Piqued by the lingering banditry and insecurity in the state, Katsina state Governor Aminu Masari has stated his readiness to effect ban on open grazing across the state.
The governor made the assertion, Monday, during a guest appearance on Politics Today on Channels TV while commenting on the movement of herders from one part of the country to another.
Katsina is the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, who recently gave his nod to revamp grazing routes across the country.
Masari however explained that before the state creates the law banning open grazing of livestock, government would make provisions to house the animals.
“We intend to have a law banning (cattle) roaming but before we do that, we would make provisions for where the animals would stay.
“Herdsmen should stay in one place. Roaming should not be encouraged. In fact, for us, it is un-Islamic. Why do you have animals that you cannot feed and you have to go to other people’s land and farm and you say that is right? I don’t think it is right,” the governor stressed.
In order to achieve this, Masari detailed efforts to commence the ranching programme which the federal government had disbursed the sum of N6.2 billion for.
The governor said, “We already have started. The Federal Government has given us N6.2 billion and as a state government, we are also investing N6.2 billion. The objective is to have Fulani stay in one place.”
Blueprint had reported that Governor Masari introduced some measures, including banning the sale of fuel in jerry cans, to combat criminality.
