Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo has inaugurated a 17-man Conflict Prevention and Resolution Committee, towards ensuring peaceful coexistence between farmers and herders in Kogi state.
Ododo, speaking at the inauguration on Thursday, charged them to check, regulate and monitor the movement of herdsmen and their livestock along the stock routes, to prevent farmers’/herders clashes.
The committee has the state Commissioner of Agriculture and Food Security, Timothy Ojoma, as chairman, with members drawn from the traditional institutions, including the Attah of Igala, among others.
Speaking at the ceremony organised by the Kogi Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project, Ododo, represented by the Kogi L-Pres State Project Coordinator, Dr Olufemi Bolarin, said the committee had the responsibility of enlightening farmers and herders on the importance of peaceful coexistence.
Ojoma lauded Ododo for emphasising food security, adding that the committee could not have come at a better time than now.
He said food security was key to food sufficiency, as he reiterated the huge spending by the present administration on agriculture, to sufficiently feed the people.
In a presentation, Director, Emergency and Risk Alert, Dr Gbenro Olajuyigbe, titled, “Dialogue in pursuit of peace between farmer-herder communities,” recommended the setting up of local government community platforms, maintenance of conflict diaries as well as the need to set up early warning systems to check conflicts.
He also called for the establishment of a national peace dialogue committee and the formation of inclusive security architecture, to strengthen the capacity of security agencies to curtail conflicts arising from farmer-herder clashes.
