THISDAY

Ortom: Anyone against Southern Govs’ Open Grazing Ban Has Hidden Agenda

- George Okoh in Makurdi

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State yesterday said any Nigerian opposed to the Southern Governors’ decision banning open grazing of cattle has a hidden agenda.

Ortom made the remark at Holy Ghost Parish Hall in Makurdi while delivering his speech on the occasion of ‘Media Week and Communicat­ions Day 2021’, organised by the Catholic

Diocese of Makurdi.

The governor said that his southern counterpar­ts had chosen the right path to address insecurity.

He maintained that Nigeria remains a great country with huge potentials and should, ordinarily, have no business with poverty if only there were guaranteed security for lives and property and the people are allowed to remain stable in their localities.

Ortom expressed appreciati­on to the Church and Muslims in Benue State as well as residents for being supportive of his administra­tion just as he acknowledg­ed the good reportage of government policies and programmes by the Directorat­e of Social Communicat­ion, Catholic Diocese of Makurdi.

The governor also disclosed his administra­tion’s plans to commence teaching of vernacular in schools in the next academic session, adding that children must be trained and supported to inculcate reading in them, even as he described communicat­ion as key in the society.

On his part, the Catholic Bishop of Makurdi Diocese, Most Reverend Wilfred Anagbe, said that social communicat­ion was meant to uplift humanity and the society, emphasisin­g that it remains a positive aspect of reality of life and not the other way round.

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