President Muhammadu Buhari succumbed to pressure on Wednesday by suspending the controversial Ruga settlement scheme, designed to settl...
President Muhammadu
Buhari succumbed to pressure on Wednesday by suspending the controversial Ruga
settlement scheme, designed to settle the Fulani and their cattle on acquired
land across states in the federation.
The suspension was announced in Abuja after
governors representing the six geopolitical zones of the country met with
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Chairman of the National Committee on Food
Security/Herders/Farmers Conflicts and Governor of Ebonyi State, Mr Dave Umahi,
disclosed the government’s decision to journalists after the meeting.
Besides Umahi, others at the meeting included
Plateau State Governor, Mr Simon Lalong; Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu;
and the Deputy Governor of Adamawa State, Mr Martins Nasir.
Umahi explained that the controversial Ruga
policy was not consistent with the National Livestock Transformation Plan,
which was earlier deliberated upon and approved by the National Economic
Council. Osinbajo is the Chairman of the NEC.
The Ebonyi State governor spoke further, “We,
the NEC committee on farmers/herders crises under the chairmanship of His
Excellency, Mr Vice-President, met today to deliberate on the approved
programme of NEC and the Federal Government, tagged ‘National Livestock
Transformation Programme.’
“We are aware today that Mr President has
suspended the implementation of the Ruga programme, initiated and being
implemented by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
“(This is) because it is not consistent with
the NEC and the Federal Government-approved National Livestock Transformation
plan, which has programmes of rehabilitation of internally displaced persons
resulting from crises and also the development of ranches in any willing state
of the federation. The word is willing state of the federation.
“The beauty of the National Livestock
Transformation plan is that what NEC and the FG approved is a voluntary
programme for all the 36 states that like to participate. So, it is not
compulsory; it is for any state that is willing to key into the programme.
“Any state that is interested in this
programme is required to bring up a development plan that is keyed toward the
implementation in line with our own programme here that is unique to his state,
based on the challenges that he has in respect of the crisis. That is the
decision of this committee.”
The government had last week named 12 states
as the pilot states for the Ruga scheme, resulting in immediate nationwide
outcry.
The states mentioned included Sokoto, Adamawa,
Nasarawa, Kaduna, Kogi, Taraba, Katsina, Plateau, Kebbi, Zamfara and Niger.
Wednesday’s meeting of the committee was the
first after the President’s inauguration on May 29.
Last week, as the Ruga project generated
tension in the country, the VP’s office quickly denied that Osinbajo was
supervising the implementation of the scheme.
The Senior Special Assistant on Media and
Publicity to the Vice-President, Mr Laolu Akande, in a statement, said the VP
only knew about the NLTP and not Ruga.
He stated, “The National Livestock
Transformation Plan 2019-2028 is a programme to be implemented in seven pilot
states of Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawa, Taraba and Zamfara (as
decided by NEC in January), being states in the front lines of the
Farmer-Herder crises. Afterwards, six other states have indicated readiness to
also implement the plan. They are Katsina, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Ondo, and Edo
states.
Akande gave other details, “The plan has six
pillars through which it aims to transform the livestock production system in
Nigeria along market-oriented value chain while ensuring an atmosphere of peace
and justice.
“The six key pillars include, economic
investment, conflict resolution, justice and peace, humanitarian relief and
early recovery, human capital development and cross-cutting issues such as
gender, youth, research and information and strategic communication.”
But, on his own part, Buhari’s spokesman, Mr
Garba Shehu, stated that Ruga and the NLTP were “semantics”, as both meant the
same thing.
Ortom commends Buhari for suspending ruga
settlement
Meanwhile, the suspension of the Ruga herdsmen
settlements on Wednesday generated different reactions. While the Ohanaeze
Ndigbo called on the Federal Government to disarm herdsmen, the Benue State
Governor, Samuel Ortom, commended the President.
Ortom, in a statement by his Chief Press
Secretary, Terver Akase, described the suspension of the Ruga settlement
project by the Federal Government as victory for all peace-loving Nigerians.
