Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State has called on the federal
government to cancel the Ruga Settlement Scheme in an outright manner to avoid
plunging the country into needless crisis.
Fielding questions from journalists after hosting former
Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan,
in his office, Ishaku stated that the Ruga Settlement scheme was a veiled form
of colonization.
The governor, who dispelled insinuations that the scheme was
at the instance of the state governors, maintained that there is no room for
the implementation of the scheme in the state, saying the state has no land to
give for its implementation.
"We are against Ruga Settlement and we have no land to
give for it. We already have a ranching law in Taraba State which is the best
way to resolve the herders/farmers crisis.
“So if the Ruga Settlement is for animals, we already have
the solution, but it is not for animals. It is for something else and that
thing is colonisation," he stated.
He however disclosed that his administration has set
machinery in motion to establish pilot ranches in the three districts of the
state to serve as a model for other states to copy and has approached the
Central Bank for the funding of the project but the state is yet to get a
favourable response from the apex bank.
"Our plan is to establish pilot ranches across the
three Senatorial districts in the state as part of the implementation of the state
Anti-Grazing and Ranches Development Law and we have already submitted a proposal
to that effect to the Central Bank but I don't know what is delaying them"
Speaking on the recent invasion of his private residence in
Abuja by security agents, Ishaku described the incident as highly condemnable
and provocative.
Wondering if the same can be done to an APC governor, he
lamented the silence of the federal government on the matter, saying its
silence gives fillip to insinuations that the incident was orchestrated.
Expressing serious displeasure over the incident which he
described as a direct attack on his person and office, Ishaku lamented that his
children who he convinced to relocate to Nigeria were chased out of his house,
and his residence was vandalised, adding that his two children in the house
have returned back abroad due to the harrowing experience.
Speaking on the visit of Senator Alhassan who was the
gubernatorial candidate of United Democratic Party (UDP) in the 2019
gubernatorial election, Ishaku described her as a very courageous woman, saying
her visit would go a long way in bringing peace to the state.
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