The Governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, has said the Fulani community in the state “will receive the government’s protection and patronage in terms of infrastructural projects and social security programmes.”

Abdulrazaq gave the assurance on Monday when he met with the Fulani community during which he reassured them of fair treatment, urging them to work with the government and other stakeholders to prevent crimes and guarantee peace and security for all.

The Governor said the meeting was to forge a consensus on how to manage herders-farmers’ relationship amid ultimatums on cattle grazing in some southern states and mass movement of herders to the north, especially Kwara.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye disclosed this in a statement titled ‘Kwara Gov meets Fulani leaders, seeks partnership on security, devt.’

“The meeting is for security and peaceful coexistence especially in the light of what is happening around us. So there was the need to also engage the Fulani in Kwara on how to manage such movement,” the Governor told reporters on the sideline of the meeting in Ilorin, the state capital.

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“There is a security implication from such, and what the government is doing, including the National Livestock Transformation Programme and the special agriculture processing zone, is basically to engage the Fulani community for better understanding on programmes like nomadic education, healthcare delivery, water projects and empowerment that are lined up for them.”

He explained that the second phase of the National Livestock Transformation Programme will soon take off, with Kwara being a part of the beneficiary states.

“So far, the first phase has taken off and was done last in Nasarawa State. We are still waiting for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to let us know when the second phase will commence. Kwara is expected to do the second phase of the project. We have done the enumeration to be part of the project,” the Governor said.

He also said the last engagement the state government had with Oyo on security has been yielding positive results, hoping to do same with other boundary states like Ekiti State.