Ruga policy

The Ruga policy (lit. 'human settlement policy') is a controversial Nigerian policy, introduced by the Buhari Muhammad Presidency, aimed at resolving the conflict between nomadic Fulani herdsmen and sedentary farmers.[1] The policy, which is currently suspended, would "create reserved communities where herders will live, grow and tend their cattle, produce milk and undertake other activities associated with the cattle business without having to move around in search of grazing land for their cows."[1]

Etymology

Ruga (or Rugga) Fulani word for human settlement, and can also be interpreted as the acronym of "rural grazing area"...[2]

History

The policy was developed by the National Livestock Transformation Plan under the Nigeria Economy Council to curb the conflict between farmers and fulani herdsmen.[1]

Criticism

The Government of Nigeria, under the former General Olusegun Obasanjo and his deputy, Brigadier Shehu Yaradua (Fulani), who conceived the policy, and current president Muhammad Buhari, who also is Fulani, attempted to implement the policy. perceived by the southerners, which tends to be more Christian and animist than the Muslim north, as an agenda designed to benefit the Muslim Fulanis.[1] As a result, the southerners and some religious bodies kicked against Ruga policy; except of course the government and the most Northerner, where the Fulani hold sway.[1]
Benue State, a state that borne the brunt of horrendous herdmen and farmers crisis aligned with these southern counterparts, notwithstanding that the state itself is situated along the Middle Belt axis, where its sister states have joined the North to literally beckon to Ruga.[3]
But the Nigeria Government, placed the policy as permanent put in ending the incessant killings of indigenes of local communities, where Fulani herdsmen take their cattle for grazing[4]

The suspension came on a day The Arewa youths, under the aegis of Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, gave southern leaders 30 days to accept the Ruga Project in peace, and a 30-day ultimatum to President Buhari to implement the programme[5]

gollark: Except that one Trump supporter is bad.
gollark: That's not good evidence of... anything?
gollark: They have reasons to believe things. Bad ones quite often, but they mostly don't randomly go "hmm, how shall I ruin the country today".
gollark: I mean, I do actually believe in treating people you politically disagree with as... people?
gollark: I feel like you may be failing to consider people's actual views and reasons for things a lot.

References
  1. "Rethinking the Ruga policy". The Nation Newspaper. 2019-07-05. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  2. "RUGA meaning". RUGGA RUGA POLICY. July 27, 2019.
  3. Published. "South-East govs, Ortom, Ishaku, others reject FG's Ruga settlements for herdsmen". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  4. Opara, George (2019-07-03). "FG sued over controversial Ruga Settlement policy". Daily Post Nigeria. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  5. Published. "FG suspends Ruga". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.