Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong has appealed to Nigerians and other state governors to work with the Nigerian government in the creation of settlement farms for herdsmen saying it would solve economic and security challenges of the country.
He said this while speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Lalong, who claims Plateau is ready to give its land for the creation of the settlement said international organizations would be involved in financing the settlement.
He said, “This is a policy that we felt that it is not only for economic sense, but it would also address the issue of security. So if it is going to address insecurity in a period the country is confronted with serious security challenges, the federal government would come and assist those who want to do it.
“They are not imposing it on any state, I am a member of this committee under the chairmanship of the Vice President, the federal government has not imposed that on any state.
“They said if you have land for a pilot scheme they can assist, and donor agencies are coming from all over, it is not a federal government project, the World Bank is involved, the African Development Bank is involved.
“So if you have a scheme like this that can take poverty, bring revenue and also address insecurity, you will need to go into it but with due consultation from your state.”
He refuted claims that the Ruga settlement would favour a tribe over the other while asserting that it would totally put an end to the clash between nomadic herdsmen and farmers.
“We did a lot of sensitization, in my state it took me three months to do sensitization and we all agreed that we should bring this concept to empower people. It is not meant to empower one tribe it is for everybody and that would address the issue of insecurity because we don’t want people moving from one place to another looking for grasses,” Lalong said.
