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General News of Friday, 14 May 2021

Source: guardian.ng

Any opposition to open grazing ban by southern govs unpatriotic - Ortom

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has accused any Nigerian opposing the ban on open grazing by his southern colleagues of having a hidden agenda.

He made the submission yesterday at Holy Ghost Parish Hall, Makurdi in his address at the ‘Media Week and Communications Day 2021’ organised by the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi.

The governor said his southern counterparts had towed the right path of addressing insecurity in Nigeria, stressing that open grazing was no longer feasible in the country due to development and population growth.
He insisted that the nation had great potentials and should, ordinarily, have no business with poverty if the security of life and property were guaranteed in communities to allow for farming and other ventures to flourish.

Ortom appreciated the church and Muslims in the state, as well as residents for remaining supportive of his administration.

While also acknowledging the good reportage of government policies and programmes by the diocese’s Directorate of Social Communication and media groups in Benue, the governor promised that his regime would always welcome constructive criticisms.

The state chief executive, who restated his administration’s plans to commence teaching of vernacular in schools in the next academic session, stressed that children must be trained and supported to inculcate reading in them, even as he described communication as key in the society.

The diocesan bishop, Most Reverend Wilfred Anagbe, explained that social communication was meant to uplift humanity and society, adding that it remained a positive aspect of the reality of life and not the other way round.

Advocating the teaching of history and vernacular in primary and secondary schools across the state, stated that language defines a man and should not be allowed to go into extinction.

Similarly, Bauchi State helmsman, Bala Mohammed, has said there are elements of truth in what the 17 southern governors canvassed, stating that nepotism and injustice were “apparent in the current administration.”
He spoke yesterday while fielding questions from reporters after the Eid-el-Fitri prayers in Bauchi.

His words: “There is more corruption. Perceptions are being built that there are sacred cows. There are thin gods in this country who cannot be touched.”

Mohammed continued: “In what the southern governors are saying, there are some aspects of truth, where some people are given too much attention to the detriment of others. What we know in this country as a federalist is that there is a balance in terms of appointments to federal offices – even at the local level.

“If you don’t practise fairness at the top, then you cannot get it at the lower level. That would push people to begin agitation for self-determination and so on and so forth. This has negative effects. Unless we show fairness and equity in the leadership of the country, we cannot grow the economy.”

He cautioned against inciting utterances capable of overheating and setting the tone for the country’s disintegration.

Mohammed said the economy should be grown for the people to enjoy basic things of life.