‘Where do we go outside Ekiti?’ say herdsmen as they beg Fayose
The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria has appealed to Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, to relax the ban on herdsmen and their grazing cattle.
Baba Ngelzerma, the secretary general of the association, said this when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television.
Ngelzerma asked the governor to show statesmanship, blaming most of the attacks on “criminals”.
He announced the readiness of the group to negotiate with Ekiti government.
“Our doors are open, we can still go to the governor, we can still discuss and find solutions to these problems,” he said.
“We had a meeting with our elites from different fields of human endeavours to find solutions to these problems. We are calling on the governor of Ekiti state to show a lot of statesmanship.
“These things are perpetrated by criminals. No doubt what happened is sad but before investigations are conducted, people jump to conclusions that things were done by herdsmen; it may be so, but at least as a governor he should wait and find out who the perpetrators are before apportioning blame.
“The whole of Ekiti state is his responsibility today including strangers that are in the state. Even the cows that are in Ekiti state today, the governor has a responsibility on them.
“You cannot blame an entire group for a crime committed by few. There was a situation in Ore where a watchman killed a herdsman, we did not take law into our hands, instead we reported to the police.
“We cannot say that the Yoruba people are responsible for that. If you stop the Fulanis from grazing, where should they go?”.
Stating actions that have been taken, Ngelzerma expressed the readiness of the association to put an end to the situation.
He said the association had been collaborating with security agencies to find a last solution to the problem.
“A lot have been going on regarding this issue and different factions of the government have been looking into it. We have been having meetings with the defence headquarters and the police, hands are on deck to resolve the issue.”
Meanwhile, Fayose has said he has nothing against the Fulani, explaining that he only decided to act in order to “check to the excesses of herdsmen”.
He said his decision to ban grazing was not political, but a standard practice which obtained in developed countries.
“The issue of incessant attacks on communities across the country by the herdsmen is a time bomb and it should not be allowed to get out of hand. The earlier will stop the menace the better for us as a nation,” he said at the funeral ceremony of Viola George, mother of Bode George, top chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“This has nothing to do with politics or where one comes from in the country. Who knows who the next victim could be? The attack is spreading across the country and I call on other state governors as well as political, religious and community leaders across the country to see the issue as a national one that we all must address.
“Like I have said earlier, the solution is that those rearing cows should have ranches to keep them. In advanced nations, they engage in animal husbandry too and they don’t allow their animals to just roam about.”
In that case Fayose pls relax one Nigeria
I think the Miyetti Association have shown maturity than Fayose who lacks depth.He never investigated WHO really carried out the attack. Looks like anybody can now commit crime and claim ‘oh! I’ts the Fulanis’
We should not handle issues with sentiment,ethnicities and trabalism. We all know how Fulani are wicked and heartless decent on their host communities without mercy.Yorubas and Ibos did not nothing to harm their host communities yet they attack them at will. The best thing is for them to leave the state or abide by the local law of the state
At least he Fayose demonstrated a habit of statesmanship than Buhari who led a delegation of northern citizen to challenge Lam Adesina the then governor of Oyo on why Fulani’s kill themselves in the state
On point.
When I read some comments, mostly coming from the south that claimed that they are educated and well traveled ;I marvel :how can this bill be fayose be viewed as political or harsh against the cattle rearers? Why do we want to turn everything in Nigeria upside down, just to favour fulanis, even when is not conducive for our peace, tranquility and cooperate existence ;the more reason why we have complications living in peace today in Nigeria?
The international best practice is that :cattle rearers gets a range, just like as Igbo man would get a shop… pay for it, and even pay taxes to the host state government ;and do his business. What is the difference, or are the cows not own by people and is it not their personal businesses? Even when government has giving them certain privileges that average Igbo man was not given, by not asking them for tax;could it not have been fair that they get ranges, and save the various trouble that comes up between them and their host community :that became worst since the inception of this present fulani government ;even though that they “cattle rearers” and some gullible Nigerians, would advocate that the matter be investigated, before accusing them as the culprit? One would now imagine the kind of people we are dealing with here ;who would deliberately instigate pogrom and come out with all boldness to tell you that you should investigate ;that they are not the one. Same way they introduced boko haram, to destabilize the government of the past administration ;and keep denying that, militants from the niger delta are the ones.
What a country : please, just like every other business man;let then get a range, as is the universal best practice on cattle businesses and get off people’s farmland and public peace :no one is a special citizen in this country, we are all stakeholders in this contraption called Nigeria.
Governor fayose is best among the governors that herdsman has attacked their state for taking strong decision for ban roaming of cattle in the state. kudos to you in that regard. that doesn’t mean he don’t have own problem
The north always claim to have larger land mass than the south.
There are several tomato farms there too
These herdsmen should leave the south and go back north to graze their cattle
its will be insane for a southenrn or middlebelt Governor o give them the state land.The north have larger land mass, haba ,we are giving them part of the little left for us.Letthe cow eat from the tomatoes, soya ,millet plantations ,otherwise let they get land for Oyo state who doesn’t know what to do with land.You have a situation of unemployment and the Governor can not create cattle ranch for his people, na trouble makers hin one bring.