Prof. James Ayatse, the Tor Tiv and Chairman, Benue Council of Chiefs, has said that cattle ranching was the only solution to the incessant clashes between herdsmen and farmers.
Ayatse said in a statement on
Saturday in Makurdi that the ranches, aside minimising the clashes, had
multiplier effects like employment for youths that would work in
companies that would produce feeds for the animals.
The
statement, signed by Mr Freddie Adamgbe, his media assistant, quoted
the monarch as urging the Federal Government to enact a legislation that
would effectively back up ranching so as to save lives and protect
farms from destruction by cattle.
He
commended the Benue House of Assembly for passing the Anti-Open Grazing
Bill, and assured the lawmakers of the full support of the Benue Council
of Chiefs.
Ayatse also spoke on the
violence in some parts of the country and blamed that on the poor
economy and joblessness among the youths.
Noting
that most youths were neither educated nor trained in any skill, he
called for a population policy that would regulate births and ensure
that Nigerians gave birth to only children they could cater for.
“Part
of the nation’s problem is that our population is far beyond our
resources; we bring on children without any definite plan for their
future.
“Parents must limit the
number of their children to a figure they can feed, train and cater for.
When children are thrown into the streets, they get desperate for
survival and become willing tools in the hands of desperate politicians.
“Such youths are equipped with dangerous weapons and are used as thugs to achieve evil schemes,” he said.
He
tasked government to initiate steps to recover arms currently in the
wrong hands so as to minimise violence and save the lives of Nigerians.
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