Lawmakers in Nigeria’s South-south and South-east geo-political zones
have opposed the proposed grazing bill of the federal government.
The
legislators also urge their counterparts at the National Assembly to
kick against the bill, saying it is not in the interest of the nation’s
unity.
The opinions were formed when they converged at Owerri,
the Imo State capital, south-east Nigeria for the first parliamentary
session of South-south and South-east State Assemblies to discuss the
issues bothering on the proposed grazing bill as well as issues of
militancy and bombings in the Niger Delta.
In his welcome
address, the host and Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Rt.
Honourable Acho Ihim, hinted that the South-south and the South-east
states have many things in common in the region, not leaving out
challenges,stressing the need for the first joint parliamentary session
to bid a way forward in addressing their challenges.
Reacting to
the grazing reserve proposals and activities of herdsmen in the
geo-political zones, a lawmaker from Abia moved a motion on the position
of legislators in both region.
After much deliberations and
contributions, the legislators opposed the grazing bill, urging all
Assemblies in the region to pass bills restricting cattle rearing and
prohibit grazing of cattle from one location to another.
They insisted that the proposed bill to establish and control grazing routes and reserves should be rejected.
After
the session, some of the lawmakers hinted that the theme of their
gathering would go a long way to unite the South-south and South-east
zones, as well as Nigeria in general.
In attendance were the
Speakers from Ebonyi, Delta, Cross River, Imo, Edo, Bayelsa, and Abia
states while Deputy Speakers from Akwa Ibom, Anambra and Enugu states
represented their speaker amidst a large number of legislators from the
the two zones.