Oyo state government has vowed to continue the move to enact anti-open grazing laws despite apparent opposition to it by the Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali (retd.).
The government said Dan-Ali’s comments would not stop them from going ahead with their plans to pass a bill that is meant to stop clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers and the killings connected with these activities.
The Oyo State Commissioner for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, Oyewole Oyewunmi, told PUNCH that the push for an anti-open grazing law in the state was still ongoing.
Oyewunmi said the anti-open grazing bill would have been passed if not for the death of the former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Michael Adeyemo.
He said, “We have submitted the bill already at the state House of Assembly and deliberation on it had started. But the Speaker, Adeyemo, died, so activities on the floor of the House have not been vibrant. I am sure that when normalcy returns to the house, deliberation will continue on it.”
Asked if it would be withdrawn as a result of what the Defence Minister said, Oyewunmi said that the bill was an executive one and that it would not be withdrawn.
Earlier, the Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali (retd.) had berated the enactment of anti-open grazing laws by some states after a Security Council meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday, calling for the suspension of the laws.
He had said the suspension of the laws would reduce tension associated with nomadic activities in the country.
