• Says Benue people ready to die than submit to cattle agenda –Ortom

In a scathing remark on Friday to the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari to review “with dispatch,” 368 grazing sites across 25 states in Nigeria, Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has stated that the Buhari regime has turned the country into a “cow republic.”

The Punch had reported that the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed how ‘President Buhari approved the review of grazing reserves in 25 states.’

Buhari’s directive comes after approving the recommendations of a committee chaired by his Chief of Staff, Prof Ibrahim Gambari.

Among others, the committee had recommended the collection of field data collection on 368 Grazing Reserves across 25 states to assess encroachment and encroachers, stakeholder engagements and sensitization.

The Committee also recommended the production of maps and geo-mapping/tagging of sites, analysis of findings and report preparations as well as design appropriate communication on Grazing Reserves and operations.

The number of the Grazing Reserves and States were deduced from considerations of existing security concerns and other pre-existing socio-economic conditions.

But in swift reaction, Ortom said with the latest move, it was crystal clear that President Buhari was planning to plunge the country into a crisis.

The governor, who likened the Buhari regime’s approach to security to the Taliban agenda in Afghanistan, said that the regime had placed more priority on the welfare of cattle than on the citizens.

Ortom, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, said, “In a country where insecurity has reached an all-time high with hundreds being killed by armed herdsmen, bandits and other terrorists, the Presidency is only bothered about animals and their safety and is deploying all machinery and arsenals of government to impose grazing reserves and cattle routes on Nigerians. This is unacceptable!”

The governor added, “It is now clear that the Presidency wants to plunge the country into an avoidable crisis. Otherwise, what is the justification for President Buhari’s insistence that grazing reserves be established across the country when Nigerians have openly kicked against the policy and have embraced ranching in place of open grazing?”

Ortom stated that the President was only flogging a dead horse on the issue of grazing reserves, saying the people of Benue State were ready to lay down their lives to reject the programme.

He said, “What is the difference between the Buhari administration’s approach to insecurity and the Taliban agenda in Afghanistan? It is now evident that the government at the centre prioritises the welfare of cattle over human beings and is bent on taking Nigeria back to the pre-colonial era with some snippets of society.

“If President Buhari must actualise his cattle agenda in Benue State, he should be ready to kill all of us! We know that grazing reserves and cattle routes are the only projects that the President has for Nigeria, but Benue State is not interested in such a project.

“It is hypocritical for the Presidency to support and fund ranching in Katsina State and turn round to impose grazing reserves on other states,” Ortom added.