Southern Governors Wrong To Ban Open Grazing – Ali Ndume

Borno South Senator, Ali Ndume has disagreed with the position of Southern Governors who announced a ban on open grazing in the southern region of Nigeria.

Ndume who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Army in his reaction to the position of the governors said the ban on open grazing is not the solution to the challenges of insecurity facing the region and Nigeria as a whole.

It will be recalled that the Southern Governors Forum at the end of its meeting held in Delta State on Tuesday, 11th May, 2021, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently address the security situation in the country and speak directly to Nigerians.

Governors Of Southern Nigeria Ban Open Grazing, Demand For National Dialogue

The Governors while announcing a ban on open grazing in their region, also noted that the activities of armed herdsmen in the southern part of the country is a serious security challenge that needs urgent attention as innocent citizens are being killed and their properties destroyed.

They also called on the Buhari administration to take bold steps on the issue of restructuring while declaring their support for state police.

These decisions were part of the 12-point communique issued and read by the chairman of the forum, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State at the end of its four hours meeting held in Asaba, the Delta state capital.

But reacting, Senator Ndume while addressing journalists in Abuja on Wednesday disagreed with the position of the Governors, saying they should desist from blaming a particular ethnic group for the insecurity in their respective states.

Southern Senators React As Governors Call For Restructuring, State Police, Ban Open Grazing

He insisted that the issue of open grazing was only causing insecurity in the North-Central geopolitical zone and some parts of the South- West, noting that the governors are deviating from the main issue.

In his words, “As far as I am concerned, this blame game will not solve the problem.

“Governors are the Chief security officers of their states, so, why are they talking about the President without talking about themselves?

“The governors are deviating from the matter. The problem is not about open grazing. The problem is security. Most of the insecurity problems confronting Nigeria is not in the bush.

“We have four different types of security challenges. We have the insurgency in the North-East, IPOB through the Eastern Security Network is creating insecurity in the South-East, and there is banditry in the North-West.

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“It is only in the North Central that we have issues of farmers-herders clashes. There is less problem in the South-West except for the clashes between the herdsmen and the farmers and the agitators for the Yoruba nation.

“Similarly, in the South-South, they are trying to instigate the avengers but so far the area is peaceful. The issue of insecurity is unique to each zone.

Ndume noted that President Muhammadu Buhari has taken some fresh steps in addressing the insecurity in the country and hopes the steps taken will soon start bearing visible results.

“President Buhari has taken charge of the security personally now. It used to be the Chief of Staff or the Minister of Defence who was having meetings with the service chiefs but today, the President has taken charge of the problem.

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“That is a good development and I hope we would start seeing results but the most important thing is for them to be provided with necessary equipment to prosecute the war and their allowances should be paid in time,” he added.

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