The establishment of the new Ministry of Livestock Development, according to CP Lorbee High (rtd), President General of the sociocultural group Mzough U Tiv (MUT) in Benue State, is inappropriate and uncalled for.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
According to the report by The Sun Newspaper on Saturday, Lord High accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of trying to empower the herders and their cows, rather than addressing the root cause of the herders-farmers conflicts.
He said that when President Tinubu came into office, he expected him to send the Fulanis people from other countries back to their countries of origin, so that the IDPs would return to their ancestral homes and resume farming.
His comments came after President Tinubu proposed the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development a few days ago. The federal government had said that the new ministry is aimed at resolving the herders-farmers conflict which has claimed the lives of many citizens in the past years.
Lorbee High said, “I expected Tinubu, as soon as he came in, to send these Fulanis that came from Niger and Chad back to their countries, so that IDPs can go back to their ancestral homes to continue farming.”
On the other hand, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, spokesperson for the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), has welcomed the ministry, but advocated for a National Policy on Grazing and Livestock Development (NPGLD) to cater to all pastoral communities.
He suggested identifying suitable lands for grazing reserves and cattle routes, expropriating land if necessary, and setting up a National Pastoralist Commission (NPC) to address the needs of livestock rearers.
Suleiman also called for special initiatives to support pastoral communities, similar to those established for southern communities, such as the Amnesty Programme and Ministry of Niger Delta.
He proposed a Special Intervention Initiative through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and relevant ministries to support livestock development policies and establish special funds for pastoral communities.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
