The Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed has warned local government chairmen and traditional rulers to resist the temptation of selling land in their domains to strangers, saying that the situation is responsible for the clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the state.
The governor, who stated this yesterday when he flagged off the Kaura Empowerment Initiative in two local government areas of Shira and Giade, urged council chairmen to serve the people, hence they must fear God in all they do.
The governor said that his government is ready to give lands to genuine investors, adding that so far the government has given over 50,000 hectares of land to investors.
” We should resist the temptation of selling our land to make temporary money. We should resist the temptation of taking the land from the people who own them, especially the cattle routes and the rest. This is why we are having these conflicts”
“I am calling on the authorities in the state, the local government and to the traditional institutions to know that we have a covenant with our people. We must fear God that we are serving people, we should stop cheating and selfish tendencies, we should stop cheating those that are down the ladder; these are the farmers and the herders. We must make it possible for the herders to move around and we must tell our herders not to trespass into our lands,” he said
He said that the state government is coming out with a bill to provide the right of way for the herders without encroaching on other people’s land.
