FRIDAY April 25, 2025 |
By thenewsdesk.ng
The National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday, April 24, 2025, deferred discussions on the proposed establishment of state police due to time constraints during its extended meeting at the Council Chambers of the State House, Abuja, TheNATION reports.
The council, which held a minute of silence to honour victims of recent violent attacks in Plateau and Benue states, emphasized the growing urgency of addressing the state police initiative amid escalating security concerns nationwide.
It would be recalled that the last update on the proposal came during the December NEC meeting, when it was announced that all states had expressed support for the idea.
Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri confirmed that the matter was on Thursday’s agenda but could not be discussed due to the limited time available.
“State police was part of our agenda today, but unfortunately, because of time demands… the presentations took a long time. We were unable to get to that bit of it. I can assure you that in our next meeting, that issue will be exhaustively discussed”, Governor Diri told reporters during the post-NEC media briefing.
Governor Diri, alongside his counterparts—Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, Hope Uzodinma of Imo, Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti—and the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, briefed the press under the coordination of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha.
The briefing shifted focus to other agenda items tackled during the meeting, particularly in the agriculture sector.
Governor Abdullahi Sule addressed lingering concerns surrounding the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP), a key initiative aimed at curbing farmer-herder conflicts through modern ranching systems.
Sule, whose state hosted the most successful pilot of the NLTP, explained that the programme encountered significant setbacks related to funding, which prevented its broader implementation across the federation.
“Perhaps you will realize that NLTP was actually a programme owned by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the government of the Netherlands. Unfortunately, the NLTP had some challenges at take-off, especially in terms of funding between the government of Netherlands and the Ministry of Agriculture. That issue lingered into the 2023 elections and affected its expansion”, Sule explained.
He added that a new initiative under the current Minister of Livestock Development is being introduced to address some of the earlier hurdles.
“I’m happy to tell you that the ministers were informed about this. It didn’t go down as a waste. Many of the trainees have transitioned into other programmes like the RUGA projects and are now training others”, he explained.
Sule also clarified reports of land encroachment at the pilot ranching site in Nasarawa, stating that locals were permitted to resume farming in the area temporarily to prevent the land from falling into disuse.
“It was not an encroachment in the strict sense. The land would become difficult to cultivate again if left idle, so the communities who used to farm there were allowed back for agricultural use”, he said.
Governor Diri also weighed in, emphasizing the importance of modern solutions to the longstanding farmer-herder conflicts.
“What the ministry equally presented today as a follow-up to the NLTP shows that the sector is being modernized. More importantly, emphasis is being placed on cattle ranching and peacebuilding. We believe that the ministry’s presentation on cattle ranching is a modern solution to these issues”, he said.
The Thursday NEC meeting, though unable to address all its planned items, served to reaffirm the Council’s commitment to tackling national security and food security concerns.
As anticipation builds for the next NEC session, all eyes will be on whether the long-awaited conversation around state police will finally take center stage.
