Cattle colonies: Only states can allocate lands for grazing – Ekweremadu

Fred Itua, Abuja

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has said only state governments can allocate lands for grazing or cattle colonies, as clearly specified in the Land Use Act of 1977.
Ekweremadu also called on states to come up with legislations that will ban open grazing across the country, since “cattle rearing is a private business and should be handled as such.”
He made these known at the House of Commons, in the United Kingdom (UK), where he delivered a lecture titled: African politics: The dynamics and lessons.
“Importantly, I believe that ranching is the way to go rather than open grazing. However, it is for the Federal Government to provide the policy direction while the states take up the challenge because the issue of cattle rearing is a state matter as all lands are vested in respective states under the Land Use Act in Nigeria.
“It is not for the states to set up ranches since it is private business. The states should, instead, come up with agricultural credit schemes that will encourage and support farmers to set up their ranches,” said the deputy senate president.
To end herdsmen crisis, Ekweremadu, has advised the nation to urgently adopt ranching and do away with open grazing, which he described as “archaic, anachronistic, and out of tune with modern society.”
Still speaking on herdsmen/farmers’ crisis, he explained that the federal government’s only business in ranching would be enactment of policy, and insisted that land matters and regulation of ranching are the responsibilities of the states.
He also reiterated his call for the decentralisation of policing in Nigeria and Africa, saying it is the continent’s way out of its myriad of security challenges.
“The senseless killings in Benue, Taraba, Plateau, Kaduna, Adamawa, Nasarawa, and Zamfara states, the insurgency in the North East, and the militancy in the South South of the country thrive because of the abnormal, centralised system of policing in Nigeria.
“Africa must enthrone modern policing that is swift, active, and reliable. This will not only secure lives and property, but also, secure the confidence of investors and our nascent democracies,” he said.