The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has rejected a bill seeking to establish a national agency for the regulation and management of ranches in Nigeria.
The President of MACBAN, Alhaji Baba Usman Ngelzarma, voiced the organization’s opposition to the bill at the weekend.
According to him, the pastoralists were expecting the federal government to create a full-blown Federal Ministry for Livestock and Fisheries instead of establishing a National Animal Husbandry and Ranches Commission as proposed by the bill.
A bill for an act to ban open grazing and establish ranches as a panacea to the perennial farmers-herders conflicts scaled second reading in the Senate.
This was despite the heated debate generated by the bill. The debate pitched senators from northern part of the country against their counterparts from the South.
But while he spoke in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, during an interview with newsmen shortly after the inauguration of the state Executive Council of the Association, Ngelzarma said creating the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries would address the issues in the entire livestock value chain holistically rather that what the National Assembly is currently doing.
According to him, ‘‘Ranching is just an aspect of livestock instead of going for ranching why can’t the president create a full-blown ministry for livestock so that all the value chain related to livestock issues can be addressed holistically by that ministry?
‘‘Issues of production, processing, marketing, transportation even security related issues can be addressed if there is a ministry dedicated for that purpose.’’
Ngelzarma called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to implement the recommendations of the Attahiru Jega-led Livestock Reforms and Mitigation Committee, which was set up to find a lasting solution to farmers-herders conflicts in rural areas.
According to him, the major recommendation of that report is the creation of a Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries.
