Governors of the 19 northern states under the platform of the Northern Governors’ Forum on Thursday settled for the National Livestock Transformation Plan of the Federal Government.
The NGF also urged other governors in other parts of the country to follow suit.
This was just as the NGF’s Chairman, Simon Lalong, also congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on behalf of other governors on his victory at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal which validated his victory at the February presidential poll.
The forum urged the President to carry everybody along for the next four years as he presided over the affairs of the country.
These were part of the resolutions by the governors at the end of an emergency meeting held at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna, in the state capital.
In the communiqué he read out on behalf of the his colleagues, the chairman, who is also the Plateau State Governor, said the National Livestock Transformation Plan would ensure peace and stability in the region as well as resettle “dislocated populations in the key conflict zones to enable them to become part of the agricultural modernisation process.”
He added, “In the same vein, it will provide a mechanism for peaceful dialogue and reconciliation in the affected communities towards a harmonious mutually beneficial future
“The forum therefore adopted the National Livestock Transformation Plan which lays out a clear path for modernising pastoral activities.”
According to Lalong, the plan will further encourage other states not included as pilot states to endeavour to join the plan/programme.
On insecurity, he expressed the forum’s unwavering determination to rescue the region and reposition it to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the people, especially in the areas of security economic and social development
The NGF’s chairman said, “The Northern States Governors’ Forum convened an emergency meeting to discuss some topical issues of common interest, particularly development of the agricultural sector being the economic livewire of the region.
“The forum was well- informed about the National Livestock Transformation Plan and its disparities with the RUGA.
“It is expected that the plan would ensure resettling and addressing the dislocated populations in the key conflict zones to enable them to become part of the agricultural modernisation process”
On the almajiri, he said, the forum received brief on the phenomenon in northern Nigeria which is not only endemic but also pandemic.
Punch