…says lands donated not for alleged RUGA project

By Gabriel Ewepu

THE National Agricultural Land Development Authority, NALDA, weekend, urged State Governments to key into projects.

This was stated by the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, NALDA, Prince Paul Ikonne, while assuring that lands donated to the agency is not converted to the alleged RUGA project.

Ikonne said communities in various States are already reaping benefits of the project, and added that if other States which are yet to come on board do same will benefit immensely also from what NALDA is doing, because the agency has a mandate to create jobs and empower young people across States including boosting food security, and not to takeover lands that belongs to States.   

However, he described statements, sentiments and insinuations by some groups over lands donated to RUGA as misleading and unfortunate, because the NALDA project is far different from that of RUGA they are alleging.

According to him, what should really interest Nigerians and Nigeria as a country is availability of food and achieving food security.

 He said: “The issue of taking land from people and using it for RUGA is totally misleading, and is not what we should dwell on now.

“What we should focus on is how do we achieve food security because everybody needs food to survive, whether oppositions or no opposition, religion or no religion, tribe or no tribe everybody needs foods.

“And this is the reason why NALDA is advocating and reaching out to communities and villages to make their land available for development n order for Nigeria to achieve food security.”

It will be recalled that the Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, which had in a statement by its spokesman, Jare Ajayi, said that the federal government was attempting to bring back the rejected cattle colony and Ruga through the establishment of the farm estates.