Agriculture minister Ogbeh says federal government will start building grazing reserves soon

AGRICULTURE minister Chief Audu Ogbeh has revealed that the federal government will soon begin constructing grazing reserves across the country to address the menace of Fulani cattle herdsmen attacking farming communities.

Throughout President Muhammadu Buhari's first term, the nation was blighted with the scourge of heavily armed herdsmen attacking farming villages, particularly across the Middle Belt. President Buhari has come under fierce criticism for not addressing the matter by clamping down on the herdsmen and by building ranches where they can graze their cattle away from farms.

In what now looks like a sign that the government plans to face the issue during President Buhari's second term, Chief Ogbeh said building the reserves had become necessary due to farmers-herders conflicts. He added that the construction was also crucial for the federal government to help reduce the high unemployment rate in the country.

Agriculture minister spokesman Nakorji Mohammed, added: “The grazing reserves will help in solving these problems. We are not going to any state that is not interested and we are not going to collect anyone’s land."

Chief Ogbeh called on individuals who had the interest and ability to build grazing reserves to do so, adding that the government would support such individual. He called on members of the Institute for Security Studies to focus on addressing the security challenges facing the West African region and Africa in general.

Speaking while receiving members of the executive intelligence management course 12, Chief Ogbeh hosted participants drawn from 21 agencies in Nigeria. Alhaji AS Adeleke, the director of the institute, applauded the ministry for its efforts toward curtailing the agro-terrorism where people are hoarding farm inputs.

Other participants who attended the course came from Benin Republic, Liberia, Niger and Sierra-Leone. Alhaji Adeleke said that the theme of this year’s course is Transhuman and International Migration: Challenges on Governance, Peace and Sustainable Development in sub-Sahara Africa.