Northern governors have accepted ranching, says Lalong

Simon Lalong, governor of Plateau state,  has asked the federal government to release funds for the implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP).

Lalong said northern governors have accepted modern methods of grazing to explore the business angle of cattle rearing.

NLTP was proposed by Audu Ogbeh, former minister of agriculture, in 2018 and was adopted by the national economic council (NEC) headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

The approach seeks to provide ranches for livestock with a view of mitigating the incessant farmer-herder clashes.

In recent times, the clashes have worsened, leading to the loss of lives and properties.

To curb the clashes, southern governors recently resolved to ban open grazing — a decision that sparked mixed reactions from various quarters.

Speaking on the development on Saturday, Lalong, who is also the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum (NGF), said the governors will not politicise the situation to create more problems.

“Let me emphasise that we have no intention of politicizing this matter. Our interest is to transform it into a purely economic activity and also end the negative aspects of the current practice without creating new problems,” he said.

“We as Northern Governors therefore adopted the National Livestock Transformation Programme (NLTP) and called on the Federal Government to release funds to willing states to start.

“In fact, some states have begun processes to end open grazing in their states.

“Kaduna has a ranch with DANO milk as a pilot; Plateau has sent a bill on ranching to the state assembly, Zamfara, Kano, Taraba, Niger, Nasarawa have Started ranch constructions.

“Benue State has had an anti-grazing law for some years. Northern governors are already walking the talk.”