There’ll Be No Ban on Grazing, Says Ondo Govt
James Sowole
Rather than prohibiting cattle rearing, Ondo State Government yesterday said the government would soon come up with a measure to control grazing.
The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on Agriculture, Mr. Akin Olotu, stated this in Akure at a stakeholders’ meeting involving the farmers, herdsmen and security operatives.
Olotu, who said the meeting was called to ensure peaceful co-existence between farmers and the herdsmen in the state, said the state government has no plan to either ban grazing or restrict anyone from farming.
“We are not going to prohibit cattle rearing in Ondo State; we are going to regulate it. It is not a crime to rear or own cattle in any part of the state, but it has to be done legitimately, it has to be done in such a way that someone’s business is not used to destroy another person’s business.
“So what we will have in the state is cattle rearing regulation where there will be dos and don’ts,” he stated.
Farmers recently lamented the destruction of their farms and the killing of farmers in the state in the last two weeks.
A middle aged woman was recently killed allegedly by herdsmen at Arodoye community in Akure South Local Government Area while hectares of farmlands, including the one owned by a judge of the Customary Court of Appeal, were destroyed by herds during the yuletide and New Year holidays.
The stakeholders at the meeting noted that the destruction of farmlands by the herdsmen and their cattle remained a great threat to food security, adding that many farmers who obtained loan from banks had been indebted to their financial institutions.
As part of measures to control grazing in the state, stakeholders resolved that there should be a form of identification for all the cattle rearers and their cattle to identify some of the erring herdsmen.
They also agreed that a committee which would include security agents, farmers, herdsmen, members of Fulani Myeti Allah and the Hausa community, should be put in place in all the 18 local government area of the state to reduce the incessant attacks and destructions of farmlands.
They also advocated constant sensitisation in all communities across the state on the need for peaceful co-existence among Fulani herdsmen, Hausa and farmers in the state.