Nigerian Govs support revival of national livestock transformation plan, variant of RUGA

Nigerian governors at their emergency meeting on national security at the State House, Abuja, on Wednesday, declared support for the revival of the Livestock Transformation Plan initiated by the president as a solution to the killer Fulani herdsmen rampaging the country. The plan was widely opposed by many Nigerians as an alternative to the controversial RUGA plan which was also widely opposed by Nigerians as a plot to Islamize the country.

Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State,  in a media interaction after the Wednesday meeting, disclosed that the Governors unanimously rejected the old pattern practice of open grazing, adding that they, therefore,  resolved for immediate revival  and formalization of the national livestock transformation plan to forestall the prevailing herdsmen violent crimes across Nigeria.

Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State had before the meeting threatened that all states in Nigeria must accept RUGA if they want peace.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Governors Forum expressed their strong opposition to ethnic profiling of crimes that are precipitating rising insecurity and threats of war across the country.

Governor Fayemi had in the media interaction at the State House declared: “Governors are totally opposed to ethnic profiling of crimes. Knowing what has transpired in other parts of the world, we do not believe that crimes are associated with particular ethnic groups, and to that extent, we unreservedly condemn any attempt to profile any ethnic group on account of a particular crime.” He disclosed that the governors agreed to provide financial support to victims of the security crises in affected states, adding that they are committed to greater protection of the lives and property of citizens.

The governors had gone into the meeting on Wednesday afternoon which lasted into the night. The Nigerian Senate had also at plenary on Wednesday demanded President Muhammadu Buhari to declare state of emergency on national security. State actors in the various arms of government are rising up to the insecurity challenges in Nigeria within their jurisdiction.