also dismayed that the President did not recommend any investigation into the offending herders who are interfering with agricultural practices in affected regions such as the South West of Nigeria.

“As the chief law enforcement officer of the country, we urge the president to look into farm security initiatives for farmers whose lives are endangered every day by herders who are often armed and have been confrontational in their encounters with farmers, leading to their murdering of many farmers in cold blood.

“We propose that the president set up a committee to investigate the causes of the incessant farmers-herders crisis and why existing remedies in other regions of the country with adequate land mass for ranching have failed. Mandating State Governors to give land as grazing zones appears to be a repeat of the same ineffective strategies that have plagued the country since the 1960s.

“We urge the State Governments of the Southwest to double their efforts in animal husbandry to meet the demands of the citizens.”

Omololu said the group believed in the unity of Nigeria under a federal system based on equity and fairness and also believed in the capacity of President Tinubu to solve the problems bedevilling Nigeria.