Ebonyi people said they have no land for ranching, Umahi tells Federal Govt

 Ebonyi people said they have no land for ranching, Umahi tells Federal Govt Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, says the people of the state...

 Ebonyi people said they have no land for ranching, Umahi tells Federal Govt

Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, says the people of the state have no land to give out for the ranching of cows.

He stated this on Monday evening when he featured in Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme monitored by The PUNCH.

The governor, who is a member of the President’s party, the All Progressives Congress, said each of the states in the South-East already has laws banning open grazing.

When asked whether he would provide land for ranching as a governor, Umahi said, “This is not about the governors, it is about the people, so, whatever position the people take in this regard, that is what will happen. There is no land in this regard that is not owned by individuals, corporate bodies.

“So, this is beyond governors and that is the truth. People calling governors are making a very grievous mistake. Even if I say as a governor in South-East, I want people from this village, I want you to donate this land, the question is: will they allow it?

“I have heard about three communal crises in my state, and it is all about land. There is a place that I am building a medical university and the people of that village, for a project that is almost completed, went and brought it down. They prefer to have their farms than a medical college. So, land is a different ball game altogether.”

When further asked whether the people of Ebonyi have agreed that the governor should give out land for ranching, Umahi said, “They have said they have no land for ranching. They put me where I am. If I have one acre of land and I am talking about giving land for ranching, I should be talking about that particular land. I can’t be talking about somebody’s land. Yes, constitutionally, I have control over the land but you have to kill all the people to get the land.”

The PUNCH had earlier reported that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), gave approval to the return of the open grazing practised during the 1st Republic where herdsmen used designated grazing routes to move their cattle to several parts of the country.

He, therefore asked the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to begin the process of recovering land from persons who have converted cattle grazing routes for their personal use.

Source