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Focus Attention On Herdsmen, Fayose Tells Military -As Cattle Breeders Protest Against Grazing Law
The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has asked the military to direct its operations Python Dance and Crocodile Smile to those areas in Nigeria where Fulani herders have been said to be killing people and destroying farmlands.
Fayose listed those areas as the North-Central states of Benue and Plateau as well as North-East States like Taraba and Adamawa.
The governor, who described the reported threat by Miyeitti Allah Kautal Hore, a splinter group of Miyeitti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, against the Benue State Anti-Open Grazing Law as reckless and open threat against the sovereignty of Nigeria, said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government was silent over the menace by Fulani herders.
He said the President’s silence was “a sign of complicity” on the part of the Federal Government.
In a statement in Ado Ekiti, at the weekend, by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said, “If the Federal Government does not want to be seen as protecting the Fulani herdsmen, attention of the Army’s python that is dancing in the South-East and crocodile that is smiling in the South-West and South-South should be focused on the killer herdsmen.”
He said the alarm raised by Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom over an alleged plan by Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore to launch fresh attacks on Benue State, should worry lovers of peace in Nigeria, adding, “the moment a state governor begins to raise alarm as done by Ortom, those playing ostrich to the Fulani herdsmen menace should know that they can no longer pretend that all is well.”
Meanwhile, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has called on the Federal Government, the National Assembly (NASS) and the international community to intervene in the Anti-Open Grazing Law operating in Benue State.
The Chairman of the association, Danladi Ciroma, made the call, yesterday, at a news conference in Lafia, Nasarawa State.
He said the law was implemented without due consultation with herdsmen in the state.
He added that “Our people were not educated on modern method of rearing cattle so that when provision for ranching was being made, government would take into consideration the total number of cattle in the state.
“We do not know the grass we need to grow and how it is grown, where to get it and how to preserve it for the cattle.”
He explained that countries like Kenya that successfully implemented ranching system spent more than five years educating herdsmen and provided the much-needed facilities before it was implemented.
He added that the state did not take any step before enacting the law.
The Chairman of the association in Nasarawa State, Malam Mohammed Hussaini, said the implementation of the law in Benue led to influx of herdsmen and their cattle to Nasarawa, noting that the situation should be checked to avert conflicts between herdsmen and farmers.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Nasarawa, Idrisu Kennedy, however, gave the assurance that measures were being taken to avert any incident.
The PPRO explained that the efforts of the police and other security agencies, as well as that of the state government and traditional rulers were geared toward averting breakdown of law and order in the state.
Our source reports that the chairman of association in Benue and other herdsmen from North Central states attended the news conference.
The Benue State Government had enacted an anti-open grazing law and fixed November 1, 2017 as date to commence its implementation.
The state government stated that the law was in line with Section 4(7)(a) of the Constitution, Section 1 of the Land Use Act Chapter 202 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990.
The section states that all land comprised in the territory of each state in the federation are vested in the governor of that state and such land shall be held in trust and administered for the use and common benefit of all Nigerians in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
To this end, Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom said it was in the spirit and letters of those enabling laws of the land that the Open Grazing (Prohibition) and Establishment of Ranches Law, 2017 was proposed and was judiciously enacted by Benue State House of Assembly.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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