BENUE RESTATES POSITION AT NATIONAL MIGRATION DIALOGUE

It was yet another opportunity for Benue state to restate its position on the vexed issue of farmers-herdsmen clashes and grazing routes at the 2016 national migration dialogue, today, at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua centre, Abuja.

Benue State Deputy Governor, Engr Benson Abounu told the dialogue that no matter what is done to regulate grazing by cattle, problems would still arise; declaring that ranching as advocated by the state government remains the best solution.

He said that the era of unrestrained pastoralism is past and that the country needs to operate in line with international best practices which favour the establishment of ranches and the scientific breeding of the cattle.

He disclosed that the State government, in a bid to give practical expression to its pronouncement is sending 24 persons to Ireland to learn the technique of cross-breeding of cattle, explaining that on their return, the government shall establish ranches which shall be confined to some places and run in the most modern method to serve as model to others.

Engr Abounu who chaired the second round table discussion on “nomadic mobility in 21st Century Nigeria: resolving the farmers-herdsmen clashes” described the Fulani herdsmen attacks on Benue farmers this year and the destruction of lives and properties as horrendous, worse than the destruction in the North East.

He stated that whereas the constitution guarantees free movement of people from one part of the country to another, all such movements, including grazing must be done within the ambit of the law.

Prof Oshita Oshita, Director-General, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), who delivered the lead paper, said cattle routes are outdated and that Nigeria must move with the time and embrace ranching of cattle.

He lamented the proliferation of firearms and light weapons, and called for it to be mopped up, explaining that firearms in the hands of wrong people spell trouble.

The dialogue, packaged to coincide with the annual observance of the UN International Migrants’ Day provided the platform for debating the impact and linkages between migration and development and providing information that shapes the national migratory orientation.

It drew speakers from the diaspora, the academia, the Presidency, NGO’s and government agencies, among them Hon. Abike Dabiri Erewa, SSA to the President on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs, Prof. Oshita Oshita, Ms Enira Krdzalic-Chief Mission of the Internationa Organisation For Migration, Prof. Ahmed Bako of Usman Dafoddio University, Sokoto; Ms Angele Marie Dikongue-Atangana – UNHCR representative in Nigeria and ECOWAS and others.