The governor of Katsina State, Mr. Aminu Masari has endorsed the southern governors’ ban on open grazing saying the primitive practice of moving herds from one location to another is un-Islamic.
Masari, who stated this Katsina as part of activities to commemorate his second term in office however called for the provision of necessary infrastructure for ranching of cattle.
“This is something we have to do through development; provide necessary infrastructure that will make the herders not to move. Why should herders from Katsina move?
“The herders’ movement is essentially in search of two things: water and fodder. If we can provide these two items why should they move?
“This roaming about…is un-Islamic and is not the best. It is part of the problem we are having today. I don’t support that we should continue with the way open grazing is,” he said.
On devolution of power through restructuring, he said states need resources to implement what should be implemented by the federal government.
“I support devolution totally; the federal government is trying. But the states need to have resource to implement what should have been implemented by the federal government.
“If today the states will support the police, the police system will go up. If the states withdraw their support to security agencies, they won’t be able to move from here to there.
‘’So, I absolutely support devolution in totality. So as a government of Katsina we should be allowed by the constitution, within the constitution to decide on many things that are peculiar to us.
“The federal government should have a benchmark and people should not operate beyond this mark. Lagos State is generating up to N4 billion while Katsina State is just generating N2 billion.
“I expect with proper restructuring, states should own the reflective of what they earn from within their state,” he added.
