Kebbi to gazette grazing lands

He said he will also ensure protection of Fulani settlements and grazing reserves across the state while promising to look into the issue of seizure of grazing reserves and Fulani settlements in Raha by some prominent personalities in spite of intervention by both local government and Fulani association in the area.He promised to set up […]

He said he will also ensure protection of Fulani settlements and grazing reserves across the state while promising to look into the issue of seizure of grazing reserves and Fulani settlements in Raha by some prominent personalities in spite of intervention by both local government and Fulani association in the area.
He promised to set up a committee to look into the problem towards ensuring peaceful resolution.
Some Fulani leaders that spoke at the occasion complained to the governor about illegal encroachment on grazing reserves and settlements by some persons and called on the state government to as a matter of urgency address the problem to avoid misunderstanding among farmers, Fulani and host communities.
But a Jega-based farmer, Malam Mustapha Yahaya Bawa, said originally government reserve areas demarcated over 60 years ago have been compromised by farmers and encroached by towns.
“These grazing reserves have been illegally converted to farmlands and government on its own did not revisit the policy since then. The system of clearing farmland was not revisited as a result of negligence from government. All these need to be addressed urgently before gazetting. This encroachment is also the reason why herdsmen were forced to migrate from the North to the South in search of grazing areas.  
“Gazette will not solve the problem because the land is not even there anymore to implement. Most of those grazing areas in question are now farmlands and residences. So the question is, the gazette is based on which area? All these will just generate another crisis,” he cautioned.