Why I won’t ban open grazing in Edo – Gov Obaseki

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, on Monday, has revealed the reason why he cannot ban open grazing in the state.

Obaseki said it is important to first address the root of the acrimony between herders and host communities.

Obaseki disclosed this while speaking at a stakeholders town hall meeting in Benin, the state capital on Monday.

The governor said the ban on open grazing law cannot be implemented, hence no need to enforce it.

Recall that the Southern governors in September agreed to ban open grazing of cattle in their region but Obaseki did not sign the bill into law.

The 17 governors of the southern states, including Obaseki, had, in a meeting held in Lagos on July 5, 2021, urged all the states in the region to enact the law against open grazing of cattle on or before September 1, 2021.

While the majority of the governors in the zone have passed the law but Obaseki said he would not rely on needless arguments by some individuals who were intolerant of herders to enact a law that would be difficult to implement in Edo State, hence the need for the town hall meeting.

The governor said the country’s leaders must not “play politics” with the issue, adding that they must deal with it “honestly and openly”.

“We are one of the few states that have not signed the bill into law, and the reason is simple. To sign law is very simple, it doesn’t make sense to put out a law you cannot enforce,” Obaseki.

“The best way of enforcing a law is to bring everybody together to be part of that law.

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“We have a crisis in our country, it is deeply rooted, there are different causes why these are happening, let us go to the root of the causes and resolve it from there.

“People have said that we have lived a hundred years together in harmony before now, why are we now having this problem today.

“If we don’t go to the reason why then we will be scratching the surface. Let us start by understanding why we are having this challenge.

“To sign a law is very easy, it doesn’t make sense to put out a law that you cannot enforce.

“The anti-grazing law in my view is to deal with some perception. I just want to tell you that this is not an issue between Christians and Muslims, it is not an issue between north and south, it is not an issue between Edo people and Fulani people.

“As long as we have decided that we will eat meats and drink milk, we will now have to sit down and rearrange the business on how we will get the people who are producing the meat on how they must organise themselves.

“Let us not play politics with this issue, let us deal with this issue honestly and openly. There are security implications because some people have now joined and using these herders to perpetuate insecurity.”

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