The Daily Crucible
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has said the decision to ban open grazing in the Southern geopolitical zone of the country will help governments separate the act of banditry going on under the canopy of cattle herding from genuine cattle business.
Addressing newsmen in Benin City, the State capital, Obaseki said the ban will also put an end to clashes between farmers and herders, and assist governments in checking the criminal activities of bandits.
According to him, the Southern governors’ decision on open grazing will also restrict the movement of herders from North to South on foot.
“We have seen that banditry has been associated with herding of cattle but we also have the challenge that we need our protein sufficiency. Many people invest in the business and get some of the Northern folks who help in herding the cattle.
“What we said in that meeting is that we don’t want to see you patrolling. If you want to do herding business, do it within a location.
“The challenge has been, which I have said from day one, cattle herding is a business like poultry, piggery or any other business. If you want to herd cattle, create an area, grow the feedstock, the grasses and restrict the cattle to the area and let the cattle feed there and fatten and take them to be slaughtered.
“When you say, let people graze in a particular area or ranch in one particular area, people will say no, not on my land. But when these herders come into these communities, people collect money from them and ask them to go and graze without telling them where they should go and graze and these herders go into other people’s farms and when the farmers confront them, they will say they have paid, wondering why the people are confronting them," Obaseki said.
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