Delta State governor Senator Ifeanyi Okowa has insisted that southern governors are unapologetic on the ban on open grazing of cattle across the region adding that restructuring is a must for Nigeria to survive.
These were
part of the decisions taken when he hosted his 16 colleagues on 11 May,
2021 in Asaba where they also called for state police and devolution of powers
from the Federal Government to the States.
“We owe no
apologies, because we spoke the truth and we thought that the truth we spoke
was in the best interest of this nation.
Okowa
expressed surprise that some elements in the Presidency are still advocating
for the retention of open grazing of cattle.
“Can we
truly at this moment be promoting open grazing? Thank God that the President
was misrepresented, because I have seen news headlines that the President is
not opposed to the ban on open grazing.
We need to begin to look into what is best for us. Where we were 50 years ago should not be where we should be today and tomorrow.”
He acknowledged that it might not be a one-day affair. He said: “It may not be
but the process has to start and there must be a programme that must become
evident, a programme in which we will begin to see actions being taken.”
He warned that Nigeria’s growing food insecurity may soon spiral to a tipping
point on account of the threat posed by open grazing of cattle.
“Today, a
lot of money is being spent by the Central Bank of Nigeria to encourage farmers
to ensure that we are food sufficient but a lot of these efforts are lost,
because of insecurity.
Farmers
can’t go to farm, their crops are destroyed, they are maimed and raped and some
are even killed. We cannot continue like this, because if you have a programme
you are spending billions on, we must secure it and we must ensure the food
security of this country.”
Okowa called
for wholesale adoption of ranching given that, apart from safety issues, it is
more beneficial for both cattle owners and herders.
“Ranching obviously is the only way out as is happening in other climes and it’s not impossible in this place. In some parts of Taraba State, ranching has been on for so many years and we can actually create those ranches where the cattle will have more meat, more milk and then the children can actually afford to go to school”, he said.
“We may not
go into the big ranches but we can start in some form by acquiring some lands
for that purpose and it may not be owned by individuals. Government can own the
ranches where individuals can come and populate and pay some form of token”,
the governor stated.
The voices for restructuring have been very strong out there. Why will somebody
even criticise on restructuring? The only thing you need to know is that
restructuring is of various facets, you only have to bring forth your
arguments”, Okowa said as he spoke with selected journalists in Asaba.
His stand came against the backdrop of the criticisms of the Asaba Declaration
by Abubakar Malami, Federal Attorney and Minister of Justice including Mallam
Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman.
“I actually thought that the voices who tend to criticise the meeting failed to
have an understanding. People should learn to approach things after a very deep
thought rather than just looking at the surface picking one thing and speaking
about it.
“We actually came in as state governors to reaffirm our belief in the Nigerian
state and secondly we do also realise that there are things going on very
wrongly and there was a need to address them”, the governor said.
He had earlier called for the writing of a new constitution, not an amendment,
to accommodate emerging issues of good governance and greater interest of
Nigerians when he received on a courtesy visit, the Senate sub-committee on
review of the 1999 Constitution led by Senator James Manager in Asaba.
He told the committee that a new Constitution for the country had become
imperative in view of observed inadequacies in the 1999 Constitution and called
for the insertion of a clause to allow for the re-writing of the present
Constitution while it would continue to be in operation until a new one was
ready.
“I believe that the southern governors’ meeting was in the best interest of
this nation and not just the southern part of the country, because the voices
of our people have continued to ring loud and ours was just to reflect their
voice.
“We first proclaimed as a people and as governors who run the various States in
Southern Nigeria that we believe in the Federation and unity of this country,
because there has been a lot of voices on secession here and there”, Okowa
stated.
“There is nobody that has not talked about restructuring. Even the APC
government constituted a restructuring committee headed by Nasir el-Rufai and
they agreed that restructuring was inevitable. It has to be done. That is why
we asked for the national dialogue so that we can sit down and look at the
issues and agree together as a nation, as peoples of same nation on what and
what will be needed and I think it is very important.
“It is important and it will help to enhance the peace and recreate hope
amongst our people that truly we are in a federation that is united in the best
interest of the federating units. I don’t see why people will need to criticise
that”
On state police, Okowa said the way the federal police is structured “is such
that they won’t be able to police this nation, its impossible. We are not
saying that they are incompetent.
“But when the police hierarchy is already calling for vigilantes, they are
calling for state police. So the state police can be organized in such a manner
that it assists the federal police, because the level of insecurity in this
country now is too high and we need to do something about it.”
