Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has said it is time to put and end to the movement of cattle across the country by Fulani herdsmen if the Buhari administration is serious about ending clashes between herders and farmers in the Middle Belt and other parts of the country
Ganduje's call comes in the wake of clashes and quit notices given to herders in the Southwest, particularly in Ondo State where they were recently given seven days ultimatum to leave the State's forest reserve.
The Kano State Governor made the call in an interview with journalists after a special lunch which the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors had with President Muhammadu Buhari at his Daura private residence in Katsina State during the weekend.
According to Vanguard, he said having a ban on movement of herders and cattle would also address the challenge of cattle rustling.
Fielding question on how far he had gone with the Ruga project in his state, Ganduje said, “We are building a Ruga settlement in Samsosua Forest, our border with Katsina and we have succeeded in curtailing the effect of banditry in that area.
"So, we are building many houses, we are constructing a dam; we are establishing a cattle artificial insemination centre; we are establishing a veterinary clinic and already we have started building houses for herdsmen.
“My advocacy is that we should abolish the transportation or trekking of herdsmen from the northern part of Nigeria to the Middle Belt and to the southern part of Nigeria.
“There should be a law that will ban, otherwise we cannot control the conflicts between herdsmen and farmers and cannot control the cattle rustling which is affecting us greatly.”
Asked on what to expect from the newly appointed service chiefs, Ganduje said he would expect them to work closely with state governors because they (the governors) know what the people need and the blackspots in their domains.