When the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, revealed to the press last week that some officials of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture had invaded the state with their contractors to begin the building of Ruga settlements, the shortened temper of Nigerians flared again.
The reaction to this rather provoking news brought back memories of the hurt which farmer communities have been experiencing with Fulani herdsmen since the past 4 years. In fact, the presidency was also forced to release a statement to allay fears and to react to the assumed miscommunication to the public about the Ruga settlements which will be springing up in some states in the Middle Belt.
The controversy would not end there. Around the time that the Benue State government called the media’s attention to the matter of the usurpation of land by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Office of the Vice President had to release a statement to distance itself from a release by Miyetti Allah that the VP’s office was the one responsible for the Ruga settlements which will be set up within the country henceforth. The office of the VP, however, also stated that it was only implementing an agreement reached by the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting in January which the Vice President, Pastor Yemi Osinbajo, himself chaired and where it was resolved that a test Ruga settlements be established as part of initiatives which the new National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) is supposed to achieve. The NLTP document indicates that the project will gulp up to N90.43 billion naira direct cost to the Federal Government and indirect cost of N261 million naira of Nigeria’s taxpayers’ fund.
Considering the level of hostilities already brewing between communities which have always hosted Fulani herdsmen and the cattle-owning Fulani themselves, the Ruga idea might be said to be the least sensible solution for the Federal Government to pursue at the moment.
It has been about a year now that General Theophilus Danjuma warned that there is a wipeout agenda by some powerful elements helpful to violent herdsmen or marauders who are keen on taking over the land and forage-rich communities in the Middle Belt. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo also remarked in a controversial statement less than 2 months ago that there is a Fulanisaton agenda going on and Nigerians should be alert about it. While such an agenda cannot be overruled- going by inferences of some incendiary statements once made by the likes of President Buhari and Mallam Nasir El-Rufai- such an agenda can hardly flow freely and smoothly in a heterogeneous country like Nigeria.
But an even bigger ploy to execute some hefty heist is being hatched, all in the name of getting disturbed communities and Fulani herdsmen to find succour. We have now heard of the billions of Naira which will be splurged on these projects – for the construction of such fantastical Ruga settlements in host communities. Nobody knows who these contracts have been awarded to and where the money will be coming from, budgeted or not. Nobody has done yet any evaluation of the long term implications of such Ruga settlements. Nobody knows yet what happened to the idea of ranching which was raised as a better alternative to the problem of incessant clashes between herdsmen overstepping their boundaries and grazing their cattle into struggling farms. Who is going to bear the cost of these Ruga settlements and why should the ordinary Nigerian citizen be the one to carry the economic cost of making lives easier for herdsmen when even the farmers are not getting any sensible subsidies elsewhere?
The whole Ruga settlement thing, as controversial as it is, must be dropped in favour of more realizable and less provoking options, else, the Federal Government might just be building a time bomb against the nation.
References
Dailypost.ng
Vanguardngr.com
Featured Image Source: Punch Newspapers
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