AS the farming season sets in, Plateau State governor Caleb Muftwang has stated that the state government is making arrangements to beef up security around farms, saying the state will not surrender its farmland to anyone.
Governor Muftwang, who stated this while speaking at the 2024 Annual Nzem Berom Cultural Festival in Jos, Plateau State, disclosed that security men will begin to go around and make sure that people go to the farm and return safely.
“This year, we are making arrangements to beef up the security around our farmlands. I therefore urge you to go back to the farms. We will not surrender the farmland to anyone. We are trusting God that security will begin to move around and make sure that our people go to the farm and return safely.
“We will continue to work with the security agencies on the ground and make sure that they do their jobs better and better. In connection with the farming season. I want to appeal to those of you who got fertiliser. Please, let’s not resell the fertilisers. Let’s make sure we put them to good use. We are expecting a little more from the federal government. And when it comes, we are going to make sure that those who are verified as farmers will have access to those fertilisers,” the governor assured.
He commended the sons and daughters of Plateau State for exhibiting a true Plateau spirit: the spirit of independence, the spirit of commitment to the public good, and the spirit of being one another’s brother.
“Being our brothers keepers. We have shown that, as Plateau people, we are not beggars, and beggars we will never be. Even if no one supports us, we will be able to keep going. It is this spirit that has kept us as a people, despite all the travails of the years. Despite the attacks over the years, the people of Plateau State have remained resilient. And that is why, today, the contribution of the people of Plateau State to the national food basket cannot be underestimated.
“We are saying that if not for the food that comes from Plateau State, Nigeria will know hunger. I, therefore, urge you that in the coming days, we will stand together shoulder to shoulder to resist those who seek to decimate us. We will stand together shoulder to shoulder to protect the land that God has given us as an inheritance. Though the giants may be on our way to hinder us, God will give us victory. God will be with us as he has always been over the years,” he said.
The governor therefore commended the Berom nation for leading the path in showing the resilience of the Plateau spirit and urged the Gbong Gwom of Jos to use his throne to bring the ethnic nationalities on the Plateau together.
He said: “We are one. We are one. Nothing must come between us. Nothing must divide us. Our strength is in our unity. Therefore, we must hold one another’s hands. What happens to the Berom man must be of concern to the Anaguta man, must be of concern to the Afizere man, and must be of concern to the Mwagavul man because we are all in this matter together. By the grace of God, we will continue to remain who we are: peace-loving people who love to accommodate others.
“We will continue to open our borders to welcome visitors of God, men and women, who wish to live in peace with us. But those who do not wish to live in peace with us, those who seek to trouble us, God will trouble them.”
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