Tobi Adebayo
Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum has said that the ban on open grazing in the South by the Southern Governors Forum will not work unless the rising level of insecurity across the country is addressed.
Zulum said this while speaking on a Channels Television programme, Sunrise Daily.
The 17 Southern Governors had Monday set September 1, 2021, as the commencement date for the implementation of the anti-open grazing law in the South.
Speaking on the ban, Zulum urged the Military to create an enabling environment for farmers to return to their farmlands.
“We have to address the socio-political and economic dimensions of this crisis which is very important because there is increasing poverty in the sub-region; that is something that will trigger insurgency.
“There is increasing food insecurity in the sub-region because food insecurity is the worst form of insecurity and that is why the Borno State Government has been advocating for farming in the last two years. Farmers should be allowed to go to their farmlands.
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“The Nigerian military should create the enabling environment for farmers to go to their farmlands so that they can cultivate their lands. It is no longer sustainable for our internally displaced persons living in IDP camps and host communities to receive food and non-food items from donor partners. People must earn their livelihood if we want this insurgency to come to an end.”
“The issue of the socio-political and economic dimensions of this crisis is very important; addressing farmers-herders is also very important, to ensure that the enabling environment has been created for the herders is very important. This issue of stopping open grazing and others will not work unless we sit down and address all these issues squarely,” Zulum said.
