PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari is reaching out to well-meaning citizens on finding a lasting solution to the security challenges in the country.
He is said to have begun consultations for an inclusive stakeholders committee that will thoroughly interrogate issues believed to be fuelling communal conflicts across the country.
The main task of the committee is proffering lasting solutions to age-long disagreements that have claimed lives and property.
The Adamawa State Government, one of the flashpoints of incessant bloody confrontations between farmers and herders, on Saturday inaugurated a six-member committee to lead the state in the implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan, designed to find an enduring solution to herdsmen/farmers conflicts.
Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said yesterday that the president was disturbed by “communal clashes that have destroyed many lives and property, altered the destinies of families, and raised the profile of insecurity in the country by promoting generational tensions.”
He cited the Tiv/Jukun relationship in Benue and Taraba States as an example.
He said the proposed panel which will work with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, will comprise traditional rulers, representatives of religious bodies, (specifically the Christian Association of Nigeria [CAN] and the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs), age groups, market/farmer/hunters associations, local and state government officials, and relevant security agencies.
Buhari, he said, believes Nigeria’s cultural diversity remains its greatest strength when properly harnessed and harmonized with a collective vision for unity, peace and shared prosperity.
He urged more patience as government identifies and works towards creating more understanding.
Also, the Adamawa State Government yesterday inaugurated a six-member committee on the implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan, which is designed to find an enduring solution to conflicts involving herdsmen and farmers.
Deputy Governor Crowther Seth said at the event in Yola that the panel members should work in harmony and use their decades of experience in the agricultural sector to represent the interest of the state effectively.
Members of the committees are Professor Ambrose Alikidon Voh, Dr Garba Ahmed, Dr. Gideon Shelpela, Alhaji Usman Ibrahim Michika, Alhaji Suleiman Umar, and Malam Sajo Zakare.
They are mostly vet doctors and people who have either retired from top positions in the agricultural sector or are close to retirement.
The Chairman of the Committee, Professor Ambrose Voh, said on behalf of the members that in constituting the committee, the state government had shown that it is a pragmatic and action-driven government focused on solving the herdsmen-farmers conflicts bedevilling the state.
“The decision to key into the federal government programme shows the commitment of the state to tackle the farmers-herdsmen crisis. On our part, we are working hard not only to effectively represent Adamawa State in the programme but to be ahead of the other states,” he said.
The pilot states for the implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan are Adamawa, Taraba, Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue, and Oyo.
The National Livestock Transformation Plan is a strategy of the federal government to tackle conflicts between herdsmen and farmers in states most affected by the conflicts. The states are each expected to be represented in the national programme by a duly constituted committee.
