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A Public Perception Of Ruga Settlement In Nigeria
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In 2018, Nigeria’s National Economic Council took action. It came to the
conclusion that the development of designated cattle ranches would be
the best solution to the problem. The ministry of agriculture also
developed a National Livestock Transformation Plan to address food
security and promote industrial growth. The NLTP committee, chaired by
vice-president Yemi Osinbajo, also advocated ranching.
Ruga project
stemmed from the age-long rivalry with farmers. While herders are
feeling relieved from troubles of farmers, farmers are however feeling
cheated by the program because they own the lands. As expected,
Governors Samuel Ortom of Benue and Arc. Darius Dickson Ishaku of Taraba
state were the first to reject the move for setting up Ruga settlement
in their states. This stemmed from the fact that the indigenes of this
states are predominantly farmers, who could not stand the sight of
settler-herders in their states.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
But
the project is widely seen as a strategic ploy enabling herdsmen to
claim subsidised land, in the same areas where they have caused serious
unrest. “The current government wishes to dissolve diversity in favour
of an ethnic programme,†said Odia Ofeimun, a poet and polemicist.
The
press secretary to the Benue state government, Terver Akase, says open
grazing in the state has been phased out: “Anyone who wants to rear
livestock in Benue has to go through the due process.â€
That process
entails obtaining a licence from the state ministry of agriculture. The
federal government must also seek the state’s permission for land
allocation, as required by Nigeria’s 1978 Land Use Act, which they did
not do. This undermines the government’s separation of powers and shows
serious disregard for Nigeria’s diversity, of nearly 500 ethnic groups.
Pressure from citizens and stakeholders led the government to suspend the Ruga project
This
is a problem that policy will not be able to solve without taking into
account the region’s cultural history. Nomadic herdsmen have for
thousands of years taken their cattle along routes to more states with
better resources. The cutting of these cultural ties has made the
herdsmen feel victimised. They see a threat to their means of survival.
Meanwhile, farmers feel overwhelmed by the volume of cattle.
In
light of this challenges little or no research has been carried out on
the perception of the people on the ruga settlement program of the
federal Government. So this projects aims to find out the perception of
the people of Benue state on the Ruga settlement.
1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study
The general objective of this study is to examine the public perception of the Ruga settlement in Nigeria.
With specific objectives as follows;
To examine and have an overview of the Rural grazing Area in Nigeria.
To determine if Ruga would stop herders and farmers clashes in Benue State.
To determine if there is a misconception of the Ruga programme iin Benue state.
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