President Bola Tinubu announced the creation of ministry of livestock development.
Tinubu made this announcement during the inauguration of the Renewed Hope Livestock Reform Implementation Committee, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.
This development is an attempt to curb the lingering hassle between farmer and herders in the country.
The committees is tasked with responsibility to create a solution focusing on addressing the incassants farmer-herders crash.
It can be recalled that President Tinubu, on September 15th, 2023, approved the formation of presidential committee to work towards the reform of the livestock and provide a lasting solution to the unceasing crisis between herders and farmers in the nation.
The chairman of All Progressives Congress and former Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, spoke to the newsmen after he led the committee to discuss with the President at the presidential Villa, Abuja.
This is inclusive in the 21 recommendations pointed out in a document that was submitted to President Tinubu to foster the Federal Government holistic action towards proffering solutions to the crisis among farmers and herders leading to lost lives.
“This agenda should include the establishment and resuscitation of grazing reserves as suggested by many experts and well-meaning Nigerians and other methods of land utilisation.
“Create the Ministry of Livestock Resources in line with practice in many other West African countries. In the alternative, Federal and State Governments should expand the scope of existing Departments of Livestock Production to address the broader needs of the industry,” it read.
Ganduje explained the the intricacies of the challenge at hand saying that the federal government’s approach must put into considerations four kinds of herders, pointing at those that settle at home, nomadic herdsmen traversing the country, the neighbouring West African countries and also those who have settled among certain ethnic tribes.
He also expressed worries on the sector’s poor productivity, pointing out that it has made Nigeria import-dependent, draining scarce foreign reserves for importing dairy, meat, and other livestock products.
Ganduje further stress that the conflicts result to killings of citizens and loss of livelihoods, and also affecting peaceful coexistence in the country.
10 months ago, Chairman of the APC helmsman explained that, “The Report grew out of the urgent need to reform and develop the livestock industry and to provide solutions to the age-long conflicts between herders and farmers in Nigeria.”
“But to find the solution to achieve the desired goals, you’ll need a strong institution.”
“We recommended the establishment of the Ministry of Livestock and subsequent agencies so that various aspects of the recommendations will have appropriate institutions for implementation,”
He said that the committee among other recommendations, recommended sources of funding, including inflows from international organisations, the private sector, and the government.
Present at the Inauguration were the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator George Akume, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila amongst cabinet members.
Leave a Reply