Farmers, herdsmen meet in Ibadan to discuss peaceful co-existence

By Zacheaus Somorin

The South West Farmers Association of Nigeria and the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) met on Tuesday in Ibadan to discuss how to maintain peaceful co-existence in the geo-political zone.

Speaking at the occasion, the Chairman of the farmers association, Mr Segun Dasaolu, said the meeting was convened to streamline the relationship between herdsmen and farmers in the zone.

Dasaolu explained that the meeting was called to strategise on how to create a data bank of all the herdsmen and farmers to ensure easy identification.

‘‘The most friendly zone for herdsmen is the South West; that is why we and herdsmen hardly have any crisis as such.

‘‘We have agreed today that there must be clear identity of every herdsmen in the South West through data capturing,’’ he said.

Also speaking, Alhaji Mahammadu Kirowo, the National President of MACBAN, promised to keep to the terms of the agreement.

‘‘The association’s data base will be created by the headquarters in Abuja; any other one is counterfeit.

‘‘We are peace makers; in the South West, our herdsmen are proud of living in peace.

‘‘We don’t support any criminal act, violence or any form of evil; let us fish out the criminals in our society.

“We are peace makers in our association and not perpetrators of crisis,’’ he said.

Earlier, the Onido of Iddo town in Oyo State, Oba Gbolagade Babalola, had urged local government chairmen and traditional rulers to hold frequent meetings with herdsmen.

He equally stressed the need for herdsmen to have identification cards.