Insecurity: Northern Governors Call On FG To Establish A National Policy To Settle Nomads

The Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) on Sunday called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to consider a national policy to settle nomads and provide adequate grazing reserves and cattle routes.

The Governors believe the new approach will end incessant clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in parts of northern Nigeria.

The Chairman of the forum and Governor of Niger State, Muazu Aliyu, in a statement issued in Minna. The Governor argues that that grazing reserves have proved to be a self-sustaining solution for pastoralists across many developed and underdeveloped countries of the world.

the statement reads. “It is the considered opinion of the forum that a national policy be put in place to settle nomads and provide adequate reserves and cattle routes. The advantages of doing so include reintegrating herdsmen into the mainstream society and reducing or even eliminating herdsmen/farmers conflicts,”

The Forum advocates for a comprehensive pastoral resource development programme of the defunct Northern Nigeria which established facilities like marketing channels, watering points, veterinary posts and grazing reserves in major pastoral areas of the region.

The forum said apart from loss of human lives, lack of proper management of grazing reserves had denied the country the required increases in livestock numbers, carcass weight and off-take levels.

It further urged the Federal Government to take immediate steps to set aside dedicated areas of land for pastoral use.