The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has condemned in strong terms the idea of open grazing, saying that any legislation that would permit such in whatever guise is not in the interest of peace and security in the country.
The National Spokesperson of CUPP, Comrade Mark Adebayo, expressed this concern in reaction to the ongoing debate on the Anti-Open Grazing Bill before the Senate, which has scaled Second Reading, noting that Open Grazing, no matter how regulated by legislation, would continue to promote extreme violence between herders and the rest of Nigerian citizens, not just the farmers.
According to Adebayo, in a chat with our correspondent, this is because the herders will always give preference to the welfare of their cattle to the detriment of human beings, insisting that “open grazing promotes anarchy, violence, and insecurity because herders are mostly uncontrollable.”
This was just as the right activist suggested that issues related to grazing should be left to individual states to decide upon based on which policy operates in each state, saying that it should not be a national affair.
“In the first instance, any legislation that permits open grazing under whatever guise is not in the interest of peace and security. Open grazing, no matter how regulated by legislation, will continue to promote extreme violence between herders and the rest of Nigerian citizens, not just the farmers, because the herders will always give preference to the welfare of their cattle to the detriment of humans.
“Issues related to grazing should be left to individual states to decide which policy operates in each state. It shouldn’t be a national affair. One state may permit open grazing, while another may insist on ranching. It should be left to each state to determine what policy suits it,” the CUPP spokesperson said.
“In any case, open grazing promotes anarchy, violence, and insecurity because herders are mostly uncontrollable,” he added.
Adebayo said that the herders had wrecked enough damage in this country and even threatened the corporate existence of Nigeria on several occasions due to the fact that they were mostly uncomfortable, recalling sadly that during the immediate past administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari, no issue divided the country more than the menace of herders who were killing, raping, and destroying farms and properties en masse.
According to him, such brigandage has not stopped even now but “has only minimally reduced,” saying that Nigerians should not allow that to continue and, therefore, the need to adopt ranching being “the way to go in this modern age, but if any state chooses to permit open grazing, that’s its choice but should not be a national policy.”
“They’ve wrecked enough damage in this country and even threatened the corporate existence of Nigeria on several occasions.
“During the Buhari administration, no issue divided us more than the menace of herders who were killing, raping, and destroying farms and properties en masse. That menace hasn’t stopped even now. It has only been minimally reduced.
“We can’t allow such to continue. Ranching is the way to go in this modern age, but if any state chooses to permit open grazing, that’s its choice but should not be a national policy,” the CUPP spokesperson stated.
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