I Started RUGA Back In 2001 – Orji Kalu
A former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, said on Saturday in Abuja that he pioneered Ruga settlements in the state.
According to Kalu, who is now the Chief Whip of the Senate, when he governed the Abia between 1999 to 2007, he provided land for Fulani settlement in Umuahia.
He said that he did it without generating any controversy, mistrust or suspicion between the people of Abia, and the Fulanis resident in the state.
He said, “When people talk about Ruga, I wonder. In 2001, I did Ruga in Abia. In Lokpanta, I built it and the cows were being sold in Umuahia and Aba.”
“Where we have Shoprite in Umuahia today used to be the settlement, the same thing with Aba. We had an honest meeting with them and agreed that I will provide the land and water, electricity, everything, but this would be your location. I collected five Coaster buses to show them the land and if it is agreeable by everyone.
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“I had a meeting with the communities and they agreed in Lokpanta and that is the biggest cow market in both South-East and South-South of Nigeria today. So it is about the attitude of people to issues.”
“Yes, the Federal Government should always do very serious and extensive consultations whenever they want to embark on such issues. It is not just to go and put a deliberate policy and say ‘I want to do Ruga’. People in the village don’t understand what Ruga means; they will panic and say you want to kill all of them”.
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