Audu Ogbe, the Chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum, says Nigeria has space to accommodate 40 million cows, advising President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime to stop herders from West African countries from entering Nigeria as advocated by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

In a statement on Monday in Kaduna, the ACF chairman said the suggestion by the Kano governor would help to contain open grazing and the farmer-herder violence.

He further said Nigeria should seek an amendment to Article 3 of the ECOWAS protocol regarding the free movement of cattle and other livestock without a special permit.

“If it is done, we have over five million hectares of land in old grazing reserves left, enough to accommodate over 40 million cows if well grassed and watered,” Mr Ogbe said.

He also urged northern governors to look at developing ranches for lease to Nigerian herders.

“Thereafter, any herders found roaming can be penalised, and our ECOWAS neighbours can find ways to deal with their own issues the way they deem fit,” he added.

The ACF chairman also advised Mr Buhari’s regime to seek support from the Africa Development Bank, the World Bank, European Union, Kuwait Fund, or any source willing to support the initiative.

Mr Ogbe maintained that hurling abuses, suspicion, and threats as currently trending “will only produce grief and disaster.”

He agreed that nobody would accept the attitude of herdsmen who trespass on farms with their cattle, destroy crops, rape, or kill anyone raising objections.

Mr Ogbe said governors should not think that merely banning open grazing would end the crisis, as the bulk of the violent herders were from neighbouring countries with no regard for boundaries, whether state or regional.

He added those were the herdsmen that must be stopped.

(NAN)