Elder statesman and Ijaw cleric, Rev (Dr) Sokari Soberekon has called on President Mohammadu Buhari to call the Fulani herdsmen to order and put a stop to the daily hue and cry from farmers across the country.
Soberekon, a renowned non-partisan activist also urges the President to order the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to takeover cattle breeding and distribution under its Livestock Department as was the practice in the past.
According to him, until recently, no one ever heard about Fulani herdsmen being a problem because, just as the NNPC is extracting and distributing oil and gas, so the Federal Agric Ministry used to breed both fish and livestock.
Soberekon who is popularly called ‘Senior Advocate of the Niger Delta (SAND) said for peace to reign, the Agric Ministry should oversee the cattle business in Nigeria, “employ the herders and cow hands to breed and manage all cows for national consumption and export under the ministry”.
“Already, the Ministry has farm estates and lands lying fallo9w and spread all over the country that should be resuscitated for use as ranches. Such an arrangement will put a stop to the daily tension raised in the name of herdsmen. Because, under this suggestion, only the federal armed forces will secure the livestock rather than the gun ownership now associated with the Fulani herdsmen”, he said.
Reacting to the alleged suspension of RUGA settlement, Rev. Dr. Soberekon said it should be thrown away, adding that suspending it means it could be revived. He said if the herdsmen should be allowed to hold guns, then it means that the oil men, who have oil at their backyard, can use guns to guide their oil and also build companies to manage it and that will not augur well for Nigeria, that is why restructuring of the nation into six geo-political zones is needed now as it will allow each zone to produce and manage its own resources and pay tax to the federal government.
“Buhari should move urgently to build peace in the land; that we cannot afford another civil war. Tame the herdsmen, put all of their cattle business under the ministry”, he advised.
