Governor Abdullahi Bago of Niger State, on Wednesday, unveiled strategies aimed at putting an end to the recent wave of insecurity that has plagued the state.
The Governor, addressing reporters in Abuja during a news briefing about the state’s first-ever subnational summit on green economy, outlined the government’s plan to reacquire and repurpose land currently held by bandits in the area.
According to him, the government’s recent findings indicate that a substantial portion of the land currently occupied by bandits operates outside of any formal governance structure. Thus, Measures are in place to reclaim and allocate these lands for large-scale agricultural initiatives.
Additionally, the Governor disclosed that the state government has imposed a ban on mining activities within the state and is actively working on establishing dedicated cattle ranches.
Governor Bago stated that the state is currently procuring heavy-duty machinery ahead of the forthcoming planting season, with plans to cultivate around 250,000 hectares of agricultural land in the year 2024.
He also mentioned that the state is presently in the process of clearing about 300,000 hectares of land and has set a goal to plant around 10 million trees across the entire state within the next six months.
Furthermore, he mentioned that the state government has entered into agreements with several state governments in the southwestern part of the nation to put a stop to the movement of cattle into the Southern region.
‘We have agreed that cattle will no longer be transported to the South. They will stop at Mokwa where we are setting up a processing plant which will process them before they are transported to the south,’ the governor said.
He also noted that the state government has taken the decisive step of prohibiting mining activities within the state, stating that even those with licenses issued by the Federal Government will no longer be allowed to operate in the region.
The Governor pointed out the interconnection between mining and cattle, noting that miners frequently employ cattle to transport their products away from mining sites.
The Governor revealed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has issued directives for large-scale food production across the nation, and the state aspires to be at the forefront of this initiative.
During the presentation of the first Green Economic Summit, the governor said that the summit’s central goal is to fully utilize the state’s inherent potential.