The Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, has revealed that the problem of insecurity emanating from incessant clashes between herders and farmers across the country will be thoroughly debated on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday.
The Leader of the Senate, while briefing newsmen, said a motion for the debate on Farmers/Herders clashes, particularly the recent ones that happened in Ondo and Oyo States, is already prepared by the Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Robert Ajayi Boroffice.
According to Abdullahi, the problem is largely local, requiring local solutions, which can be given by respective state governments and Local Government Councils.
He said: “The Senate is disturbed that such crises in addition to armed banditry and Boko Haram insurgency remain unabated and there can’t be development where there is no peace, the very reason state actors at the grassroots need to be more involved in stopping them.”
He added that interventions from all fronts against the crises are urgently required as ethnic entrepreneurs are trying to take advantage of the ugly situation.
His words: “With some kind of ethnic colouration of the herders/farmers clashes, urgent attentions are required at various levels of government to prevent them from further escalation.
“These are the kind of crises that must be addressed promptly and squarely in preventing ethnic entrepreneurs from hijacking the whole situation and putting the country in danger.
“There are existential issues that have set communities that have hitherto lived together peacefully against each other either for political advantage or political matters.
“I think these are issues that should be resolved at the local level either through dialogue anchored on the spirit of give and take.
“Whatever crises that are involved should be resolved by political leaders at appropriate levels, be it at the National Assembly, at the level of the Governors, local government and even councillorship level, where state actors are expected to sit down with their people so that a lot of these issues can be articulated and addressed by the local population.
“In fact, this is what the Governors at their levels should do and not always running to the Presidency to solve one dispute here and there.
“This is a federation and we are all politically responsible leaders.
“I can assure you that in no distant time, these inter-communual conflagrations would be resolved.
“So, hopefully Tuesday or Wednesday this week, a general motion that will be sponsored by the Deputy Senate Leader, Ajayi Borroficce, will be debated on the floor of the Senate.”
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
