According to Sahara Reporters, the apex umbrella organization of cattle herders in Nigeria, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), has welcomed the creation of a Ministry of Livestock Development by President Tinubu, adding that it is committed to ensuring that livestock production would become a foreign exchange earner for the country.
The association also said that it is committed to reducing the farmers-herders conflicts and related security challenges across the country.
The President of the association, Alhaji Baba Usman Ngelzarma, stated this on Tuesday in his reaction to the announcement of the President’s approval of the creation of the ministry.
In a statement sent to Sahara Reporters on Tuesday, Ngelzarma expressed a heartfelt appreciation to the federal government for creating the ministry, which he said would unlock the multi-trillion naira livestock economy and create qualitative and productive jobs across the value chain to improve the Nigerian economy.
According to him, MACBAN believes that with the development, the hope of Nigerian pastoralists has been achieved under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
The Miyetti Allah’s leader said in part:
“The promise made by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to raise the productive capacity of Nigerian agriculture to ensure food security is being fulfilled.
“We as an association had for years been agitating tooth and nail to actualize the creation of a stand-alone ministry to modernize livestock production system in line with global best practices.”
“The Nigerian pastoralists appreciate this historic development and will definitely reciprocate this great gesture.”
Interestingly, Ngelzarma had barely a week ago demanded the creation of a Federal Ministry for Livestock and Fisheries to harness the potential in the subsector.
He made that demand while vehemently rejecting a bill in the Senate proposing the establishment of a National Animal Husbandry and Ranches Commission for the Regulation, Management, Preservation, and Control of Ranches. According to him, the proposed bill was against the interests of the pastoralists and only offered just one solution to the problem, insisting that a full-fledged livestock ministry would provide a holistic solution to the problem.
He, therefore, urged the President to implement the recommendations of the Livestock Reforms and Mitigation Committee for a lasting solution to the perennial farmers-herders conflicts across the nation….Discover _More
Leave a Reply