Food scarcity looms if open grazing continues, declares Okowa

Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, Wednesday berated critics of southern governors on the ban on opening grazing and the call for national dialogue to restructure Nigeria.

Okowa said he owed no apologies to the Federal Government because the governors spoke the truth in the best interest of the nation.

The governor said, “Can we truly at this moment be promoting open grazing? Thank God that the President was misrepresented, because I have seen news headlines that the President is not opposed to the ban on open grazing.

“We need to begin to look into what is best for us. Where we were 50 years ago should not be where we should be today and tomorrow.”

He acknowledged that ‘’it might not be a one-day affair; it may not be but the process has to start and there must be a programme that must become evident, a programme in which we will begin to see actions being taken.’’

Okowa warned that “Nigeria’s growing food scarcity may soon spiral out of control on account of the threat posed by open grazing of cattle.”

He called for wholesale adoption of ranching ‘given that, apart from safety issues, “it is more beneficial for both cattle owners and herders.”

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