Restructuring, national dialogue, ban on open grazing: Southern Senators, Reps back southern governors

Lawmakers in both chambers of the National Assembly have endorsed the resolutions of governors in the southern region of the country, banning open grazing in their respective states. The governors, under the aegis of Southern Governors Forum (SGF), at the end of their meeting held in Asaba, Delta State capital, on Tuesday, unanimously passed a verdict prohibiting open grazing in the region to checkmate the herders-farmers clashes, kidnapping and killings. 

The governors advised President Muhammadu Buhari, to convene a national dialogue to address the seemingly intractable security challenges facing the country. The governors specifically “agreed that the progress of the nation requires that urgent and bold steps be taken to restructure the country, leading to the evolution of state police, review of revenue allocation formula in favour of the sub-national governments and creation of other institutions which legitimately advance our commitment to and practice of true federalism.” 

The Southern Senators Forum in a statement signed by senator representing Ekiti Central and chairman of the forum, Opeyemi Bamidele, his counterpart representing Edo South and secretary general, Matthew Uroghide and publicity secretary of the forum and senator representing Enugu North, Chukwuka Utazi commended the step taken by the governors, saying it would serve as a buffer to wanton destruction of farmlands, kidnappings and carnages. 

The senators lamented how the southern farmers were losing millions of Naira to plundering of food crops through encroachments on farmlands and exposing the region to famine and acute food scarcity. 

“At this critical point of our national life when the economy was being bedevilled by galloping inflation, youth unemployment and insecurity, food security is very crucial to mitigate the effects of these diverse evils on the citizens. 

“Available records have shown that attaining food security status would remain a mirage in the south owing to ravaging effect of outdated livestock grazing policy being unleashed on farmlands by some unscrupulous herders. 

“Most appalling are the seemingly unabated kidnapping, raping and killing of our people by suspected herdsmen, who have become bandits heating up the system. 

“With this uniform resolve by our governors to initiate no-open grazing policy, the region will return to its peaceful and agriculturally self-sufficient status it had assumed even long before Nigeria’s amalgamation in 1914.” 

The SSF equally commended the governor’s resolution on restructuring, as they noted that amidst the outcry against lopsided federation, it would “also help to remove the venom that had permeated the land on account of alleged neglect of certain sections of the country.” 

The SSF leaders stated that ushering of equality, equity and justice in the way the country is being run will wipe out ethnic tension, restore peace and stability and ward off agitations for secession that are now gaining tractions across the land. 

Meanwhile, members of the House of Representatives from the 17 southern states of the country, after due considerations, on Wednesday unanimously supported the resolutions of the governors on true federalism, restructuring and security measures due to the worsening insecurity. 

The lawmakers’ position endorsing all the resolutions of the governors was contained in a statement issued and signed by 22 lawmakers drawn from the three zones in the South: South-East, South-South and the SouthWest. 

Accordingly, the lawmakers resolved to deploy all their legislative instruments to ensure a speedy achievement of the reforms and constitutional amendments that would guarantee restructuring towards attaining true federalism in our country. 

“This position was in a firm restatement of our insistence that our nation must exist and governed on the platform of democratic tenets of social justice, equity, fairness, mutual respect, true federalism, rule of law and constitutional order, and we are ready to deploy all legislative instruments at our disposal for actualization. 

“Against this backdrop, the members of the House of Representatives from the South, without regard to any other affiliations, firmly support our Governors on the immediate ban on open cattle grazing across Southern Nigeria. 

“We hold that such is a sure step towards checking the infiltration of bandits, armed herders and terrorist elements which has heightened security challenges with escalated killings and bloody attacks on innocent citizens, while crippling social life, economic activities and food production in the region. 

“We therefore support the recommendation that the Federal Government should provide alternative and modern livestock management that does not constitute a security and economic challenge to the nation. 

“The platform of Southern members in the House of Representatives also support our Governors’ restatement of the demand for true federalism through restructuring that will lead to the devolution of power, creation of state police, review of resource control and revenue allocation formula, as well as strict adherence to federal character principle in federal appointments in the shared interests of the federating states. 

“As lawmakers, we affirm that such is the only guaranteed way to ensure fairness, justice, equity to engender national stability, productivity and peaceful co-existence and we support an urgent national dialogue in that regard,” they stressed. 

The lawmakers also cautioned “certain individuals kicking against such devolution of power and review of revenue control and allocation formula, to desist from their parochial interest, noting that such reviews are the only way to stabilise our nation, engender regional or state productivity and healthy development at all levels. 

“Furthermore, our platform commends our governors for the concern for the asphyxiation of economic activities in Southern Nigeria resulting from the continued congestion in ports in Lagos and the gridlock on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway. 

“This challenge has led to losses in billions of naira to businesses and other economic activities in the industrial and commercial activities of not only in the Southern Nigeria but the nation at large. 

“We therefore firmly back the demand for the establishment and activation of other ports in other states of the federation, particularly in the south where such services are in very high demand.

“As a lawmaker, our platform assures of our readiness to deploy our legislative instruments to ensure speedy achievement of the reforms and constitutional amendments that will guarantee a restructuring towards the practice of true federalism in our country and we are rallying our colleagues from other parts of the country in this direction.”

 

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