Dr. Engr. Odo Ijere Applauds The National Assembly For Introducing Bill To Stop Open Grazing
CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME FROM THIS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY?
The news of the bill banning open grazing of cattles nationwide passing through second reading at the National Assembly is a very encouraging optics. This law if finally passed will without doubt reduce the socioeconomic and political stress levels in this country by at least 50 percent.
But for it to pass the second reading, it expectedly divided the Senate and the country along religious and ethnic lines. The same people of ethno religious conclave propagating Arewa culture and religion do not want anything to do with the bill. They’d rather defend their ethno religious primitive culture than vote for the survival of this country.
But this is a bill that must come to be if we’re serious about ensuring food security, ending insecurity and banditry, stopping the proliferation of IDP camps, ending so called farmers herders clashes, ending kidnappings, etcetera. Infact, the pretense of grazing cattles on other people’s lands has accounted for 70/80 percent of flashpoints and conflict lines across the country.
The pretense to graze cattle is actually a subterfuge employed by a tiny group of fulani tribe to seize the entire Nigeria landscape as their possession. By this all important bill, the fulani Ruga movement will be brought to a halt.
We need not begin to stress the point that Northern Nigeria of today is largely a conquered territory by a tiny tribe that just masterfully used religious manipulations to keep the entire population redundant and underdeveloped. The Northern Nigeria is a cesspit of poverty, disease and squalor.
The most of Hausaland known for best nutritious soil globally are now dieing of hunger and unable to feed itself because an itinerant armed group is taking over their agricultural lands by force for grazing their cattles. You cannot rationalize such criminal trespass with the cloth of religion.
Tinubu’s western Nigeria has also suffered worst trepidation leading to the formation of Amotekun Security outfits to help get Yoruba people to their farms at least. But beyond Amotekun and many state laws banning this primitive culture, the National Assembly should muster the will to rescue this Nation from further intimidation by this medieval cultural group.
Notwithstanding the outnumbered naysayers to the bill, it is expected that the bill will have an easy sail during the next stage of its passage because four geographical zones out of the six in the country will strongly support its seamless passage given that open grazing in this country has brought untold anarchy and made the country ungovernable all along.
The presidency under Tinubu must begin to take hard decisions to reset the country without recourse to religious proclivity. If the Arewa states want the practice of open grazing of their cattles to continue, they can enact laws individually in their states to promote it like they did for Sharia.
This country can no longer condone the trespassing of people’s properties by outlaws in the name of open grazing of nama. This patriotic bill is just about calling a spade by its name. The initiators of this people oriented bill will no doubt be celebrated by future historians as great patriots.
Dr. Engr Odo Ijere
