By Ayo Kehinde
The Office of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has denied any involvement with the Ruga programme.
It said the Ruga initiative is different from the National Livestock Transformation Plan approved by State governors under the auspices of the National Economic Council (NEC) chaired by him.
The General Secretary of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Baba Uthman Ngelzarma, during an appearance in a Channels Television Programme, Sunrise Daily, on Friday, had disclosed that Osinbajo’s office is supervising the pilot scheme of Ruga settlement in 12 states of the country.
He said, “This Ruga settlement model is a component part of the livestock development and transformation plan that is being implemented under the Office of the Vice-President. It is a component part of it.
In a statement on Friday, Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, said it was untrue. What Osinbajo is involved in is the NEC, which according to Akande, was on January 17, 2019 “ based on the recommendations of a Technical Committee of the Council chaired by Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State, . Other State Governors on the committee and Working Group of NEC are those from Adamawa, Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, Edo, Plateau, Oyo and Zamfara – mostly the frontline States in the Farmer-Herder crises.
The National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) 2019-2028, according to him, is a programme to be implemented in seven pilot states of Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawa, Taraba and Zamfara (as decided by NEC in January), being States in the frontlines of the Farmer-Herder crises. Afterwards, six other States have indicated readiness to also implement the plan. They are Katsina, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Ondo, and Edo states.
“The plan has six pillars through which it aims to transform the livestock production system in Nigeria along market oriented value chain while ensuring an atmosphere of peace and justice. The six key pillars include: economic investment; conflict resolution; justice and peace; humanitarian relief and early recovery; human capital development and cross-cutting issues such as gender, youth, research and information and strategic communication.”
It concluded by stating that, “the Federal Government will not impose on any State government regarding its land.”
