By Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon. Mathew Kolawole, has revealed that the anti-grazing bill before the state House of Assembly has passed through the second reading.
The speaker made this revelation yesterday in Abuja at an advocacy roundtable meeting on Kogi State Youth Development Bill, where he assured the state that the bill would be passed into law.
However, despite the state having its fair share of herdsmen attacks that had claimed many lives, the speaker insisted that the state had never recorded any herdsmen attacks.
“I believe in Kogi State so far, so good; we have not recorded herdsmen attacks or Fulani attacks. What we have is communal clash between two communities fighting for either land or traditional titles. I know very sure that before the House of Assembly, we have a bill for Anti-grazing Bill. It has passed through second reading as well. So, we hope the bill will soon pass through public hearing, it has even been committed to the committee. We are just waiting to resume from our recess, we will take it up from there,†he said
On his part, the Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Ahmed Mohammed, said that the bill, if passed into law would address violent extremism and unemployment in the state.
He said the importance of the bill to the state government and the teeming youths of the state cannot be over-emphasised, adding that if assented to, it would develop and empower youths, create more jobs, and also boost internally generated revenue.
Mohammed said the lack of synergy between government agencies was obviously responsible for the high rate of youth unemployment, noting that past governments failed to sustain youth development programmes and activities.
