A faction of Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, weekend, called on South-east governors to overcome the temptation of giving up the ban on open grazing.
This was even as the group noted that the inauguration of a committee by President Muhammadu Buhari few days ago to review “with dispatch, 368 grazing sites, across 25 states in the country, and to determine the levels of encroachment” was aimed at arm-twisting Southeast governors to reverse the ban.
A statement signed and made available to Blueprint by the Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, appealed to the governors not to give in to the trap as there will be grave consequences.
The statement said: “Ndigbo will not condone further obnoxious policies from the Federal Government aimed at helping the enemies especially the murderous herdsmen to erect a “Taliban State” in southeastern Nigeria.
“The timing of the approval of 368 grazing reserves by the federal government appears to checkmate the implementation of the ban on open grazing by southern governors, with more sophisticated alternatives( grazing reserves) of which if opposed by any southern Governor, we are aware of the possibility of FG using the instruments of power to deny such governor some privileges,
“All southern progressive Governors are put to the test of time and traps are set for them with this obnoxious and anti people’s policy, they should join the opposition party’s Governors in the renunciation of this grazing reserves, which will automatically warm them into the hearts of Southern Nigerians as PEOPLE’s GENERALS, as posterity will be fair to them who never betrayed the confidence of their citizens.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide wishes to state clearly to federal government that there are no available lands for grazing reserves anywhere in the southeast, the disaster associated with the planned grazing reserves will bring catastrophe and conflicts in the future in the Southeast.”
