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Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, has said contrary to reports that states were being coerced to be part of the Ruga settlement programme, the participating states actually applied to be part of the project.
He also said each state adopted the name they chose to call the programme, explaining that the name Ruga does not apply to every state.
Speaking to State House correspondents, Lalong who met President Muhammadu Buhari to brief him as chairman Northern Governors Forum, said the herdsmen-farmers committee, headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, had agreed that the only solution that can address some of the insecurity issues between herdsmen and farmers is the ranching policy.
The governor who described the controversy trailing the programme as needless, accused those giving it different names as responsible for the controversy.
According to Lalong, “I think, the Ruga thing should not be anything that should bring controversy with the level of sensitisation we’ve already made. I am a member of the food security committee, I am a member of the herdsmen-farmers committee; we’ve gone a long way on this issue and we’ve said that the only solution that can address some of these insecurity issues between herdsmen and farmers is the ranching policy. You remember that we had gone far when some people called it colony and called it this and that, and it created controversy.
“Again, we have gone far under the leadership of Mr Vice President, and then we are hearing other terms; what they are talking about, is the same thing that we are talking about. But I think when they mentioned Ruga, it may be particular to a particular tribe but what we are doing is all encompassing; it’s for the benefit of Nigeria.
“I have said particularly in my state that animal husbandry, live stock rearing is not a prerogative of one tribe; everybody must get involved in it and that is what we have done in our state when we registered for it. We said we are going to put these structures to enable us to encourage the youths. Right now, we are training permanent secretaries, retired civil servants who would also get involved in it so that we can address some of the insecurity that we have in the nation.
“So when somebody mentioned another word, people would not wait to question and find out who and who are bringing those words, that is just the simple fact. But if you go to what we have done because they have mentioned some states which are included; yes, those states applied, those states said ‘we have land for it.’ It’s not the Federal government that is imposing it on any state. To the credit of Mr President, he has not imposed that on any states; it is voluntary. And they said any state that is prepared to do that to address insecurity in their state should come and apply. So some of the states applied and we are at the level of the pilot scheme and some mischief makers would start bringing terms to cause confusion in the country. It’s very unfortunate.”
On whether the criticism was political, Lalong said: “I don’t know whether it is political. Of course, I’m a member of the committee; by the time we addressed that issue, some people said ‘yes we would prefer to do open grazing in our state’; some said ‘we would prefer to do ranching in our state and some said in our state we would call it Ruga model. So, it is different states with their different approaches, but Ruga term is not general to everybody. In my state we call it livestock something; it’s not Ruga and we have explained it to people.”
Reminded that the concern was that the Ruga programme was being funded by the Federal government, Lalong said: “No, I was here some ago when people asked why is the Federal government subsidising ranching? And I also asked ‘why is the Federal government subsidising agriculture?’
“This is a policy that we felt that is not only for economic sense, but would address the issue of security. So, if it is going to address insecurity at a period the country is confronted with serious security challenges, then the Federal government would come and assist those who want to do it. They are not imposing it on any state; I am a member of this committee under the chairmanship of the Vice President; the Federal government has not imposed that on any state. They said if you have land for pilot scheme, they can assist, and donor agencies are coming from all over; it is not a Federal government project; the World Bank is involved; the African Development Bank is involved.
“So if you have a scheme like this that can take poverty away, bring revenue and also address insecurity, you will need to go into it but with due consultation from your state.
“We did a lot of sensitisation; in my state, it took me three months to do sensitisation and we all agreed that we should bring this concept to empower people. It is not meant to empower one tribe, it is for everybody and that would address the issue of insecurity because we don’t want people moving from one place to another looking for grass.
“The fact that Federal government is bringing subsidy was a request from the committee chaired by Mr Vice President.
“Goodluck Jonathan did it; he budgeted about N10 billion but we didn’t see the money. If he had done that at that time, we would not be fighting insecurity between herders and farmers today.”
On what to expect from his leadership as chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum, he said: “So many things. I am going to takeover tomorrow (Tuesday). I have not done the formal taking over, but I am going back to Kaduna to take the handing-over and thereafter, create a roadmap for peace and security in the North and we are also thinking of immediately organising a northern security summit.”
