The Nasarawa State government has said that it is working towards establishing a peace-building agency that would facilitate the implementation of National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) in the state.
Governor Abdullahi Sule, said this in Lafia, while addressing participants at a twoday stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) on the implementation of NLTP and peace-building efforts in state.
Nasarawa is one of the states that had keyed into the Federal Government’s NLTP which geared towards addressing the lingering farmers and herders crisis in the country.
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The governor, represented by his Special Adviser on Non- Governmental Organisations and Development Partners, Hajiya Munirat Abdullahi, said the government was committed to ensuring the security of lives and property in the state.
Sule noted that the establishment of the state peace-building agency would go a long way to support the government in conflict resolution.
He called for collaboration among stakeholders including security agencies, traditional, religious and community leaders to ensure security, peace and harmony in the state. The governor called on security agencies to be more strategic and proactive on issues constituting threat to lives.
He therefore, urged participants to pay attention and be open in their submissions towards finding lasting solution to the lingering crisis.
Speaking on the essence of the stakeholders’ meeting, Principal Programme Officer of CDD, Mr Yusuf Shamsudeen, said it was for stakeholders to brainstorm on how to effectively implement the NLTP.
“The idea is to see how the plan could be more effective in terms of defining the relationship between farmers and pastoralists. It is also to get responses from stakeholders in terms of strategies in addressing some of these problems as state actors cannot do it alone,” he said.
He said that the centre would provide all technical assistance needed to ensure peace between the farmers and herders in the region. Speaking, Dr Abdullahi Musa, Nasarawa State Coordinator of NLTP, commended the efforts of the CDD in convening the stakeholders’ meeting.
Musa however, appealed to CDD and other stakeholders to go beyond the meeting to provide the needed support for the implementation of the NLTP.
He identified population explosion and global warming as major factors responsible for farmers and herders conflicts as herders had to migrate and compete for limited land spaces with crop farmers.
According to him, through the efforts of the NLTP in Nasarawa State, farmers and herders are fully aware of their operational boundaries as far as grazing reserves were concerned in the state.
Two participants at the meeting, Muhammed Hussaini and Ovey Abimiku expressed the hope that the meeting would further strengthen the peace-building efforts between farmers and herders in the state.
