Efforts by the Federal Government to end the protracted farmer-herder crisis in the country are being stepped up as President Bola Tinubu says his administration will acquire land for ranches and livestock production in the country.
Tinubu stated this at the Presidential Villa in Abuja during a meeting with members of the National Conference on Livestock Reforms as well as heads of security agencies in the country.
During the meeting, President Tinubu received the report of the National Conference on Livestock Reforms which called for the establishment of the Ministry of Livestock to better implement their recommendations.
“I will be talking to all the governors. The Federal Government will be ready to apply to acquire land for ranches and livestock development,” Tinubu told the gathering on Thursday.
According to the Nigerian leader, the herder-farmer clashes have persisted in the country due to leadership failure.
“It is not the fault of the herdsmen or farmers,” he said. “It is our fault – the leadership – for not finding solutions in the past to solve our problem.”
He believes the country has lost a lot due to the lingering conflict but maintains that would not be the case anymore.
After the meeting, the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje said the committee recommended the establishment of the Ministry of Livestock among others.
“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,” the former Kano State governor told reporters.
Thursday’s meeting comes years after the National Economic Council (NEC) approved the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP).
The 2019 move was aimed at bettering investment in the livestock sector and providing ranches while in the long run curbing the incessant conflicts between herders and farmers which have become more pronounced in Nigeria’s North-Central states.
