Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong has confirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari is not imposing on any state, the new concept of rearing cattle and other animals, known as Ruga settlement.
“To the benefit of Mr. President, the President has not imposed that on any states, it was voluntary. And they said any state that is prepared to do that to address insecurity in his state should come and apply.
“So some of the states applied and we are at the level of the pilot scheme and some mischief makers would start bringing terms to cause confusion in the country. It’s very unfortunate.”
The Plateau State governor, who spoke to news men today, July 1, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that different states have adopted their different approaches, “but Ruga term is not general to everybody. In my state, we call it livestock something, it’s not Ruga and we have explained it to people.
“This is a policy that we felt that it is not only for economic sense, but it would also address the issue of security. So if it is going to address insecurity in a period the country is confronted with serious security challenges then federal government would come and assist those who want to do it.
“They are not imposing it on any state. I am a member of this committee under the chairmanship of the Vice President, the federal government has not impose that on any state.
“They said if you have land for pilot scheme they can assist, and donor agencies are coming from all over, it is not a federal government project, the World Bank is involved, the African Development Bank is involved.
“So if you have a scheme like this that can take poverty, bring revenue and also address insecurity, you will need to go into it but with due consultation from your state.
“We did a lot of sensitization, in my state it took me three months to do sensitization and we all agreed that we should bring this concept to empower people. It is not meant to empower one tribe it is for everybody and that would address the issue of insecurity because we don’t want people moving from one place to another looking for grasses.
“The fact that federal government is to bring the subsidy was a request from the committee chaired by Mr. Vice President Goodluck Jonathan did it and he budgeted about N10 billion but we didn’t see the money. If he has done that at that time, we would not be fighting insecurity between herders and farmers today.”
