The Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume, has disagreed with the ban on open grazing imposed by the governors of the 17 states in Southern Nigeria.
He made his displeasure known during an interaction with reporters in Abuja on Wednesday.
Recall that the governors under the aegis of Southern Governors Forum announced a total ban on open grazing of cows in a 12-point communique issued after a meeting in Asaba, Delta State on Tuesday.
“The meeting recommended that the Federal Government should support willing state to develop alternative and modern livestock management system,” the communique read in part.
The governors also expressed grave concern on the security challenges currently plaguing the nation and strongly urged President Muhammadu Buhari to address Nigerians and restore the confidence of the people of the region.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Southern Senators Forum hailed the governors for their courage in banning open grazing and demanding the restructuring of the Nigerian federation.
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Reacting, Ndume, who represents Borno South, said that open grazing was only causing security issues in the North-Central zone and some parts of the South-West.
He equated the governors’ position on open grazing to engaging in blame game.
“As far as I am concerned, this blame game will not solve the problem.
“Governors are the Chief security officers of their states, so, why are they talking about the President without talking about themselves?
“The governors are deviating from the matter. The problem is not about open grazing. The problem is security. Most of the insecurity problems confronting Nigeria is not in the bush.
“We have four different types of security challenges. We have the insurgency in the North-East, IPOB through the Eastern Security Network is creating insecurity in the South-East, and there is banditry in the North-West.
“It is only in the North Central that we have issues of farmers-herders clashes. There is less problem in the South-West except for the clashes between the herdsmen and the farmers and the agitators for the Yoruba nation.
“Similarly, in the South-South, they are trying to instigate the avengers but so far the area is peaceful. The issue of insecurity is unique to each zone.
“President Buhari has taken charge of the security personally now. It used to be the Chief of Staff or the Minister of Defence who was having meetings with the service chiefs but today, the President has taken charge of the problem.
“That is a good development and I hope we would start seeing results but the most important thing is for them to be provided with necessary equipment to prosecute the war and their allowances should be paid in time.”