El-Rufai’s challenge to southern governors

THE governor of Kaduna State, Mr. Nasir el-Rufai, was recently in the news for the wrong reasons when he berated the governors of the 17 southern states for signing the anti-open grazing bill in their respective states into law, wondering how they were going to implement it. According to him, while combating open grazing was the right thing to do,”what is unhelpful is the politicising of the situation and passing legislation that you know that you cannot implement.” Saying that his administration was building a ranch at the cost of N10 billion, el-Rufai added: “If the Federal Government would give me N114 billion, I would convert the other 13 into ranches and make sure that nobody comes out with a cow or sheep in Kaduna State because I will have enough ranches to take care of everybody.  That is the solution. You can legislate but let us wait and see. And I wish them the best of luck.”

Irked by the Kaduna governor’s remarks, the governor of Ondo State and chairman of the South-West Governors Forum, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), pointedly accused him of trying to import banditry to the southern part of the country. The governor, in a statement by his Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Donald Ojogo, described el-Rufai’s comments as unfortunate. He said: “From all indications, Governor el-Rufai, if he was properly quoted and his views not misrepresented, is struggling hard to export banditry to the South under an expressed opinion that is laced with mischief. In these days and times, anyone who makes statements such as that allegedly made by the governor belongs to a class of an unenviable ilk masquerading as leaders. There is no wisdom in condemning/banning open grazing, prohibiting the inter-border movement of cattle in the North, including Kaduna State, with an accompanying disapproval of a law that gives bite to same in another part of the country.”

To be sure, el-Rufai’s statement was certainly in poor taste. It was intended to rub salt in the open wound of the governors over the contentious matter, seeing that they would have an uphill task in  implementing the grazing laws without the backing of the Federal Government, which controls the police. The Kaduna governor ought to have let his southern colleagues figure out how to implement the law instead of berating them even if he has a reputation of being a stormy petrel to live up to. He definitely succeeded in expanding the gorge between the two major geopolitical zones of the country through his needless knavery. It is a sad pity that many people in leadership positions refuse to appreciate the awesomeness of the expectations associated with their exalted positions.

Mr. el-Rufai has dismally failed to rein in the bandits who have been continually perpetrating untold terror in his Kaduna State, but he is more concerned about the “unworkable laws” in faraway Ondo State and other southern states, a matter that should not be his headache. This kind of audacious arrogance is really a gratuitous insult to the southern governors. But the southern governors would be ignoring a valid point if they choose to dwell on their detractor’s comments, namely that the comments were informed in large part by their hitherto poor disposition to implementing the grazing laws. Had they demonstrated a steely resolve to walk the talk before now, el-Rufai’s comments, and those of the people on behalf of whom he spoke, would have been markedly different. Seen in this context, therefore, el-Rufai’s statement is a challenge to the affected governors to show that they mean business. Thus, in the extant case, the governors should make the laws banning open grazing duly effective by arresting and prosecuting those who run afoul of them. That is the way to go in ensuring the security of the long-suffering farming populace and the general population who have suffered untold pain at the hands of the marauding herdsmen.

Truth be told, the absence of some of the South-East governors from the recent parley organised by the Southern Governors Forum in Enugu, Enugu State, did nothing to improve the rating of southern governors in terms of their credibility and sincerity of purpose. How can they expect to be taken seriously by governors like el-Rufai when they willfully ignored a parley meant to address an open sore, as expected by their own people? Such lackadaisical attitude is certainly condemnable, but it also explains el-Rufai’s tirade. It definitely sends a signal to those who are of the el-Rufai school of thought to continue to deride them.

We believe firmly that if the southern governors can muster enough courage and political will, they will actualise their objective in banning open grazing. In any case, the laws are products of their respective state assemblies representing the wishes of the people over which they preside.