Governor Bello Matawalle has spoken of plans to begin the establishment of the Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) Initiative by the Zamfara State Government.
Matawalle made this known while speaking when he hosted the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, at the Zamfara State House.
He declared that the Zamfara government had unanimously agreed to key into the initiative and set aside lands for the initiative.
He said, “We have already concluded arrangements to set up three RUGA settlements, one for each of our three senatorial zones.
“The issue of RUGA, which is being debated across the vast spectrum of the federation, has been unanimously accepted in our state.
“Since time immemorial, the communities of farmers and herders in the state have been living together.
“Even though there were skirmishes from time to time, they did not take the ugly dimension they have taken in our contemporary times.”
The governor mentioned that the initiative would transform the nomads and address the clash between the farmers and herdsmen in the state.
He added, “We are confident that the RUGA programme would confine the nomads to sedentary life and would significantly address the farmer-herder crisis in the state.
“The settlements would include, among other things, 100 hectares of land, formal and Islamiyya schools, hospitals, earth dams and veterinary hospitals and many other social amenities that would make the Fulani community and their herds of cattle relatively comfortable.”
