Herdsmen: Falana blasts FG over definition of colonies, says it is not same as ranches

macfranc007 January 22, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Buchi Obichie

- Femi Falana has asked the minister of agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, to stop misleading Nigerians by referring to cattle colonies as ranches

- Ogbeh had stated that both were the same; and that the only difference was that colonies were much larger than ranches

- However, Falan stated that such statement may mislead herders into thinking that they can colonise the states where they are given land to set up ranches

The federal government has been asked by renowned human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), to stop confusing Nigerians by renaming colonies as ranches, The Cable reports.

His comments were in response to comments made by the minister of agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, that Nigerians had misinterpreted what the government meant by colonies.

NAIJ.com gathers that Ogbeh stated that colonies were the same as ranches.

In his words: “When we spoke of colonies, we were immediately greeted with reactions that this was an attempt to cease Nigeria’s land and give to the Fulanis to colonise.

“The intention is not for Fulanis or anyone to colonise any territory. Colonies and ranches are the same thing in many ways, except that a colony is bigger than a ranch.

“In colonies, 20, 30 ranchers can share the same colony. A ranch is usually owned by an individual or company with few numbers of cows. In a cattle colony you could find 100, 200, 300 cows owned by different individuals.”

However, Falana stated that the minister’s statement may mislead herders into thinking that they can colonise the states where they are given land to set up ranches.

He stated: “While this belated decision is a welcome development, Chief Audu Ogbeh should be restrained from causing confusion by giving the misleading impression that the federal government intends to allow owners of cattle to colonise the states that have donated land for the establishment of ranches.

“In other words, Chief Ogbeh should not be allowed to sabotage the establishment of the ranches with his pet project of ‘cattle colonies’.

“Since a ranch is a large area of land acquired for raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for the production of meat the proposed, ranches should not be called cattle colonies.”

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the federal government’s proposed plan to set up cattle colonies in states across the federation as a means of solving the farmers and herdsmen clashes was rejected by the leadership of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN).

The development was made public by Cosmas Ilechukwu, former chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the vice president of PFN in the southeast, following a national leaders meeting in Owerri, Imo state.

Ilechukwu rejected the establishment of colonies as he noted that cattle did not belong to the entire nation, but to certain individuals.

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