No room for RUGA in South-West ― Anglican Bishop

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No room for RUGA in South-West ― Anglican Bishop

The Bishop, Diocese of Akure Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, Rt. Revd Simeon Borokini, has warned South West governors against ceding any part of the region’s land to the Federal Government to establish Rural Grazing Area (RUGA).

Borokini who stated this during the First Session of the 13th Synod at St. Luke’s Anglican Church in Akure, Ondo State capital, urged the governors to discard the controversial plan or incur the wrath of the people of the region.

The clergy while reading the charge, with the theme: “Beliefs and ethos of Anglicanism: tools for evangelism,” lamented over the decaying state of infrastructural facilities across the country, hindering the nation’s growth and development.

According to him, the standard of education, economy, health and the insecurity across the country is worrisome. He also condemned the attitude of the leaders in the country, describing such attitude as a crime against humanity.

While condemning the suspension of RUGA, Borokini said: “I am not in support of the suspension, I am advocating that it should be totally abolished.

“If they want to practise it, let them practise it in the northern part, not in the South West. I am not comfortable with that word, suspension. It should be abolished.

“If they want to practise it in Adamawa, Kano and other northerner states, they should go ahead, but I won’t support practising it in the South West.

“Why should they give an expanse of land from our community to strangers? And we don’t know what they have in mind, they may have a hidden agenda which I don’t support.”

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Justifying his position against RUGA, Borokini said, “what we have been experiencing in the last few months, nobody would say he/she is happy. The recent one about three or four weeks ago, a woman leaving the church with her daughter, going to the house and the Fulani herdsmen captured them.

“We also had a recent one between Ikere and Akure. It means that the Federal Government is not doing anything about it; and if it continues to keep quiet and leave them to continue to do what they like to do, then something will just continue like that.

“That is why I said that any governor that supports RUGA will have himself to blame. Why should they give preference to a particular tribe and a particular trade? Cattle rearing is a trade, and we have some of our farmers who are poultry keepers; why don’t they encourage them?

“We have some of our farmers also, they rear sheep and goats, why don’t they encourage them? Why is it only people rearing cows that are to be encouraged? What is special?”

Speaking on the suggestion the people of Southwest should stop consuming cow meat, in order to put an end to the clash between farmers and herdsmen, the clergy described it as a welcome development if it would put an end to the killing in the land.

“If it is only by this means from the people from the north and our lives are not secure, then, we should do away with cows. So we cannot keep quiet as far as the security issue is concerned in our state.

“And this issue of Fulani herdsmen, I think the Federal Government needs to do something to it. If it gets to a situation where our lives are not safe, we can do without eating cow. There are other meats that we can eat.

The clergy, however, advocated for state police ignored to put an end to the rising menace of insecurity, and commended the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, over his government giant strides in the infrastructural development, education, health, industrial and agricultural sectors.

No room for RUGA in South-West ― Anglican Bishop
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