By Gabriel Atumeyi
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State says the prohibition of herders from grazing openly in some states will not work.
Speaking on the Southern governors resolutions at a summit which held in Asaba, Delta State capital, two months ago, in which they unanimously banned open grazing, attributing this to the clashes between farmers and herdsmen.
When he featured on a Channels TV programme on Wednesday, Zulum said the ban will not work until the insecurity and economic crisis are addressed.
“We have to address the socio-political and economic dimensions of this crisis which is very important because there is increasing poverty in the sub-region; that is something that will trigger insurgency.”
“There is increasing food insecurity in the sub-region because food insecurity is the worst form of insecurity and that is why the Borno State Government has been advocating for farming in the last two years. Farmers should be allowed to go to their farm lands.
“The issue of the socio-political and economic dimensions of this crisis is very important; addressing farmers-herders is also very important, to ensure that the enabling environment has been created to the herders is very important. This issue of stopping open grazing and others will not work unless we sit down and address all these issues squarely.”
The decision by the governors have been generating mixed feelings, with the presidency saying the constitution guarantees freedom of movement.