OYO ASSEMBLY, HERDMEN DIFFER ON GRAZING REGULATION BILL PROHIBITION

The speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Debi Ogundoyin in his remark noted that there is a need for peaceful coexistence between the farmers and herders, adding that agriculture, crop, and animal husbandry remain major economy in the state.

 “There is a need for us to continue to live in peace and harmony, Fulani and the farmers have been living together for long time ago and nobody outstead his/her boundary or herders grazing their cattle in a way that will destroyed farm input.

Penpushing further reports that, Ogundoyin stressed that no government will open its eyes and allow its people being killed lawfully, noting that the present administration in the state is committed in ensuring security of life and property of its citizenry.

“Some part of the state particularly Oke-Ogun side are the mostly affected, only in atmosphere of peace that economic development can take place, so all arms must be on deck to address issue of insecurity in the state’, he said.

Penpushing also reports that in his opening remark, the Chairman, Committed on Agriculture and Rural Development, Hon. Peter Ojedokun pointed out that the purpose of the meeting was to receive input from the stakeholders on a Bill for a Law to Prohibit Open Rearing and Grazing of Livestock and Provide for the Regulation of activities of Herdsmen and for connected purpose.

The Chairman said, the Bill is aim at addressing the crises between Farmers and the Herdsmen and other insecurity matters especially in rural areas in providing enabling environment for both the Farmers and the Herdsmen to carry out their Business.

Penpushing reports that, Ojedokun noted that it is unsuitable fact that the state of the nation to be financially buoyant her production capacity must be strongly in place, ‘in our dear state one of the strong section to be recon with when talking of production capacity is Agriculture, it is not out of place to call on stakeholders to contribution on ways to sustain agricultural productivity in the state.

“This Bill is a private Members Bill, sponsored by the Rt Honorable Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the House, The Bill was introduced on the floor of the House on Thursday, 25th July, 2019 and passed through the 2nd reading, in view of the Bill, it was unanimously resolved that the House should hold a Public Hearing to receive inputs from the Stakeholders, Ojedokun said.

The National Chairman of the Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Sale Bayari said that the anti-grazing bill is not practicable because some of the content of the Bill are in direct contravention to the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which is on the exclusive list of the Federal Government.

“What they are saying is entirely different from what is on ground that the law is not made in targeting any group or ethnicity, for instance, no state can defined who a citizen of country is and the qualification of a person to be a citizen of Nigeria.’

‘We are not supporting illegality, anybody found wanted should be punished according to the law of the land, government should ensure that any person who committed crime are dealt with irrespective of his or her tradition or ethnicity’.

“Nomadic grazing has been in existence from the time of Moses in the Bible, Nigeria can live in any part of the country and have means of livelihood, they also have a right of entry and exist, it is not good when a single person commit crime, and as a result of that the government now made law in generality to regionised and ethicized a crime, this will on the other hand increase a crime’.