Northern governors must be up and doing and begin to open discussions with their southern counterparts in order to come up with workable solutions concerning the lives of pastoralists in the country, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN), has said.
National Secretary of MACBAN, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, said this during a television interview on Monday.
Ngelzarma said the resolution against open grazing by southern governors was targeted at the Fulani staying in the southern part of the country.
He also said the 72-hour ultimatum issued on Sunday to Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa by an unknown group to reverse the ban on open grazing is from mischief makers, and not from MACBAN.
“I believe this statement must be coming from mischief makers, people who are out to tarnish the image of the Fulanis and pastoralists,” he said.
“It is because of such negative profiling by the media that makes us believe that the anti-open grazing laws being intended to be promulgated by the southern states are not laws stopping open grazing, but I believe these laws are laws against Fulanis living in the southern part of the country.”
Southern governors met in Asaba in May and resolved to ban open grazing in their region, a decision that elicited divergent views.
