Sanwo-Olu signs anti-open grazing bill into law

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, on Monday, signed a law to prohibit open grazing of cattle in the state.

The Lagos house of assembly had passed the bill during plenary on September 9.

Mudashiru Obasa, speaker of the house, had subsequently directed Olalekan Onafeko, the acting clerk, to transmit copies of the bill to the governor for assent.

After the anti-open grazing bill scaled second reading, the house had convened a public hearing, with different groups invited to air their views.

During the hearing, the south-west chapter of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association(MACBAN) had asked for more time to train its members on how to stop the practice of open grazing.

Maikudi Usman, zonal secretary of south-west MACBAN, said the members of the association need time to be educated on “how they will be breeding cattle in one place and not transfer to anybody’s land”.

Lagos is the fourth southern state to sign the anti-open grazing bill into law, after Rivers, Ondo, Enugu, and Akwa Ibom.

The southern governors held a meeting in Asaba, Delta state capital, in May, where they resolved that open grazing of cattle should be banned across the region.

At another meeting held in Lagos in June, the governors set a deadline of September 1 for the promulgation of the law in the region.

Trends Admin