By Polycarp Ifeanyi
The Chairman of Industrial cluster, Awada Obosi in Idemili North LGA, Anambra state, Chief Johnson Okolo has bluntly opposed the plan by Government of Nigeria to establish Ruga or Ranch in the South East part of Nigeria.
Okolo who hails from Amofia Agu Afa in Udi LGA, Enugu State in a chat with newsmen in Onitsha slammed any level of government planning to establish Ruga or Ranch in South East especially in Enugu State, saying that such plan can not work.
He said that he is a victim of Fulani herders, contending that whatever nomenclature they use, Ruga is similar to Ranch and there must be a course upon anybody who will encourage Fulanise to settle in Enugu State.
” Fulanise used their cattle to destroy 6000 palm trees, 300 Orange and 300 cashew trees which I planted in my farm at Amofia Afa in Udi LGA. In terms of what they called Ranch. I have said it time without number, what is the interest of Government in the business of valley. It is not Enugu State people or Southeast people that owns Ranch, if not Ruga ?. And I have said it in Enugu State forum”
” I told them that when we do business in the North, do they buy shops for us ?. Why will they buy land where they will do cattle rearing? If not Ruga. I said it before, Any money they see from the government, they see it as their right. So, the Enugu State government or whatever government is buying them land, the Fulanise and Northerners will see it as their money and their land . So, they are trying to solve problems with troubles”
” By the time they were given land , they would not even look for a government.They would take it as their land. Today, they don’t have land they call their own in the South East. So, don’t provide land for them. I am totally against it. Let’s face insecurity and remove their guns”
He continued saying that ” If the state government is afraid to challenge Fulanise who carry arms in the South East, setting up nation wide insecurity which means they are the government on their own and the Government is afraid to speak on that. What they are trying to do is to solve the problems of setting up Ruga on somebody’s land . Who owns the land they are doing Ranching?”
” You want to take up somebody’s land in the name of the government and set up another tribe there. Can’t we rear cows ?. We can manage cows by ourselves. Enugu State or whatever government, go and buy cows for their indigenes and set a Ranching for them. Don’t give another person’s land to another person. If they set this Ruga which they are planning, their family must suffer for it . Why not go and establish it in their own village first” Said Okolo
The Community leader equally lamented, saying that if they succeed in giving Falani land, they will use it as a bomb station and opportunity they will be killing people.
” Let these people who are planning this Ruga to ask Southern Kaduna, Benue and Jos what they are passing through in the hands of Fulanise. They want us to be Internally Displaced persons ( IDP) in our own land like Southern Kaduna, Benue, Jos amongst other”
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