Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has taken a swipe at his colleagues from the southern region over the passage of the anti-grazing law in their respective states, stating that they are politicising a law that cannot be implemented.
He faulted the approach adopted in managing the open grazing crisis, adding that the matter has been over politicised.
El-Rufai noted that the solution to the open grazing problem is not by enacting a populist’s legislation but ranching, which according to him is an expensive venture.
He stated when he visited the National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja, that ranching, and not open grazing is the solution to the ongoing farmer/herder clashes.
The governor said, “The Northern Governors Forum has already taken a position that open grazing is not a sustainable way of livestock production and we must move towards ranching.
“But moving towards ranching cannot be done overnight. We have to plan, we have to have the resources and we have to implement it sensibly. It is not a matter of populist legislation or saying tomorrow this or that. It is not a solution.
“What is unhelpful is the politicising of the situation and pass legislation that you know that you cannot implement.”
Explaining steps taken by his administration to address the issue, el-Rufai said he has embarked on the construction of a ranch that will take care of over 1,500 Fulani families at the cost of N10 billion.
“In my state, for instance, we are developing a huge ranch to centralise the herders. And that is the solution. But can it be done overnight? No,” he said.
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“I hope that they will see that there are alternative ways of producing livestock instead of running up and down with cattle going to people’s farms to cause all kinds of problems. We want to solve the problem.”
The governor continued, “We need billions of naira. This is just one ranch that is causing N10 billion. I have 14 grazing reserves in Kaduna State and I will like to convert them into ranching. Do I have 14 times N10bn? I don’t have.”
