RUGA suspension: PFN calls for national summit

166

The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has called for a national summit following the suspension of the RUGA settlement scheme by the Federal Government.

The General Secretary of PFN, Nuhu Kure, made the call in Ibadan during a courtesy call on the National Vice President of the association, Bishop Wale Oke.

RUGA, a scheme designed to settle herdsmen and their cattle on acquired land in states in the federation, is the recent of many solutions offered by the Federal Government  to resolve the farmers/ herdsmen crisis in the country.

Kure said that the Federal Government ought to consult widely before unveiling such a scheme.

“The Federal Government should rather organise a national summit in the mould of  a confab where stakeholders would converge and have the opportunity to iron out grey areas,” he said.

He also urged the Federal Government to tackle the farmers/herders crisis with tactical diplomacy in a way that would promote national unity.

“We appeal to President ( Muhammadu) Buhari to urgently find means to resolve this situation with fairness and equity in order to prevent a Nigeria that degenerates into a state of anarchy where pervasive lawlessness is the order of the day, ” he said.

The clergyman also appealed to the Kaduna State Government to suspend policies he described as controversial and intolerant.

“The governor should thread the path of reasoning in order not to cause disunity among Nigerians,” he said.

In his remarks, Oke said that the situation of  the country was not beyond redemption.

He called for sincerity and commitment on the part of the people and the government.

Oke, the Presiding Bishop of the Sword of the Spirit Ministries, appealed to Christians to be law abiding and not to relent in their support for the nation both physically and spiritually.