We have no land to give you for cattle colonies - Taraba govt tells FG
- The Taraba state govt has told the Buhari-led federal govt that it has no land for the proposed cattle colonies
- The state's commissioner for justice said that Taraba govt was implementing a cattle ranching law and that people would have to buy land for the ranches for their livestock
- Yusufu Akirikwen urged the federal government to support the state with enough security for the smooth implementation of its ranching law
The federal government has been informed by the Taraba state government on Wednesday, January 17, that the state has no land for the proposed cattle colonies.
According to Punch, the development was made public by Yusufu Akirikwen, the state’s attorney general and commissioner for justice.
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Legit.ng gathers that Akirikwen questioned why the federal government would want to acquire lands across the states of the federation for cattle colonies.
He pointed out that Taraba state had enacted a law for ranching, and urged the government to support the state in implementing the law.
He stated: “The truth of the matter is that the idea of cattle colony is still not very clear to most Nigerians. What is cattle colony? We have been colonised by the colonial masters and now we will be colonised by cows?
“Where would the federal government get land for cattle colonies? Would they sit there in Abuja and acquire lands across the states of the federation for cattle colonies? And whose land would they acquire?
“We have enacted a law for ranching here in Taraba, but we are not acquiring land for people. People are going to buy land to ranch their animals. Just like farmers buy land to do their farming business, people are going to buy land and do their ranching business."
Akirikwen urged the federal government to support Taraba with enough security for the smooth implementation of its ranching law.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a lawmaker advised President Muhammadu Buhari against imposing the establishment of cattle colonies on state governors.
The senator representing Katsina-south senatorial district, Abu Ibrahim, said the establishment of cattle colonies must be at the sole discretion of states.
Ibrahim who won his seat on the platform of the All Progressives Congress said establishment of cattle colonies, grazing routes and ranching is the prerogative of the states and not a national policy to be implemented by the federal government.
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Source: Legit.ng
