No To Grazing Bill …S’ South, S’East Lawmakers

Lawmakers of state Houses of Assembly in the South-South and South-East geo-political zones, have opposed the proposed Grazing Bill of the Federal Government.
The legislators also urged their counterparts at the National Assembly to kick against the bill, saying it is not in the interest of the nation’s unity.
The opinions emerged as the outcome of the first parliamentary session of South-South and South-East State Houses of Assembly in Owerri, the Imo State capital, at the weekend.
The Tide gathered that the lawmakers had converged in Owerri to, among others, discuss the issues bordering on the proposed grazing bill, militancy and bombings in the Niger Delta region.
In his welcome address, the host and Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Acho Ihim, said that the South-South and the South-East states have many things in common, including daunting socio-economic and political challenges, stressing the need for the first joint parliamentary session to fashion a way forward in addressing the challenges.
Reacting to the grazing reserve proposals and activities of herdsmen in the geo-political zones, the lawmakers, after much deliberation, unanimously resolved to resist every attempt to foist grazing reserves on any part of the zones now and in future.
The legislators urged all state Houses of Assembly in the zones to pass bills restricting cattle rearing and prohibit grazing of cattle from one location to another.
They insisted that the proposed bill to establish and control grazing routes and reserves should be rejected.
In separate interviews after the session, some of the lawmakers said that the theme of their gathering would go a long way to unite the South-South and South-East zones, as well as Nigeria in general.
In attendance were the Speakers from Ebonyi, Delta, Cross River, Imo, Edo, Bayelsa, and Abia States while the Deputy Speakers from Akwa Ibom, Anambra and Enugu states represented their Speakers amidst a large number of legislators from the two zones.