Stop selling lands to strangers – Gov Bala warns

 

Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, Governor of Bauchi State, has cautioned local government chairmen and traditional rulers in the area to resist the temptation of selling land in their domains to outsiders visiting the state.

According to him, the situation is to blame for the confrontations in the state between herders and farmers.

Speaking on Wednesday at the launch of the Kaura Empowerment Initiative of two local government areas, Shira and Giade, he stated that as traditional rulers and council chairmen, they are called to serve the people and must therefore fear God in whatever they do.

The governor urged them to eschew selfish tendencies and stop cheating the farmers and the herders that are down the ladder in their communities.

“We should resist the temptation of selling our land to make temporary money, we should resist the temptation of taking the land from the people who own them, especially the cattle routes and the rest. This is why we are having those conflicts.

“I am calling on the authorities in the state to the local government and to the traditional institutions to know that we have a covenant with our people. We must fear God that we are serving people, we should stop cheating and selfish tendencies, we should stop cheating those that are down the ladder, that is the farmers and the herders. We must make it possible for the herders to move around and we must tell our herders not to trespass into our lands,” he said.

Bala Mohamed informed that his government is ready to give lands to genuine investors, adding that so far the government has given over 50,000 hectares of land to investors.