Cattle ranching: Northern governors demand federal aid

Northern Governors have demanded Federal Government assistance for cattle ranching across the region, Governor Simon Lalong has said.

Lalong, governor of Plateau and Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, told Channels TV on Tuesday night, that the Governors have been in support of ranching for quite some time.

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano has also spoken in the same vein, declaring open grazing anachronistic.

With the rise of banditry and recent quit notices being bandied across the country, ranching offers the “the only way to control the insecurity,” Lalong said.

“We were advising the federal government to also give grants to states that are ready with land,” he said.

“We are not saying that it is compulsory for states that are not ready. But many states in the North are ready.

“We need some grants to start so that these people will not be moving here and there. We need to also keep them in one place. It’s business. So definitely, that’s the only way to control the insecurity.”

Lalong said all stakeholders, including members of cattle herders associations across the country, were on board with the idea of ranching.

“But there is this lack of funds to the states, there is lack of encouragement to the states,” he said.

For example, Mr Lalong noted, the Plateau State Government has allocated 74,000 hectares for the ranching exercise but needs funding to develop the project.

“When you start restricting people, you must provide alternatives,” he said.