Stakeholders at an Inclusive Forum for Accountable Society, IFAS meeting have advised the Federal Government to declare a State of Emergency on herders and farmers clashes to avert food crisis.
The Stakeholders met in Lokoja, Kogi state where they observed that the
crisis had been allowed to linger for too long and affected almost every
sector of the economy.
The meeting was organised by ActionAid Nigeria; Participation
Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development, PIBCID and Global
Community Engagement and Resilience Fund.
Executive Director of PIBCID Halima Sadiq, whiel speaking at the
meeting stressed that the declaration of a state of emergency was
necessary because livelihoods of community members were at stake.
In his opening remarks Chairman of IFAS, Hamza Aliyu, advised
Nigerians to stop denigrating ethnic nationalities over farmers-herders
clashes as not all herders are Fulani and not all Fulani are herders. He
noted that disparaging an entire race over negative activities of a few was
not a healthy approach to solving the problem.
Chairman, Igalamela-Odolu Local Government Council of Kogi state Onoja James, In his contribution, said traditional rulers and community leaders in whose domains herders and farmers clashed should be held accountable.
