Governors from the South-West region have called on the Federal Government to support the states in creating designated grazing areas in order to avoid the constant clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the region.
The governors made the resolution at a meeting with prominent traditional rulers in the region at the Government House, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Saturday.
Rotimi Akeredolu, Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ondo State, who briefed journalists after the meeting, said the region’s leaders also agreed that the porous leaders need to be strengthened in order to prevent any foreign herder from entering into the region and country without appropriate security vetting.
He said: “We discussed that as we are supporting other areas of farming, like rice farmers and others, the need for the government to support cattle breeding is now. And one of the ways we can support cattle breeding is to change the ways and means that cattle breeders are using now.
“So, you can find designated grazing areas where you can graze, you can have feed mills where you can feed, you do not have to trek many kilometres with your herds.
“But things that will lead to open grazing in these modern times must be looked at and the state and Federal Government, in particular, should give support as much as we can to cattle breeders.
“We all agreed that our borders have become too porous and that we need to do something urgently to prevent foreign herdsmen from coming into this country without any form of caution. This is because a number of them have come in with their herds and what they do is of concern to us.
“We all believe that our borders need to be checked and we need to tighten our borders so that all those foreigners from Niger Republic and those beyond bordering states don’t come in with their herds and destroy our farms.”
Governor Akeredolu also said his fellow governors and the traditional rulers back the resolution of the National Economic Council (NEC) for each state to manage its forest reserves and determine who should occupy the area.
“We all agreed that the time is now that we support the decision of National Economic Council about forest management and that they believe that all the states should be in a position to manage their forest.
“This will give enough room for you to determine who is there, what purpose are they serving, and where you have people illegally. The state should be able to take some steps so that you can preserve our forest.
“So all of us, including the traditional rulers, supported the decision of NEC on forest management,” he said.
Other governors present at the meeting were Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State, and Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State.
The traditional rulers in attendance include the Ooni of Ile-Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III; Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji; Olugbon of Orile Igbon, Oba Francis Alao; Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Adewale Ajayi; and Olugbo of Ugbo kingdom, Oba Fredrick Akinruntan.
Also in attendance were the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of South-West, David Folawiyo, the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Ngozi Onadeko; and other heads of the armed forces and security organisations in the Oyo State.
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