Anti open grazing law: South-East govs must refuse to be intimidated ― Bamgbose 

By UGOCHUKWU ALARIBE, Umuahia

National Coordinator, Concerned Advocates for Good Governance, CAGG, Barrister Olusegun Bamgbose, has tasked the South East Governors to refuse to be intimidated by the federal government in their bid to implement the anti open grazing law in their states.

In an interview with Vanguard, Bamgbose urged the governors to continue to brainstorm on how best to enforce the ban because the federal government would leave no stone unturned to frustrate the state chief executives from implementing the ban.

He said; “The resolution of the governors banning open grazing of cattle in the South is a welcome development. However, mere resolution is never enough to put an end to the frequent clashes between the herders and the farmers as a result of open grazing. One would not rule out the fact that the federal government will leave no stone unturned to frustrate the Governors from implementing the law.

It is not enough for the governors to bark, they must also bite. There must be unity of purpose to nip in the bud the open grazing of cattle in the South East. The South East Governors must be prepared to dig it out with the federal government. They should refuse to be intimidated by the federal government.

“One will expect the Houses of Assembly to promptly enact laws to back up the historic and commendable resolution. It is not encouraging that out of the five states in the South East, only Abia and Ebonyi states have enacted laws to ban open grazing.”

Bamgbose blamed the police and other security agencies for not supporting state governments in enforcing the anti open grazing law, stressing that the biggest challenge of the anti open grazing law is enforcement.

“The anti-open grazing law has been largely ignored by the Police and other federal security agencies. In some states where the anti open grazing law has been passed, the law has become dormant due to non-implementation.

“In some states, the lawmakers appear to be waiting for the Executive bill from the governors to herald the anti-grazing law in the States. Imo State is peculiar given the prevailing security situation in the State. The main challenge may not necessarily be the enactment of the law, but rather the enforcement of the law, in essence, the biggest challenge is that of enforcement of the law.”