By Tony Ogbechie
Members of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore said they will not quit open grazing in any part of the country unless government made financial and logistics provisions for alternative grazing.
This fresh condition is coming on the heels of insistence by governors of the southern part of the country, that the ranching which is alternative to open grazing, remained a private business.
Recall that the Southern governors have banned open grazing in their states as oart of measures to check incessant clashes between herdsmen and crop farmers.
The governor’s said those to go into ranching should be prepared to invest their private funds rather than wait on government, adding however that they were willing to provide the enabling environment.
But the pastoralists are saying that government must make financial and logistics provisions to enable them discard open grazing.
Brand Ambassador of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Temitope Ajayi, made known the desires of the herdsmen when she led some officials of the Association on a courtesy visit to the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, in Abuja.
She admitted that open grazing was an outdated practice but maintained that the herders cannot suddenly quit the age-long practice because there was no alternative way yet to feed their cattle.
According to her, the herdsmen have promised to leave the farmlands as soon as ranches that are being proposed by some government officials, particularly southern state governors, are provided.
The Miyetti Allah brand Ambassador said the reason for her visit was to secure a partnership with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to support her agenda considering the position of women in nation building and development of the society.
She said: “Women as Mothers are known to be peace makers. Women and Children bear the brunt (effects) of herders/farmers crisis and all forms of battles and wars, they are the engine room of national development and therefore hold the key to the development of cattle breeding.”
