Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has extended a hand of fellowship to Fulani Herdsmen by offering them land in the state for the cattle colonies being proposed by the Federal Government.
Bello, who is a staunch supporter of President Buhari, said in Lokoja that the proposed cattle colonies will benefit the people of Kogi.
The governor equally dismissed notions in certain quarters that the proposed cattle colonies are an attempt by the Federal Government to fiddle indigenes of states across the country of their ancestral lands.
Bello, through his Chief Press Secretary, Mrs Petra Onyegbule, said:
“The governor wishes to allay the fears of the citizens of Kogi State, especially on ownership of communal land, that the policy is never an indirect attempt by the Federal Government to take and handover ancestral land to herdsmen.
“To ensure that everyone is carried along in this process, Kogi State, through the Ministry of Agriculture, will soon be embarking on a series of stakeholders’ engagement to sensitise the people, farmers, cattle breeders and other stakeholders on the implementation of the new policy.
“The traditional rulers, leaders of various communities, opinion leaders, religious leaders and the entire citizens will all be carried along in the course of the stakeholders’ engagement so that we can collectively study the merits and demerits of the policy.
“This will enable us to jointly find solutions to the demerit and at the same time improve on the merits to make it work for our state and for our people without any form of grievances.”
“The insinuations and speculations from various quarters across the nation that the Federal Government is conspiring to take over communal land and give it to herdsmen are far from the truth.
“The planned cattle colonies is for the interest of our people; to ensure their safety, develop and boost agricultural production; in turn boost the economy and a better life for all.
“It is a Federal Government initiative and the Federal Government will fund the project, but we will need to contribute our quota to this laudable initiative at the state level by making land available for the project in Kogi State and ensuring proper implementation to ensure the goal is achieved.”
