Chief Temitope Ajayi, the Ambassador of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore has disclosed that she and the leadership of the association have finalized a plan to launch a N200 billion fund in the year 2022 to build ranches for Fulani herders in the bid to end the farmer-herder crisis in the country.
Speaking in an interview, Ajayi, who is also called Mama Diaspora because of her work with Nigerians in the Diaspora, decried the incessant clashes between farmers and herders in the country, adding that both groups play important roles in the nation’s agricultural sector and stressing the need to harness the potential of each group for national development.
She described the clashes as unnecessary and having a negative impact on the Nigerian food situation, adding that she would do everything in her power to end the clashes.
She said that part of her objective was to bring the herders in tandem with current international reality in terms of rearing cattle, stating that she has made them realize that open grazing is outdated and primitive.
“Nobody does open grazing in the world anymore; they need to stay in ranches or settlement and breed their cattle; taking cattle for grazing in the bush is outdated and unacceptable in this time and age,” she said.
Ajayi, who is President of Silicon Valley – Nigerian Economic Development (SV-NED), stated that another aim of the project was to integrate the herders into the Nigerian political economy.
She stated that “My mission now is to communicate the position of the herders, which is that they want peace and want to live in harmony with other Nigerians; they are not a violent people and have been misrepresented and misunderstood.”
She disclosed that the herders acknowledged the fact that there are bad elements within them, who also attack and steal from the herders. She added that the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore has dissociated themselves from bad elements.
The ambassador alleged that funds that were meant for the herders, including the building of ranches by the previous administration were misappropriated.
She also disclosed that she was in discussions with banks and critical stakeholders on how to raise funds to build houses for the Fulani herders.
Ajayi disclosed that more than 20 governors across the country have bought into the plan to build ranches for the Fulani herders.
Courtesy (excluding headline) Daily Independent
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