Governor Umahi speaks on allowing RUGA settlement in southeast

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi state has kicked against any plan to establish RUGA settlement in southeast and South-south zone.

The governor made this known in reaction to the Federal Government proposing to set up Ruga settlement in all 36 states of the federation.

Umahi who spoke through a statement made available by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Uzor, stated that the southeast cannot afford to give out land for such because it already has limited landmass.

The statement reads: “The zone is purely agrarian with limited landmass for farming and therefore can not accommodate Ruga.

“Umahi was the Chairman of NEC sub Technical Committee on farmers and herdsmen clash and he toured the states of Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Zamfara and two other states where he made in one of his recommendations to the federal government for revamping of grazing reserve in the North where all the cattle rearers in the South will take their cattle to and rely on the grass that are grown in the South”.

“The way it works is that the herdsmen will bring down their cows to the South East and sell us as meat while they will load the grasses which are grown here in the same trailer with which they transported their cows to feed their cattle in those grazing reserve which should be made comfortable for them.

“By this herdsmen are expected to embrace anti open grazing by returning to the ranches in the North and do their business on the trade by barter basis of selling cows to the South and buying grass to feed their cows in the North”, he insisted.