Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, His Grace, Archbishop Adewale Martins and former General Secretary of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, Archbishop Joseph Ojo Sunday opposed the proposal to establish grazing reserves across the nation, arguing instead that the Federal Government should build cattle ranches in states where cattle rearing is common. Addressing journalists during this year’s 50th World Com-munication Day, at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos, Martins said such ranches will put an end to orgy of crisis emanating from incessant encroachment on people’s farmlands. In his words: “There is need for government to take proactive measures to arrest the situation because we cannot allow what is good for one part of the country to affect another part of the country.
Ranches can be created by the government where the cows can be reared without encroaching on people’s farmlands”. President Buhari He further urged journalists and other social media users to use words that will promote peace and unity in the society, adding that Catholic church recognized the roles and importance of journalists in building a peaceful nation and “will encourage those engaged in mass communi-cation, to engage in commu-nicating the mercy of God, use words that engender peace and harmony rather than conflicts.” Also reacting in the same vein at his Calvary Kingdom Church, CKC, in Okoko-maiko area of Lagos, Arch-bishop Ojo expressed disa-ppointment at a statement credited to Fulani Herdsmen who threatened that nobody can stop them from grazing their cows any where in the country.
Speaking in an interview at the end of the church’s annual Women Convention, erst-while PFN general secretary further argued that one northern state functionary even went to the ridiculous extent of saying that there would be no country called Nigeria if these people are denied grazing reserves in the South. Arguing that Nigeria has come to a crossroads, the Pentecostal archbishop posited that several Christian leaders who spearheaded the campaign for change during last year’s presidential elect-ion are now ashamed to admit the current develop-ments, saying that people voted for change last not anticipating that we will see what we are seeing today. “Nobody anticipated that few months after that election people will go to their farms and will not return…women will go to their farms and will return unable to say the grave circumstances they they have encountered in the farms and the equivocations of some northerners which are tanta-mount to treason,” he stated. According to him, the authorities should immed-iately release the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOD leader, Nnamdi Kanu because re-cent equivocations cannot be compared to the agitations of the young political activist who has been in detention since last year. “The truth is that many of the Christian leaders are in there, not knowing how to address the situation because they had compromised their faith. We cannot continue like this. Our prayer is that God should stop them in the evil endea-vour,” Ojo prayed, noting that the proposal for grazing reserves in every part of the country is not acceptable because “Buhari is supposed to president of every Niger-ian.”
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/05/archbishops-kick-grazing-reserves/
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