No Land For Grazing In Southeast, Says Umahi

Ebonyi Governor David Umahi has denied agreeing to donate land in the state as grazing reserves for herdsmen under the National Livestock Transformation Programme (NLTP).

The Governor was reacting to a media report the state was among those that have agreed to donate land for the programme.

The Federal Government in February said it had mapped out 30 grazing reserves across the country for the planned implementation of the NLTP.

The government said the implementation of the programme will bring lasting solution to the farmers-herders crisis in the country.

But southern states have rejected the idea of creating a grazing reserve for herders.

Umahi, who is the Chairman of Southeast Governors Forum, in a reaction, said the state and southeast region have no land to give out for grazing.

“But you know this (reports of donating land for grazing) is not true. You have heard me publicly many times say that southeast is so small that we cannot give out land for that,” he said.

Commissioner for Agriculture, Moses Ogodali, said the state does not have any land to donate for the initiative.

He, however, stressed that any individual who wanted to go into ranching should rather look for land to buy.

He said the state was also planning to go into ranching and has started plans to cross- breed the local cows with some species of cows to be brought in from Brazil to produce a high yielding and strong breed of cattle.

NATION