The Federal Government is intensifying efforts to resolve the longstanding farmer-herder crisis, with President Bola Tinubu announcing plans to secure land for ranches and livestock production.
This announcement came on Thursday during a meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, where President Tinubu met with members of the National Conference on Livestock Reforms and heads of security agencies.
During the gathering, President Tinubu received the report from the National Conference on Livestock Reforms, which advocated for the creation of a Ministry of Livestock to enhance the implementation of 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 said.
The President attributed the ongoing herder-farmer conflicts in the nation to a failure of leadership.
“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.”
In his assessment, he contends that the nation has suffered considerable losses as a result of the enduring conflict. However, he remains optimistic that this situation will no longer persist.
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Following the conclusion of the meeting, Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), announced that the committee has put forth recommendations, including the creation of the Ministry of Livestock, among other proposals.
“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.
The meeting held on Thursday marked a significant development, occurring several years after the National Economic Council (NEC) gave its approval to the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP).
This move, initiated in 2019, was designed to enhance investments in the livestock sector, facilitate the establishment of ranches, and ultimately address the persistent conflicts between herders and farmers, particularly prominent in Nigeria’s North-Central states.
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