Amidst controversies over Federal Government’s suspended Ruga project, there are indications that National Economic Council will soon meet on the National Livestock Transformation Plan.
NLTP was approved by NEC and Federal Government last year. It is a voluntary programme aimed at rehabilitating internally displaced persons and developing ranches in any willing state of the federation.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President, Mr Laolu Akande, in an interview with one of our correspondents on Saturday, said interested states and the Federal Government were still discussing NLTP.
Giving an update on NLTP, Akande said states and the Federal Government had yet to conclude talks on the funding of the programme
He said, “The stage the plan is now is that the Federal Government and interested states are finalising a lot of issues, including funding.
“There is a plan that will commit the Federal Government to be part of the funding and some states as well. Very soon, these issues will be sorted out.
“There will be a meeting of NEC very soon to look at all these issues as consultations are going on. So, we can’t put a date to the take-off time really yet.”
Project awaits new agric minister’s appointment
NLTP will start fully after a minister of agriculture and rural development had been appointed.
Amidst controversies, Osinbajo had distanced himself from the Ruga programme, saying it was not part of NLTP.
The Ruga project had generated controversies with some governors and socio-political groups, alleging that it was part of the moves by President Muhammadu Buhari to take over their land for his Fulani kinsmen
Northern states divided over Ruga
On Sunday, northern states were divided over the Ruga project.
While Benue and Taraba states rejected the project, Plateau and Kwara states said they were not involved in it.
Investigation showed that other states, including Zamfara, Niger, Gombe and Kano, were concluding plans for the implementation of the Ruga project. Also, Kogi State said although the Federal Government had suspended Ruga, it was ready for the project.
Zamfara to use govt reserve for Ruga
Spokesman for Zamfara State Governor, Mr Yusuf Idris, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said the state had earmarked 100 hectares of land in each of its three senatorial districts for the project.
Idris said, “Not a single farmland that belongs to farmers will be used for the project.”
He explained that the hectares of land that would be used for Ruga were in the state government reserve which had been in existence for decades.
He stated, “The areas are parts of the grazing land demarcated for cattle herders during the First Republic.”
According to him, the project will be completed within the first 100 days of Governor Bello Mutawalle’s first tenure in office.
Also, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Gombe State Governor, Mr Uba Misilli, said the state had “over 200,000 hectares of land in 23 different locations across the state” for the Ruga project.
He ruled out the payment of compensation to land owners. Misilli stated, “There is nothing like compensation because the hectares of land have been there from the outset. The land has been in existence. Just like the cattle routes (Burutali), across Nigeria, especially in the North, where cattle are expected to follow.”
In Niger State, Secretary to the Niger State Government, Mr Ahmed Matane, confirmed that the state would implement the Ruga project.
Matane told one of our correspondents that the state had already provided over 40 hectares of land for a Ruga settlement, which would include schools and health centres.
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We are ready for Ruga– Kogi govt
On his part, Director-General on the Media, Publicity and Strategy to Kogi State Governor, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, said the state was ready for the programmme.
When asked about land allocation for Ruga, Fanwo said the state was waiting for further directives from the Federal Government, which had suspended the programme.
He stated, “Since the programme has been suspended, we will wait to see the next line of action. We have reiterated our readiness to key into the programme.”
Nasarawa State Government had, through Mr Yakubu Lamai, Director-General, Strategic Communications and Press Affairs to Governor Abdullahi Sule, said the state was in support of the Ruga project.
But Taraba State Government said the state did not have land for the project.
Senior Special Assistant to Governor Darius Ishaku on Media and Publicity, Mr Bala Dan-Abu, told one of our correspondents that the state government would not accept anything other than ranching as a solution to the farmers/herders’ crisis in the state.
Dan-Abu said, “Ranching remains the best practice the world over in the animal-rearing business. Federal Government should rather key into the ranching policy for the good of both the grazers and the farmers. We have a policy on this issue already which led to the enactment of the open grazing and ranches establishment law.”
We’ll resist govs planning to establish Ruga– M’Forum
But President of Middle Belt Forum, Mr Pogu Bitrus, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said, “People were massacred in the Middle Belt last year. We have been told that those perpetrating the killings, which have not stopped, are foreigners. It is unimaginable to expect the same victims to turn round to allocate land to the perpetrators under the guise of the Ruga settlement.
“Any one or the governors planning for Ruga to be established against the wishes of the people, we will not accept that and we will go against such “
FG has suspended Ruga, states implementing it on their own– Sources
When asked about what the Federal Government was doing on Ruga, sources at Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said state governments going ahead with the implementation of the Ruga initiative were doing so on their own because the central government had not lifted the ban on the suspension of the programme.
Officers at the ministry, who had earlier in June given one of our correspondents in Abuja the names of the 11 states that had accepted Ruga, noted that the outcry against the initiative led to its suspension and that it had remained so.
However, officials at the ministry could not state the number of states that had resolved to go on with the initiative since the Federal Government had suspended the move.
“I cannot confirm or tell you the number of states that are still ready to go on with it, because right now it is at the state level. You are aware that the Federal Government has suspended it and this (FMARD) is a ministry of the Federal Government,” an official at the agriculture ministry stated.
Our ranches are not for Ruga– Ondo
Meanwhile, Ondo State Government said it still maintained its two ranches in Auga and Akunu Akoko in Akoko North-East Local Government Area of the state.
The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Donald Ojogo, reiterated that the two ranches were not developed for Ruga settlements but were developed to meet the modern standard.
He said, “Ondo State Government has ranches at Akunu and Auga. At the risk of being repetitive, we wish to state categorically that those ranches are being developed to meet the challenges of the moment.
“They are not for Ruga settlement. The government is already looking in the direction of partnering investors to make them ( the ranches) more meaningful.”
We won’t give Oke Akoko ranch to herdsmen– Ekiti
Also, Ekiti State Government said it was making efforts to get the support for the resuscitation of the unused cattle ranch in the state with a view to ending clashes between farmers and herdsmen.
The cattle ranch was established at Oke Ako in the Western Region days (now in the Ikole LGA of Ekiti State) during the period of the late sage, Mr Obafemi Awolowo.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Folorunso Olabode, said, “We are to work on the cattle ranch. We are making effort to get the support on a private pubic partnership so that all these incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen could be avoided.
“We are not giving it to cattle herders. Government is to develop it and partner private sector on a PPP arrangement. It is to develop the ranch to remove sense of insecurity.”
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