Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has said the state government will only accept the National Livestock Transformation Plan of the Federal government if it goes with the state’s Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law.
Ortom’s Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, who said this to The Punch, noted that the state would not allow anybody to drag it back to the era when there was no law guiding animal husbandry.
The FG had earlier planned to introduce Ruga settlements for herdsmen. However, it was forced to suspend he plan following heated criticism but the criticisms that greeted the project forced the government to suspend it.
Governor Ortom’s spokesperson said, “We can only be part of that plan if it agrees with our existing law in Benue State. We will adopt the National Livestock Transformation Plan to the extent that it conforms to the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law. The governor is a member of the National Economic Council and it was NEC that adopted ranching as the best method of animal husbandry.
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“That was why the governor and Benue people, to a large extent, approved ranching as the way forward. Ruga was smuggled in later but we thank God that the Office of the Vice President, which controls the National Livestock Transformation Plan, came out to distance itself from Ruga which was a later day illegality
“We have said repeatedly that Benue will be part of the National Livestock Transformation Plan only if it agrees with the state Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law. This law has been in operations for two years now and a lot of progress has been made. We will not allow anybody to take us back to the dark ages when there was no legislation on animal husbandry.”