Plateau confirms 2 communities have endorsed ranching

By Kingsley Chukwuka, Jos

The Plateau state government came out yesterday to clarify its position on the grazing reserve controversy in the state, saying that what is being adopted by the government is the ranching pilot scheme freely endorsed by the communities of Wase and Kanam Local Government Areas of the state.

The state government said that the idea was mooted by the two councils and as such it had no choice, but to adopt scheme as the pilot in the state.

Director-General of the Plateau Peace and Building Agency (PPBA), Joseph Lengmang disclosed this at a peace architecture dialogue programme held yesterday in Jos.

Lengmang said that the session was a component project of consolidating the mechanisms for sustainable cooperation and transformation of the farmer/herder conflict in Plateau state.

According to him, stakeholders at the event include media practitioners, civil society organizations and government representatives who deliberated on the proposed National Livestock Transformation Plan as a pathway to resolving the seemingly intractable herder/farmer conflict in the state.

He added that the objective of the engagement was to sensitize the media as well as galvanizing support towards the dissemination of accurate information with a view to curtailing negative narratives on the proposed implementation of ranching in the state.

Pastoralism, the director-general observed is a profession associated with a particular tribe in the country that cannot be ignored, adding that there have been wars of identity in the world emanating from the initial teething problems like Nigeria is facing now.

Categorically, he said that grazing is not yet a government policy in Plateau state, adding that what is obtainable in the state is a plan, pointing out that government would discourage open grazing gradually, but not radically and abruptly.

“Nobody is going to take over anybody’s land. No stranger will do that. The pilot scheme is only going to be tested in two local government areas of the state which are Wase and Kanam.

“When the idea first came, it was ridiculously believed that Plateau elites would connive with the government to sell out Plateau state. This is a figment of the fertile imagination of the authors to think that way. It is not possible,” he assured.

Contributing to the discussion, a veteran journalist, Sylvanus Namang, posited that the N10 billion allegedly given to the herdsmen in the North East should also be stepped down to Plateau state to benefit.

Namang added that the Fulani people need education and enlightenment so that they do not see cows or cattle as inheritance and not a commercial venture, adding that “they need to be educated. They are suffering inwardly and their cows too are suffering. We should help government in implementing this programme. We should assist government so that we can move forward.”

The state’s representative to the the Livestock Transformation Plan, Prof. John Wade, said that the state government has the responsibility of protecting lives and property of its citizens, saying that policy is just a kind of intention.

Prof. Wade added that competition for meagre resources always lead to conflicts because people will hold on to the little resources they have, saying that any attempt to tamper with that will be resisted by stakeholders.