Asaba Declaration: Southern Govs Have No Apologies On Open Grazing, Restructuring, Okowa Insists

The Delta State governor, Sen. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, has berated critics of southern governors on the ban of open grazing of cattle and the call for national dialogue to restructure Nigeria.
These were part of the decisions taken when he hosted his 16 colleagues on May 11, 2021 in Asaba where they also called for state police and devolution of powers from the Federal Government to the states.
“We owe no apologies, because we spoke the truth and we thought that the truth we spoke was in the best interest of this nation. Okowa expressed surprise that some elements in the Presidency are still advocating for the retention of open grazing of cattle.
“Can we truly at this moment be promoting open grazing? Thank God that the President was misrepresented, because I have seen news headlines that the President is not opposed to the ban on open grazing. We need to begin to look into what is best for us. Where we were 50 years ago should not be where we should be today and tomorrow.”
He acknowledged that it might not be a one-day affair.
He said: “It may not be but the process has to start and there must be a programme that must become evident, a programme in which we will begin to see actions being taken.” He warned that Nigeria’s growing food insecurity may soon spiral to a tipping point on account of the threat posed by open grazing of cattle.
“Today, a lot of money is being spent by the Central Bank of Nigeria to encourage farmers to ensure that we are food sufficient but a lot of these efforts are lost, because of insecurity. Farmers can’t go to farm, their crops are destroyed, they are maimed and raped and some are even killed. We cannot continue like this, because if you have a programme you are spending billions on, we must secure it and we must ensure the food security of this country.”