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FG Denies Suspending Livestock Transformation Plan …Listen To Nigerians On RUGA, Iwuanyanwu Cautions FG
The Presidency, yesterday, clarified that the National Livestock Transformation Plan of the Federal Government has not been suspended.
While advising Nigerians not to worry about the 30-day ultimatum given by the Coalition of Northern Groups over the suspension of the nationwide implementation of the Ruga settlement for Fulani herders, the Presidency advised the CNG to respect the Office of the President which, it said, took the decision in national interest.
The Senior Policy Adviser (Agriculture Interventions Coordination) in the Office of the Vice President, Dr. Andrew Kwasari, stated this in an interview with journalists in Abuja during a training session organised for the executives of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and its executives in eight states considered to be flashpoints.
The training programme, which was jointly organised by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, had as its theme: “Dialogue and Negotiations: Why, When and How To Be Effective.”
Kwasari said, “No, the National Livestock Transformation Plan has not been suspended; in fact, it has been enhanced because Mr. President, in his wisdom, has spoken and directed that this is the plan that we should be working around to implement.
“We will need an all-encompassing committee of the National Economic Council, National Food Security Council, and Federal Executive Council working together to deliver this plan. So, for us, this is the type of leadership that the country needs. So, there is no mention of suspension whatsoever for the NLTP.”
Meanwhile, elder statesman, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has advised the Federal government to listen to the voice of the people who are vehemently opposed to its proposed RUGA settlement for herdsmen.
According to him, the federal government ought not bother itself with the Ruga grazing settlement programme for Fulani herders across the country.
Iwuanyanwu who holds one of the highest titles “Aha ejiagamba” in Igbo land, pointed out that there is no way majority of the voices of the people rejecting the proposal would be wrong.
He re-echoed that ‘the voice of the people is the voice of God.’
Speaking with newsmen, he said: “We have Fulanis in this country likewise other tribes; we have never had any problem; I don’t believe these people who are involved in the killings are from Nigeria; they might be from outside Nigeria but if government would allow this, that means they are allowing foreigners to come and kill our people. Look at what is happening in Benue, Nasarawa ,Taraba and Zamfara; no country can accept that. I believed that the government has reached a point where it should listen to the voice of the people.
“The whole of the South West cannot be stupid; South-South cannot be stupid; South East cannot be stupid; the Middle Belt cannot be stupid even the Hausas are in trouble because they’re being killed too. I don’t believe all these people are stupid. Of course, I’m very happy that the governors of South East have stated it clearly that they don’t want the RUGA settlement and if you come to South East on whose lands would they settle them?
“We don’t have the land mass; the land here is owned by people; there is nothing wrong with the cattle rearer negotiating with the landowners to buy land; we are not used to a situation where the Federal government would take over land and give to the herdsmen; I can’t understand that. Why can’t theygive it to other farmers? Why are the Fulani always being treated differently like a special tribe? Why is the Federal government insisting on having people’s land even when the people are saying no to that?
“We are not stopping anybody from anywhere from acquiring property; any Nigerian who can afford to acquire property anywhere has to do that with their money but not the Federal government acquiring it for them. Fulani are free to acquire property anywhere but they must negotiate with owners of the land.”
“Yes it is true that government is vested with power, but that does not mean that the owner of the land should be dispossessed of his land; the law also allows them to negotiate with the landowners.
“Igbo are everywhere, yet the government has not made laws to giving them lands free; Igbo buy their own land, so why are these people special? The era of migration has long stopped; everybody has settled at a place they can geographically call their own.
“So the Federal government should condemn the activities of herdsmen; some of them maim and kill innocent people while claiming that their cattle were rustled; if that is so, they should not resort to anarchy; there are laws to take care of that instead of them taking the laws into their hands.
“As a cattle rearer, your business is your business, not that of a state. So, the government should not bother itself about RUGA,” Iwuanyanwu said.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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