Ahmadu Bello Tried to End Open Grazing, Says Taraba Speaker
- Open grazing would have been banned long ago in Nigeria according to Dr. Joseph Albasu Kunini, speaker of Taraba state House of Assembly
- Kunimi said Sir Ahmadu Bello, premier of northern Nigeria made attempts to end open grazing in the north
- Going further, the speaker frowned on those who do not want to accept the fact that the end has come for open grazing
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A huge revelation has been made concerning open grazing in the north. The revelation was made known by the speaker of Taraba state House of Assembly, Dr. Joseph Albasu Kunini,.
According to him, there were efforts to end open grazing in the country.
He said, the leader responsible for this move was the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, This Day reports
Source: UGC
TKunini made this known during a two-day multi-stakeholders regional peace building dialogue in Lafia, Nasarawa state, Sun News added.
The speaker further disclosed that the 1963 document that was titled “The Industrial Potentials of Northern Nigeria” was prepared by the Ministry of Trade and Investment of Northern Nigeria.
He said:
“At that time the regional government frowned at open grazing by the herdsmen; for instance, on page 155 of the 287-page document, the Northern Nigeria Government under the leadership of the Premier and Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, vowed to end open grazing by herders.”
“According to the document, ‘for some years the Northern Nigeria Government has been engaged in settling the Fulani and achieved a considerable measure of success.’”
Old grazing reserves law applied only to northern states- Falana
Human rights lawyer, Chief Femi Falana (SAN), says the Grazing Reserves Act of 1964 was only applicable to northern Nigeria in the 1960s.
Falana made the comment in a statement seen by Legit.ng on Monday, June 14 in response to President Muhammadu Buhari's plan to revive the outdated grazing reserves.
The respected lawyer said the Grazing Reserves Act of 1964 was not a law of general application.
Governor Diri rejects Buhari's directive
In a related development, the governor of Bayelsa state, Douye Diri has rejected Buhari’s directive for states to reactivate cattle grazing routes across the country.
Diri stated that restoring grazing routes would not apply to Bayelsa state as the government’s ban on open grazing is backed by law.
The governor insisted that Bayelsa state has no grazing routes because the people are predominantly fishermen.
Afenifere, Ohanaeze kick against Buhari's statement
Similarly, groups like Afenifere, Ohanaeze, and PAN Niger-Delta Forum have all kicked against the statement by the president.
The sociocultural groups insist that the power to allocate land is vested in governors and not the president.
They also stated that the system of grazing routes is archaic and has no place in modern animal husbandry.
Source: Legit.ng
