Governor of Ondo state, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on Tuesday declared that the state is not interested in making land available for RUGA Settlements in the state.
While reacting to questions on the position of the state through his official verified twitter handle on Tuesday, the governor explained that the state was only interested in having ranches not RUGA settlements.
The Governor noted ranches would help solve the unemployment rate in Ondo State.
Read Also: FG Insists Ruga Settlement Will Address Farmers, Herders Conflicts
He said: ”Our stance on the Ruga settlements debate is clear. Ondo is only interested in ranches. We have 2 large ranches existing in Akunnu & Auga. Auga can accommodate 5000 cows. A key difference here is that we have no preference for who manages the cattle. The ranch owners decide.
”Primary reason for #RugaSettlements although understandable does not truly factor the interests of every State. We have a youth unemployment crisis our ranches can address. Ondo State must prioritize agriculture due to the arable nature of our land.
”A lot of our land is already earmarked for forest reserves. The FG must understand why we need to be strategic in our decision making. We implore the FG to revisit the proposal based on feedback from the different States & act accordingly.”
The President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration had disclosed that it was working towards establishing Ruga settlements for herdsmen in states across the country.
The federal government said the RUGA settlements would help curtain the increasing herders and famers clashes, noting that 12 out of 36 states of the federation had shown interest in establishing Ruga settlements.
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