The governor stated that the rejection of the
Ruga project was not personal but rather a struggle by the people of the
country against impunity and injustice.
The governor said that the decision to suspend
the Ruga scheme showed that the President had heard the voices of the majority
of Nigerians on the matter.
“He states that truth has prevailed on the
Ruga issue, citing the Bible book of John 8:32, which says, “You shall know the
truth and the truth shall set you free.”
“Governor Ortom urges the Federal Government
to take a step further to encourage pastoralists and other livestock owners to
embrace ranching as the best model of animal husbandry,” parts of the statement
read
Disarm herdsmen, Ohanaeze tells FG
On its part, the apex Igbo cultural
organisation, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, commended the Federal Government
for suspending the Ruga project.
In a statement in Enugu, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo
President , Chief John Nwodo, through his Special Adviser on Media, Chief Emeka
Attamah, said “It is heartwarming to observe that for the first time the
current leadership at the federal level has deferred to people’s opinion on
public issues.
“The Federal Government should take immediate
measures to disarm the Ak-47 trotting herders throughout the country. Issues
surrounding the suspended Ruga scheme indicate the importance of consulting the
people before taking certain decisions that will affect them.”
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo is as worried about the
restoration of peace between farmers and herders in the country as the Federal
Government and believes that the ultimate solution to it is to embrace ranching
“Government should carry out an audit of
foreigners in the country and ascertain those with genuine entry papers, deport
those illegally in the coutry as well as ensure that the nation’s borders are
properly controlled and manned to avert further massive infiitration.
“As a process towards healing the present
wounds and uniting the country, adequate compensation should be paid to
relations of victims of the unwarranted killings in the country in recent
times.”
Suspension meant to buy time – Afenifere,
PANDEF
Also, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, the
Afenifere, dismissed the suspension of the Ruga settlement programme by the
Presidency, describing it as a ploy to buy time.
It endorsed calls for referendum by various
groups to determine the future of the country, noting that the insistence on
the implementation of the initiative by some northern groups showed that the
need for a referendum was more urgent than ever.
Afenifere’s spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, stated,
“I think they are just buying time. We would have said they were bending to
public opinion if the programme was cancelled.”
He expressed suspicion over the ultimatum issued
by the northern groups and their threat to evict Southerners living in the
north if the Ruga programme was not allowed in the Southern part of the
country.
Odumakin noted, “How come the day the Ruga was
suspended was the day a coalition of northern groups is issuing an ultimatum
that the policy must be implemented within three weeks?
“We support the calls by different groups that
a United Nations-supervised referendum should hold to determine whether we
should live together under true federalism or go our separate ways.”
Opposing the suspension of the initiative, the
Pan-Niger Delta Forum said it expected the government to cancel it.
The PANDEF National Secretary, Dr. Alfred
Mulade, argued that the scheme could compromise national security and the safety
of Nigerians.
He said, “The suspension is not enough, it
should be cancelled outright because suspension is a temporary measure, what we
want is total cancellation. Ruga shouldn’t be mentioned at all. It is against
the collective peace and survival of the people of Nigeria.”
Akwa Ibom monarchs, religious leaders to meet
Earlier on Wednesday, there were indications
that traditional and religious leaders in the three senatorial districts of
Akwa Ibom State would meet on Saturday in Uyo, the state capital, over the
suspended Ruga herdsmen settlements.
The state Chairman of the Christian
Association of Nigeria, Rev. Ndueso Ekwere, who stated this in a statement,
said the meeting became necessary to take a concrete position on the issue.
He stated, “There are plans for a meeting
between the leaders of Christian communities and traditional rulers in Akwa
Ibom State. The meeting becomes necessary following rejection of the Ruga by
Christians in Akwa Ibom State. We viewed President Buhari’s move to establish
Ruga settlements as counterproductive to the economy of the state, as such
establishment will deprive most farmers of their land and space for
infrastructural expansion and location of industries, to boost economic
activities and revenue generation.”
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