Clark,Falana,PANDEF to Buhari-You lack power to impose open grazing on states —Clark
…It applies only to northern States —Falana
Prominent Nigerians have continued to react to President Muhammad’s Buharis support for open grazing and reactivation of old routes saying the routes exists only in the Northern parts of the country.
Former federal commissioner for information, Chief Edwin Clark, said on Monday President Mohammed Buhari lacks the power to impose open grazing on the states.
The President had on Thursday approved the return of the cattle grazing route used during the First Republic.
The grazing system adopted during the period allowed herdsmen to use designated grazing routes to move their cattle to several parts of the country.
Buhari, who confirmed his approval for the return of the practice during an interview on Arise TV, said he had asked the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to begin the process of recovering land from persons who have converted cattle grazing routes to their personal use.
Clark, who reacted to the President’s remarks at a media briefing in Abuja, Monday warned the Federal Government and the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) against conduct and utterances capable of escalating the crisis in the country.
He said the people of the Niger Delta have watched with patience the reckless and irresponsible utterances of some groups who have over the years threatened other Nigerians over grazing routes.
The elder statesman also decried the warning by a faceless group to the Delta State government to withdraw within 72 hours, the decision to ban open grazing in the Southern part of the country.
He said: “The decision on open grazing and other decisions taken on national interest by the 17 Southern governors received the full support of the people of Southern Nigeria, particularly the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo of the South-East, PANDEF of the South-South and the Afenifere of the South-West.
“The President has no power or authority to impose open grazing on state governments. Such illegal action which is a breach of the 1999 Constitution will not be accepted and will be legally resisted at all costs.
“Therefore, any law banning open grazing by state governments is not only legal and binding but is unchallengeable and binding on any person or group of persons, including the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
“We will no longer tolerate hate and divisive statements targeted at deriding and insulting others, from these Fulani’s who believe Nigeria is exclusively theirs and other Nigerians are their subjects and not their fellow citizens.”
In the same vein, human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), says the Grazing Reserves Act of 1964 which President Muhammadu Buhari is bent on reviving was only applicable to northern Nigeria in the 1960s.
He argued that the Grazing Reserves Act of 1964 was not a law of general application because the “Western Region, Mid-Western Region and the Eastern Region had ranches for animal husbandry.”
Falana, therefore, advised Buhari to promote ranching instead of attempting to revive grazing routes.
The senior advocate said this in a statement on Sunday titled, ‘President Buhari Should Embrace Ranching’.
The activist stated that in 2016, the Federal Government announced that it had acquired 55,000 hectares of land in 11 states for grazing of cattle.
“Shortly thereafter the Federal Government adopted cattle colony or Ruga Policy. But due to the opposition which greeted the concept of cattle colony in many quarters the Federal Government jettisoned the policy and adopted the Livestock Transformation Policy including ranching in 2018,” Falana recalled.
He noted that the Chairman of the sub-committee on farmer/herder crisis, Dave Umahi, who is also the Governor of Ebonyi State, disclosed that the Federal Government would bear 80 per cent of the sum of N100bn earmarked for ranching while participating states would support with N20bn and provision of lands for the programme.
In 2019, the Central Bank of Nigeria also announced plans to provide loans for ranching and milk production.
Falana said last month, the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Governor Simon Lalong, announced that all the states in the North had adopted the National Livestock Transformation Programme and called on the Federal Government to release funds to willing states to start.
Lalong was quoted as saying that some states had begun processes to end open grazing in their states.
“Kaduna has a ranch with Dano milk as a pilot; Plateau has sent a bill on ranching to the state assembly, Zamfara, Kano, Taraba, Niger, Nasarawa have started ranch constructions,” the Plateau State governor was quoted as saying.
Falana argued that in view of the unanimous decision of the Northern Governors Forum and Southern Governors Forum to ban open grazing and adopt ranching, President Buhari ought to drop the search for grazing routes and ensure the success of the National Livestock Transformation Programme of the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum has again warned the Federal Government and groups such as the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, against conduct and utterances capable of making the already bad security situation in Nigeria worse than it is.
Elder statesman and leader of PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark, gave the warning at a media briefing in Abuja, on Monday.
He said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) lacked the power to impose open grazing on state governments.
He said the people of the Niger Delta have watched with restrained patience the reckless and irresponsible utterances of a group of jihadists who have over the years threatened other Nigerians over grazing routes and rights.
Clark noted that the latest being the threat issued by a group of faceless anarchists who issued a warning to the Delta State Government and Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, to withdraw, within 72 hours, the decision against open grazing which was taken by the 17 governors of the south.
The elder statesman said, “The decision on open grazing and other decisions taken on national interest by the 17 Southern Governors received the full support of the people of Southern Nigeria, particularly the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo of the South-East, PANDEF of the South-South and the Afenifere of the South-West.
“The President has no power or authority to impose open grazing on state governments. Such illegal action which is a breach of the 1999 Constitution, will not be accepted and will be legally resisted at all costs.
“Therefore, any law banning open grazing by state governments is not only legal and binding but is unchallengeable and binding on any person or group of persons, including the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
“We will no longer tolerate hate and divisive statements targeted at deriding and insulting others, from these Fulani’s who believe Nigeria is exclusively theirs and other Nigerians are their subjects, and not their fellow citizens.”
