Lagos prohibits open grazing as Sanwo-Olu signs bill into law

By Motolani AbudlGafar

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday, signed the state’s anti-open grazing bill into law.

Sanwo-Olu’s aide on print media, Wale Ajetunmobi, disclosed this on his social media page.

Ajetunmobi had announced on Facebook, “Breaking! Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, this afternoon, signs the bill prohibiting open cattle grazing in Lagos into law.”

Lagos State House of Assembly had last Thursday passed the bill titled, “A bill for a law to Prohibit Open Cattle Grazing In Lagos State, the Trespass of Cattle Land And For Other Connected Purposes”.

Lagos Assembly Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, had immediately directed the Acting Clerk of the House, Mr. Olalekan Onafeko, to transmit a clean copy of the bill to Governor Sanwo-Olu for assent.

The lawmakers unanimously voted for the passage of the bill at a plenary where it was read the third time.

But the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association had earlier said that a cow could cost as much as N2 million in the state if the anti-grazing bill is passed into law in the state.

MACBAN Zonal Secretary in the South West, Usman, had sounded this note of warning during a one-day public hearing organised by the state House of Assembly on the anti-open grazing bill.

He had during the public hearing appealed to the state government for assistance, noting that ranching is more expensive than open grazing.

But Usman, who agreed that some herdsmen were criminally-minded, argued that raising a cow in one location could shoot the price of a cow to as much as N2 million.

He had, therefore, appealed to the government to subsidise the cost of raising cows in one location.

Quoting Usman in a statement, Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the House, Mr Eromosele Ebhomele, said, “If cattle are bred in one place, the price could go up to about N2 million each. We agreed with some local chiefs in other states that anyone who wants to rear cows in a location should register and should indicate when he is leaving.

“A Fulani man moves from one place to another to ply his trade, but we have some bad eggs that are causing trouble. The government should allow us to talk to our people that they don’t want our cows to destroy people’s farmland.

“We have met with stakeholders in Ekiti, Ondo and even Oyo states and we reached agreements with them,”