RUGA should not be imposed on states —Kano gov

Kano State governor, Dr Umar Ganduje, has described RUGA settlement project as a programme that should be initiated by any interested state and not be imposed.

The governor added that RUGA should not have been the programme of the Federal Government but rather of any state interested in taking care of Fulani herdsmen.

Ganduje stated this while addressing reporters in Sokoto after attending the wedding ceremony of the son of a former governor of Kano State, Senator Kabiru Gaya, in Sokoto on Saturday.

According to him, “I think they suspended a programme which was not truly understood. RUGA is supposed to be for a state where Fulanis are resident. You cannot implement RUGA where the indigenes are not Fulanis.

“That is why in Kano State, we decided to develop grazing area in form of RUGA system where the Fulani will be in one place and can be educated.

“They will get all other social services that are being provided for the people of Kano State which include health, security and justice, so that the type that they are doing could be improved upon in order to produce more nutritious milk for the people.

“There is no better way we can resettle the Fulani people than the provision of RUGA system. There is no better way you can improve the quality of life of the people, otherwise the Fulani people will be suffering and the security problems will continue.

“I am not happy at the way they are being treated in the country. At the same time, I am not happy at their lack of education, which is graduating into banditry. I am not happy.”