Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has reacted to controversies surrounding the proposed Ruga settlement for cattle breeders across the country, Igbere TV reports.
In a statement sent to Igbere TV on Friday, Osinbajo said “contrary to claims reported in sections of the media, the establishment of Ruga settlements is not being supervised by the Office of the Vice President.”
The statement signed by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, said “the Ruga initiative is different from the National Livestock Transformation Plan approved by State governors under the auspices of the National Economic Council (NEC) chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.”
Akande revealed that “NEC on January 17, 2019, approved the plan based on the recommendations of a Technical Committee of the Council chaired by Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State. Other State Governors on the committee and Working Group of NEC are those from Adamawa, Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, Edo, Plateau, Oyo & Zamfara – mostly the frontline States in the Farmer-Herder crises.”
He said “the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) 2019-2028 is a programme to be implemented in 7 pilot states of Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawa, Taraba and Zamfara (as decided by NEC in January), being States in the frontlines of the Farmer-Herder crises. Afterwards, six other States have indicated readiness to also implement the plan. They are Katsina, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Ondo, and Edo states.”
He added that “the plan has six pillars through which it aims to transform the livestock production system in Nigeria along market oriented value chain while ensuring an atmosphere of peace and justice.”
According to him, “the six key pillars include, economic investment, conflict resolution, justice and peace, humanitarian relief and early recovery, human capital development and cross-cutting issues such as gender, youth, research and information and strategic communication.”
The Vice President said the Federal Government will not impose on any State government regarding its land.
