>
Members of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) have asked the Oyo State Government to create grazing route for herdsmen in the state.
The Oyo State Vice Chairman of the group Alhaji Ibrahim Diji made the request on Friday during a meeting between the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Hon. Muyiwa Ojekunle and the executive members of the association, at the commissioner’s office in Ibadan.
According to Diji, the creation of grazng route is one of the ways to permanently end farmers-herders clashes. He argued that the initiative will ensure that when herdsmen are out with their cattle for grazing there would be no straying into people’s farms.
He stated that a working relationship between Miyetti Allah and the state government woukd foster better understanding and engender peaceful coexistence in the communities.
In his speech, Hon. Ojekunle assured members of the association that the state government is opening the state to foreign and local investors in agriculture which include crop cultivation and animal husbandry, and would treat everyone fairly, irrespective of tribe, ethnic group or nationality. help
He urged them to work towards identifying and having a register of true members of Miyetti Allah in the state, saying the measure would make it difficult for criminal elements among the herders to perpetrate crime.
His words: “All these hullabaloo will be a thing of the past if your members have registration method and their identity well known to you and the government. Nobody will commit any crime when he knows people can identify him or her.
“The present administration understands and is very ready to work for unity among all ethnics and tribes in the country to move our State together. More so as the governor of Oyo State is ready to use agriculture to turn over the economic potentials of our people for better.
“Go back and preach peace and harmony to your people. Our land is open to all to thrive in business and we already have foreign and local investors who have started working on cultivation of large expanse of lands across the State and with same interest in animal husbandry as well.
“They are ready to work with you the same way we are also ready to work with all law abiding citizen of Nigeria to grow the economy of our State and the people therein. But first, you must find a way to identify and register your true members”.