I think the Gandollar Ruga Plan is the right way forward

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has constituted a 16-man committee for the establishment of Ruga and milk markets in the state. It appears that when he is not stuffing dollars into the his agbada, this man can actually think straight

(2) He said the Ruga project will be carried out in collaboration with Islamic Development Bank, which obviously will be providing loans for the project

(3) Inaugurating the committee at Government House, Governor Ganduje said Kano Ruga settlements will accommodate not only Kano herders but cattle breeders across the country as well as those from neighbouring West Africa

(4) Governor Ganduje said: “We have three types of herdsmen—those rearing their cattle around their houses who do not pose a problem because they don’t move around. We also have herders who are Nigerians from the northern part of the country, but will move across to the Middle Belt and the southern part of the country during dry season in search of water for their cattle, who come back to their base in the North after a while. Then, going by the Ecowas protocol, we also have herdsmen who travel from neighbouring countries of Chad and Cameroon to the northern part of the country, from where they also move to the south in search of grazing land for their cattle. This is where the issue lies.”

(5) Under the Gandollar Ruga Plan, Governor Ganduje said the Ruga settlements would be designed in such a way that they will expand the economic base of the state

(6) He added that infrastructures such as schools, hospitals, livestock clinic, houses, markets and other relevant infrastructures and social amenities that would make life comfortable for them will also be provided in the Ruga settlements.

(7) According to Governor Ganduje, the Gandollar Ruga Committee will also look at the possibility of creating milk markets for the teeming wives of Fulani herders who face difficulties selling their milk because of a lack of storage facilities. He added that already, some private investors have indicated an interest in partnering with the state government on the establishment of the market.

(8) Gandollar said his committee’s mandate was also: “To determine the type of social services and infrastructure to be provided at the Ruga settlement such as veterinary hospitals, market stalls, boreholes, etc and identify any other issue incidental to the assignment.”

(9) This Gandollar Ruga Committee, which includes representatives of all security agencies, is billed to submit its recommendations within three weeks from the date of inauguration. Dr Jibrilla Mahmoud the managing director of the Kano State Investment and Property Company is the chairman

(10) I just hope that the herdsmen do not get pissed off abandon these ranches when they are asked to pay a 30% dollar tax. This fear is genuine as once they see their hard-earned cash stuffed into agbadas, they may decide that they tax is too high and abandon the settlements, returning to nomadism. Let us hope this does not happen sha