IBADAN – Farmers’ Ambassador, Chief Azeez Maboreje says a Special Task Force should be constituted to ensure the enforcement of the recently passed anti-grazing Law in Oyo State.
The state Assembly passed the anti-open grazing bill into law, on Thursday saying it will foster peace and promote agricultural business in the state.
The bill, according to Speaker, Rt Hon Adebo Ogundoyin, is to avoid continuous damages and end loss of lives and unquantifiable investment to constant clashes between herders and farmers.
Speaking in an Exclusive chat with ametrocopy, Chief Maboreje expressed joy that the ninth Assembly was able to pass the law saying that farmers across the state had expected its passage for long.
“The bill is a bill that we have been expecting; it is just a beautiful thing that it happened in the ninth Assembly. The bill is a very necessary bill in the state because it will bring peace, restore peace in the state. It will make farmers produce more and have more money because farmers have been suffering all this while”.
Maboreje called for increased sensitization for both farmers and herders adding that the Farmers’ Association usually engages both parties regularly to ensure peaceful cohabitation.
According to Maboreje, the Anti-Grazing law will give the Association the necessary backing to ensure no herder grazes cattle openly anywhere in the state.
“Before the Bill was passed, that was the critical stage we were in but as Farmers’ Ambassador, we engage the farmers and herders almost weekly to resolve issues. They have been fighting but we have not allowed it to escalate.”
“At this point, we have to change our orientation, in the past; no one believed you could rare chicken in a cage successfully. This is the time for government at all levels to sensitize the herders, take them out of the country to see how cattle rearers operate in other climes for easy trade.”
Chief Maboreje called on the state government to establish a Special Task Force that will comprise of security personnel, farmers and herders representatives that will be armed with adequate knowledge to assess and resolve future conflicts between farmers and herders.
