President Bola Tinubu, on Saturday, met Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State and the Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, Governor Alia said he came to brief the President on the state of affairs in the state.
Alia said the meeting with the president focused on the return of peace in Benue and the return of the internally displaced persons to their ancestral lands.
He said: “Since our assumption, we have tried to be proactive in ensuring security in the state. In collaboration with security agencies, we identified potential troublemakers.
“We know there are those who benefit from trouble and won’t allow peace in the land. But we came in peace and that is why the state is currently enjoying relative peace.”
On ranching, the governor said that the state was being innovative about it because of its peculiarity as the food basket of the country.
Alia said that even without the ranches, the state would develop a system to provide fodders for the cattle.
He said: “As an agriculturally wealthy state, our idea is to take care of both the farmers and herders. The main reason for ranching is to give herds a conducive environment to flourish to their best potential.
“The farmers will provide bounteous and nutritious fodder for the herds of cattle as well as make some revenue for themselves. So, you see, the idea of ranching will be a win-win situation for us in the state.”
On his part, the Sports Minister said the visit, which was a maiden one, was to update the President on activities at the ministry.
Enoh said he had initiated a number of innovative ideas to move sports development forward in the country.
He said: “I have to state that we must move forward in sports development through the active participation of the private sector. That’s the practice worldwide, and Nigeria must key into this.
“I intend to get approval for the offer of different types of incentives for any private sector player that adopts any sport in the country, especially those in the grassroots.
“Similarly, we are engaged in a campaign for the AFCON championship for Nigerians to support the athletes to victory. It is called the ‘Let’s do it again’ campaign.”
The sports minister said he had no intention of tampering with the technical crew of the Super Eagle at the moment.
He said the ministry would adopt a strategy of identifying a peculiar sport in a state of zone where people have great talents.
“If we identify such sport, we shall promote it to the national and international stage,” he said.
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