Taraba governor: Ruga is another form of colonialism

Taraba state governor, Darius Ishaku, on Tuesday termed the aborted Ruga initiative by the federal government, another form of colonialism.

Ishaku who made the disclosure while chatting with newsmen at the government house in Jalingo, called for the total cancellation of the initiative, insisting that the initiative would not have worked in Taraba because the state already has a law prohibiting open grazing.

The governor said, “Ruga is colonialism; it is not about cattle; it is not even about grasses. It should not only be suspended, but it should also be cancelled completely.”

“The whole Ruga scheme should be canceled. You can’t do a Ruga in the entire country. I don’t accept it. It is not workable, and it will not work in Taraba state.

“Already, I have in place the Anti-Open Grazing Law in Taraba state that prohibits open grazing but encourages ranching. And we are making a lot of progress on ranching.

“I submitted a request to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for us (Taraba) to be given a loan for us to do the ranching but the CBN has refused to approve it, for reasons I don’t know.

“Otherwise, I would have showcased what ranching is in Taraba state. It is the best form of practice in modern days, if indeed you are talking about cattle, grasses and grazing.

“But I don’t think they (federal government) are talking about cattle; I don’t agree that they are talking about grasses. They are talking of something else, colonisation.”

Ishiaku who also described the democracy being practised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) as “embarrassing and insulting”, said he was shocked that the ruling party did not condemn the police siege on his Abuja home.

He continued, “I feel very bad that the democratic government of the APC is not living according to the tenets of the constitution. It is disgraceful, embarrassing and insulting.”

“I’m shocked that only my party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemned the police’s siege on my house. APC didn’t talk about it. Don’t they have governors? Can somebody walk into an APC governor’s house and search it?

“They broke the gate, broke all the doors of my house, threw out my children. I used two years to beg them (children) to come back to Nigeria. Now, one of them has gone back, I’m still begging him to come back to Nigeria. This is nonsense.”