Gombe State Govt Bans Underage, Inter- LG, Night Grazing
By Ben Ngwakwe, Gombe
In an attempt to forestall farmers/ herders clashes in Gombe State, the State Government under the leadership of Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has banned underaged, inter local government and night grazing in the state.
Speaking to newsmen after the Executive Council Meeting in Gombe, the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Mohammed Magaji Gettado, said that the essence of the resolutions was to forestall clashes and to ensure availability of food as 30 percent to 40 percent of farmers in the North lost their farm produce due to natural occurrences.
The Commissioner explained that the Council ratified measures to forestall the possibility of farmers/herder clashes which usually occurs during harvest and to ensure that the farmers harvest all their farm produce.
He said in view of some natural factors that affected food production across the country this year, it becomes pertinent on the state Government to put in place measures that will help to safeguard farm produce.
To this end, the commissioner said, “from now until the end of January 2023 the State Government has banned inter local government, underage and night grazing of cattles and bush burning.”
He added that an expanded security meeting would be convened by Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya to fine tune understanding among critical stakeholders.
Mohammed Getado equally advised farmers not to burn the residue of their farms in the spirit of the African brotherhood.
The Council has also approved the procurement of 40 Toyota buses, the commissioner of Finance and Economic Development, Mohammed Magaji disclosed that while 30 of the vehicles would be injected into Gombe line Transport Service to add value and efficiency to the transport company.
Magaji said, “As you are all aware on assumption into office, His Excellency bought 50 units of brand new 18-seater Toyota buses for the state transport company to improve easy commuting of goods and services within and outside the state.”
Earlier, the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Mr Meshack Audu Lauco, explained the reasons why the Lincoln University College Kumo is yet to take off as earlier planned.
He said the September dateline for the commencement of academic activities in the University was put on hold due to a legal process instituted against the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement entered into between the Gombe State Government and Lincoln University of Malaysia.
The commissioner recalled that on the 2nd of March 2022 the Gombe state Government signed a PPP agreement with the Lincoln University College Malaysia to run the former Gombe State University of Science and Technology Kumo.
He however added that on the 3rd of March 2022 some groups of persons believed to have been politically motivated Instituted a legal process to gag the state from proceeding with the PPP arrangements.
Meshack Audu Lauco added that on the 10th of March 2022 the said persons filed a case at the High Court 8 Abuja seeking an injunction to restrain the state Government, the NUC and the Lincoln University College from going ahead with the implementation of the PPP.
He said with the issue in court it became virtually impossible for the state to move ahead “therefore we had to defend ourselves, the NUC has to defend itself and the Lincoln University College had to also defend itself.”
The information and culture commissioner however revealed that on the 27th of October a judgement was delivered in favour of the State Government, stressing that with the court victory, the Gombe State Government will pursue the implementation of the PPP without further delay.
He disclosed that the academic brief, the master plan and the draft law for the Lincoln University College has been produced.
