The Northern Governors on Tuesday asked the Federal Government to provide funding for the establishment of ranches across the region.
The forum said the region is fully ready for cattle ranching in order to curbing the incessant herders/farmers crisis in the North and other parts of the country.
Chairman of the forum and Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, disclosed this on Tuesday, while speaking on Channels Television’s News @ 10.
Lalong, who stated that some states in the region were ready with land but need funds, added that the they have been in support of ranching for quite some time.
The governor, while reacting to the recent quit notices being bandied across the country, admitted that the rising insecurity in the northern region and other parts of the country, could be linked to cattle rustling.
He, however noted that ranching offers the “the only way to control the insecurity.”
“We were advising the federal government to also give grants to states that are ready with land,” he said.
“We are not saying that it is compulsory for states that are not ready. But many states in the North are ready.
“We need some grants to start so that these people will not be moving here and there. We need to also keep them in one place. It’s business. So definitely, that’s the only way to control the insecurity.”
Lalong, who is the Executive Governor of Plateau State, said all stakeholders, including members of cattle herders associations across the country, were on board with the idea of ranching.
“But there is this lack of funds to the state, there is lack of encouragement to the state,” he said.