Don urges home-grown solution, canvasses ranching

A Professor of Agricultural and DevelopmentEconomics at the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), Gabriel Umoh, has called on the Federal Government to proffer home-grown solution to the massacre in the land.

According to him, the only way to tackle the menace was to unmask the sponsors and bring them to justice.

During a briefing in Uyo, the don condemned the murder of Nigerians in cold blood by whomever and for whatever reason.

His words: “In other climes, whenever a citizen’s life is lost, government wastes no time and spares no effort in bringing the perpetrators to book. Does it mean that the lives of Nigerians do not matter to our government and law enforcement agencies?”

Umoh, who is also the Director of Wetland in UNIUYO, lamented the seeming inability of governments at all levels to perform their
constitutional roles of protecting the lives and property of citizens, saying the attitude does not in anyway show commitment and interest in addressing the problem.

He continued: “What we read and hear in the media is half-hearted statement of blame and counter-blame, unnecessary rationalisation of the how and
the why the killing are taking place.”

According to him, the law enforcement agencies have shirked their statutory responsibilities by failing to prevent the killings, but, however, commended the National Assembly for issuing a marching order to the police to parade the suspected killers.

He raised concerns over unregulated grazing, stressing that if allowed to continue for a long time, it could lead to loss of vegetation cover, erosion and desertification.

The university teacher advised farmers and cattle rearers to live in peace with the consciousness that both cattle rearing and farming were business concerns.

Umoh further said: “Our position is that cattle rearing is a private business and should be treated as such. As a crop farmer does not have the right to
illegally move to other people’s plots to cultivate without necessary contractual arrangement, so too the cattle herders do not have the right to illegally graze their cattle on other people’s plots/farmland”.

He also charged the herdsmen to obtain for themselves ranches where they should confine their cattle.