Govt Should convert unoccupied public lands for ranches-Tinubu.

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Saturday spoke on the farmer-herder crisis, urging state governments to convert unoccupied public land to ranches for herdsmen.

.

He also enjoined the Federal Government to convene a meeting of all state governors, security officials, traditional and religious leaders, including representatives of herders and farmers, to find solutions to the lingering conflict

.

Many leaders in Yorubaland, including a chieftain of the socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, had criticised Tinubu for failing to speak on the crisis due to political reasons.

.

However, Tinubu on Saturday broke his prolonged silence on the issue by canvassing the conversion of unoccupied public land to ranches to solve the lingering conflict

.

“Unoccupied public land can be fenced into grazing areas or ranches and leased to herders on a very low-cost, nominal basis,” Tinubu said in a statement he signed and titled, Statement on the herder’s crisis.

.

It was not the first time, though, that the APC leader would make such a call.

.

He had in October 2018, while addressing a National Summit jointly organised by The Nation Newspapers and Television Continental, called for the conversion of unoccupied land to grazing reserves as a way of resolving the herdsmen violence.

.

He reiterated his position on Saturday, noting that the crisis had taken on violent dimensions.

.

Tinubu said increased security measures alone could not solve the farmer-herder crisis, recommending that after the Federal Government had convened a security summit involving all the stakeholders, the state governors should convene follow-up meetings in their states to adopt the solutions suitable for their states.

.

He said, “Governments need to employ new technology and equipment to enhance the information gathering/surveillance and response capabilities of law enforcement.

.

“Help the herders’ transition to more sedentary but more profitable methods of cattle-rearing. Unoccupied public land can be fenced into grazing areas or ranches and leased to herders at a very low-cost,“Government, in turn, being a responsible lessor, must help with supplemental feed and water in these areas. This will enable herders to better maintain and care for their livestock, thus enhancing their incomes.

“Herders can augment income by becoming suppliers to the leather goods industry. Additionally, herders can also develop a more symbiotic relationship with farmers by, for example, trading animal compost to the farmer in exchange for animal feed.”

Tinubu said governments should assist farmers to increase productivity by supporting or providing subvention for their acquisition of fertiliser and machinery.

He also urged the establishment of commodity boards to guarantee minimum prices for important crops.

“In the medium- to long-term, resources must be dedicated to establishing better irrigation and water catchment systems to further improve farm productivity and mitigate the dire impact of flood and drought cycles brought about by extreme climatic conditions,” he said.

The APC leader also called for the establishment of a permanent panel in each state as a forum for farmers, herders, security officials and senior state officials to discuss their concerns, mitigate contention, as well as identify and douse trouble before it erupts.

Also, Tinubu cautioned against fanning the embers of hatred, saying such could worsen the farmer-herder crisis.

“Sadly, others who should know better have incited matters by tossing about hate-tainted statements that fall dangerously short of the leadership these people claim to provide,” he said.

“This is no time for reckless chauvinism of any kind on either side of this dispute. This matter is not ethnic in factual origin or actual causation, although in the minds and hearts of too many, it has become ethnic in recrimination and impulsive action,” he added.

Tinubu also said the situation of the herder was becoming untenable, saying their nomadic ways had increasingly fallen in conflict with the dictates of modern society.