Osinbajo’s office not supervising ‘Ruga’ settlements’ –Aide

The Office of the Vice President says the establishment of Ruga settlements is not being supervised by the office, contrary to claims in sections of the media. Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, dismissed the reports in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

The Ruga initiative is different from the National Livestock Transformation Plan approved by State governors under the auspices of the National Economic Council (NEC) chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. Akande said that NEC on Jan. 17, approved the plan based on the recommendations of a Technical Committee of the Council chaired by Gov. Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State.

He said that other state governors in the committee and Working Group of NEC were those from Adamawa, Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, Edo, Plateau, Oyo and Zamfara – mostly the frontline states in the farmer-herder crises. “The National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) 2019-2028 is a programme to be implemented in seven pilot states of Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawa, Taraba and Zamfara as decided by NEC in January, being states in the frontlines of the Farmer-Herder crises. “Afterwards, six other States have indicated readiness to also implement the plan; they are Katsina, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Ondo, and Edo states. “The plan has six pillars through which it aims to transform the livestock production system in Nigeria along market oriented value chain while ensuring an atmosphere of peace and justice. “The six key pillars include-economic investment, conflict resolution, justice and peace, humanitarian relief and early recovery, human capital development. “Others are cross-cutting issues such as gender, youth, research and information and strategic communication. “In all, the Federal Government will not impose on any state government regarding its land,” he said.(NAN)