Open Grazing Ban Will Promote Healthy Living in Delta, Says Commissioner

Goddy Egene

Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, yesterday said the law to ban open grazing in the state would promote healthy and harmonious living among farmers and herders.

Speaking on ‘The Morning Show’ on ARISE News, the broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers, Aniagwu said that the law was not targeted at any section of the society but to provide a healthy living among stakeholders in the farming and cattle rearing business.

He said that the constant clashes between farmers and herders in the country necessitated the call for legislation to ban open grazing especially in Southern Nigeria.

The commissioner blamed President Muhammadu Buhari for not providing adequate leadership in resolving the crisis, adding that State House of Assembly had conducted public hearing on the Bill before going on recess.

He said the Bill would be passed as soon as the Assembly members return from their annual recess.

“Let us take away the politics and the primordial sentiments from the crisis. I do not blame these individuals who are opposed to ban on open grazing. I blame the President because I assume that he should be able to understand. Those who advise him, have a clearer picture of what obtains in advanced societies.

“Subjecting the cattle to some form of unwarranted exercise is not healthy because the cattle are shedding weight and therefore not able to provide all the proteins we desire because they have been subjected to trekking thousands of kilometers.

“If you go to the state of Texas in the United States of America, the number of cattle they have in Texas alone is far in excess of what we have in the entire Nigeria, yet you don’t see them roaming on the streets causing havoc.

“The crops are the sources of livelihood of the farmers even as the cattles are also the sources of livelihood of the herders.

“How do you strike a balance if the sources of the livelihood of the herders now progress to a level where it subjects the farmer to abject poverty on account of the regular trampling on the farms, produce and crops of these farmers which of course has been the centre of the clashes between these two very important sectors of our economy.

He said the President had not provided leadership in resolving the crisis adding that the proposed bill has a proposal for 5,000 hectares of land designated for a regulated or restricted grazing and ranching in every local government area

“Here in Delta, we are very determined to regulate it not for the purpose of only banning grazing in open areas but for the purpose of promoting healthy living between the owners of the livestock and of course those of us who are either into consumption, marketing, breeding or rearing.

“We are determined to regulate it for the purpose of promoting healthy living and we are very much convinced that when this is done, it will help our economy both in Delta and indeed that of the entire country,” the commissioner stated.