Kogi considering total ban on cattle grazing – Commissioner

Kogi State Government on Wednesday said it may enact laws that would ensure total ban on cattle grazing in the state.

The government said it was considering the option due to unabated farmers-herdsmen conflicts.

Kehinde Oloruntoba, Commissioner for Agriculture, spoke in Lokoja at an advocacy meeting with Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation of Nigeria (SWOFON).

“All the same, if the measures fail, we will not hesitate go to the House of Assembly to get a law, prohibiting the activities of herdsmen in the state”, he said.

“But that will be our last option. We may not need to go to that extreme of prohibiting the herdsmen’s activities if they all agree to live harmoniously with others and refrain from destroying farm crops”, he added.

Oloruntoba said that the national executives of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association and some officials of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture recently visited the state to organise a sensitisation programme for herdsmen and farmers.

The official observed noted that more women were engaged in agriculture than men.

“If we want agriculture to succeed, we must ensure that women are given their rightful position in all our policies”, he said.

He pledged that women farmers would not be marginalised in government’s agricultural programmes.

#kogi