Ruga: Cleric urges FG to use Public Private Partnership

Fri, Jul 5, 2019 | By publisher


Politics

THE Amir of The Muslim Congress (TMC), Lagos, Imam Luqman AbdurRaheem called on the Federal Government to use Public Private Partnership on the issue of cattle ranching in Nigeria.

The cleric made the call in Lagos on Friday while reacting to the suspension of Ruga Programme in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

RUGA, a scheme designed to settle herdsmen and their cattle on acquired land in states in the federation, is the recent of many solutions offered by the Federal Government to resolve the farmers/ herdsmen crisis in the country.

“Private partnership should use the likes of Elumelu, Dangote and other people who have the interest of ranching rather than government taking it upon itself.

“It is always good to use private scheme rather than the Federal Government taking it upon itself, because it will become moribund at the end of the day.

“It is good that the federal government has suspended it for more discussion and private sector intervention,’’ Abdulraheem said.

He also said that ranching which had its advantages could make Nigeria the next exporter of dairy products and beef to other parts of the world.

He also urged Nigerians to look at the economic benefits and not the ethnic coloration.

“People should look at the entrepreneurial aspect of the scheme, when there are ranches, there will be employments, there will be cows in large quantity, and we will have access to milk and cheese.

“To what we have read on newspapers, they are trying to provide branches for the herdsmen so that they won’t be wandering about destroying farm products and causing nuisance to the environment.

“If that is the intention of the government, it is not new, it has been done in several parts of the world, even in the colonial era, in the time of Awolowo, and history is very clear on that.

“Because the environment is wicked and ethnic interest is very serious, I think it should be made a voluntary project and people should look at the benefit aspect of it, and not the president trying to empower the Fulani people.

“If we must solve insecurity and nuisance that some of these people are causing, it will be good to have ranches across the country,’’ he said.

Also contributing, the Primate, Inri Evangelical Spiritual Church, Isolo, Babatunde Elijah urged the federal government to create a resettlement area for the herdsmen to avoid bloodshed.

“The federal government should look for government land and create resettlement there; they should not cause problems for Nigerians.

“I do not think anybody will be willing to give up his land for the herdsmen. It is a threat to security and government should avert the bloodshed.

“The federal government should tackle the insecurity issues in the country rather than trying to create more.

“The government should do the needful in the areas of security, they should not wait for the citizens to revolt,’ he said. (NAN)

– July 5, 2019 @ 13:55 GMT |

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