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‘River Benue Is Not Yours And Anti Grazing Law Illegal’ – Fulani Tell Benue State Govt

The Oasis Reporters

November 22, 2017

Cattle in a ranch yield fifty litres of milk per day, as compared to the ones in free range (right), that produce one litre of milk per day.

THE Fulani in Nigeria have said they will not accept the new, modern and much more productive cattle ranching because the country’s geographical location was not suitable for it.
“It’s caused by strangers fuelled by politicians, religious leaders”, Miyetti Allah has said.

Therefore Nigeria may have to brace up for more conflicts between herdsmen and farmers that has led to far too many killings in the middle belt and other regions of the country.

Besides, the Fulani said the species of cows they had, as subsistence livestock farmers, were not good for ranching in the country, saying they could only be confined to ranching if their livestock were replaced with breeds suitable for it.

According to them, the laws are being used as campaigns by some people to win votes in 2019 elections.
Addressing newsmen, on Monday , in Abuja, through their socio-cultural association under the aegis of Miyetti-Allah Kautal Hore, the Fulani insisted that events in history showed that ranching was not practicable in Nigeria and to this end, urged the Federal government to immediately stop state governments from enacting anti-open grazing laws.
Alhassan insisted that Benue State government breached the constitution by stopping open grazing, given that the River Benue Basin, its tributaries and lakes were under the control of the federal government.
“Again, very fundamentally, the River Benue and the tributaries and also the international routes and roads that pass through Benue does not belong to Benue State government , they belong to the Federal government . Benue State government has no jurisdiction over River Benue, its tributaries, the lakes, the river basins, they are all federal government’s. So how do you now start to legislate to say ‘you are going to stop access to those natural resources?’
“Between January and and early May, is when pastoralists move to the river basins because that is the peak of dry season and most of the rivers pastoralists use to water their animals dry up and they now move towards the River Benue.

Legal experts have been debating the proprietary rights that the federal government has to stop any state government from enacting laws for its own governance and came up with a conclusion that as long as the state governments have Houses Of Assembly, they are free to make their own laws and decisions for good governance. They pointed to the pro shariah laws for the amputation of the limbs of thieves in Zamfara state that the federal government could not stop under president Olusegun Obasanjo (1999 – 2007) .

Source : vanguardngr.com

 

Greg Abolo

Blogger at The Oasis Reporters.

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