Southern senators, Reps back govs’ demands, others

Tunde Opalana and Igho Akeregha, Abuja

Southern Senators Forum (SSF) has fully endorsed all resolutions on burning national issues taken by their governors at a meeting in Asaba, Delta State on Tuesday.

The lawmakers aligned with the state executive’s position on call for convocation of a national conference, establishment of state police and banning open grazing of cattle.

This is also as members of the House of Representatives from the 17 Southern states of the federation have thrown their weight behind Governors of the region who took a position to ban open grazing of cattle while insisting on restructuring and equal treatment for all Nigerians.

The senators submitted that banning of open grazing would help in reining in those hiding under cattle grazing to unleash terror of kidnapping and killing on the residents of the region.

Southern Governors Forum (SGF), had at its meeting held in Asaba, Delta State capital, on Tuesday, unanimously passed a verdict prohibiting open grazing in the region to checkmate herders-farmers clashes and senseless kidnapping as well as killings of Nigerian citizens of southern extraction.

A statement jointly signed by the SSF Chairman, Secretary General and Publicity Secretary, Senators Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti), Mathew Uroghide (Edo) and Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu), respectively and made available to journalists in Abuja and Ado Ekiti, on Wednesday, appaluded 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 hundreds of millions of naira to plundering of food crops through encroachments on farmlands and exposing the region to famine and acute food scarcity.

They said: “At this critical point of our national life when the economy was being bedeviled 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records have shown that attaining food security status would remain a mirage in the south owing to ravaging effect of outdated livestock grazing policy being unleashed on farmlands by some unscrupulous herders.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 were 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.”

They saluted the governors for ruminating on the expediency and the need for speedy restructuring of the highly lopsided Nigerian nation, saying this will also help to remove the venom that had permeated the land on account of alleged neglect of certain sections of the country.

The SSF 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.

Finally, the Southern Senators Forum encouraged the governors to swiftly follow up on their resolutions by immediately approaching the leadership of the National Assembly with a view to working with the two arms of the parliament to ensure that their well articulated positions on the state of the nation, especially as relate to restructuring, state policing and the jettisoning of archaic traditional grazing methods, which fall short of global best practice standard and a potential threat to our national cohesion and peace, are thoroughly and decisively addressed through the ongoing constitutional review exercise.

Also backing the position of Governors of the region 22 members of the House of Representatives from Southern Nigeria who issued a statement on Wednesday in Abuja on behalf of their colleagues said after due considerations, they unanimously support the resolutions of the Southern Governors’ Forum on the demand for true federalism, restructuring as well as the worsening insecurity in the country, among others.

They said this position is in firm restatement of their insistence that the country must exist and be governed on the platform of democratic tenets of social justice, equity, fairness, mutual respect, true federalism, rule of law and constitutional order.

They maintained their preparedness to deploy all legislative instruments at its disposal for the actualization of the demands.

Against this backdrop, the House of Representatives members including Honourables Ndudi Elumelu, Peter Akpatason, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Toby Okechukwu, Adesegun Mujid Adekoya, Dolapo Badaru, Jimoh Ojugbele, Femi Fakeye, Segun Odebunmi, Mayowa Akinfolarin and Olufemi Bamisile on behalf of other lawmakers from the South, expressed firm support for the governors on the immediate ban on open cattle grazing across the Southern region of 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 said they also support their 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.

The statement added that “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 cautioned individuals kicking against the call for devolution of power and review of revenue control and allocation formula, to desist from their vested parochial interest and note that such reviews are the only way to stabilize the country and engender regional or state productivity and heathy development at all levels.

The lawmakers commended the governors for their 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 lawmakers, 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.

The statement urged all Nigerians to see the larger picture and ensure that all hands are on the deck to move the country in the right direction.

The Southern lawmakers applauded Governors of the region for their patriotism and courage while commending Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State for hosting his colleagues in their quest for solutions at this critical time in the nation’s history.

Other lawmakers from the South who endorsed the statement are Honourables Oluwole OKE, Victor Nwaokolo, Kingsley China, Essien Ekpeyong Ayi and Fred Agbedi.

Others are Francis Charles, Patrick Asadu, Lynda Ikpeazu, Sylvester Ogbaga, Nkem Abonta and Jerry Alagboso.