An All Progressives Congress chieftain, Bola Tinubu, has asked the government to immediately convert unused land to grazing routes as this will curb i
An All Progressives Congress chieftain, Bola Tinubu, has asked the government to immediately convert unused land to grazing routes as this will curb incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen. Tinubu said this in Abuja at a national summit on conflict resolution organised by The Nation and TV Continental, was themed: ‘Towards an Enduring Peace.’
He said, “The government must help herders gradually shift from their traditional nomadic existence to a more static lifestyle. We have to face the reality that modernity is making the nomadic way counterproductive and inefficient. Unoccupied, isolated land can quickly be turned into grazing areas in the affected states. In the long run, this will enable herders to better maintain their livestock and thus their own livelihood.”
Tinubu said contrary to speculations, the crisis was not caused by religious or political differences but by water scarcity. The former governor of Lagos State said the desertification in most parts of the North had caused herders to move southward with their cattle in search of greener pastures. As a long-term solution to the crisis, Tinubu recommended that water catchment and conservation systems such as the prudent use of dams and irrigation sub-systems maintainable at the local level must be developed.
