Farmer-herder crisis: Six states reject Federal govt’s livestock programme
- The National Livestock Transformation Programme is not acceptable to some states of the federation
- The states have stated categorically that they would not be part of the federal government's initiative
- The states are Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Oyo
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A report by The Punch indicates that six state governments, namely Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Oyo have said they will not donate any land to be used as grazing reserves for herdsmen under the National Livestock Transformation Programme.
The programme is an initiative of the federal government designed to run from 2019-2028 as part of its initiative in collaboration with state governments under the auspices of the National Economic Council.
Despite the rejection of the programme, 17 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory, as well as three southern states, namely Ekiti, Ondo, and Ebonyi, have signed up for the programme.
The six states stressed that any individual who wanted to go into ranching should rather look for land to buy.
Source: Facebook
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The Delta state government said that the state had moved past talks on grazing reserves for herdsmen, saying it would never be part of such a plan.
Also, the Anambra state government said it had no plans to create grazing reserves for herdsmen.
On its part, the Akwa Ibom state government said it was not creating grazing reserves for herders in the state.
The Cross River state government also said it did not have any immediate plans to create grazing reserves for herders in the state.
In Oyo state, the government also rejected the federal government’s NLTP programme.
In Edo, an official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the state viewed herding as any other animal husbandry business, and as such would not give any preferential treatment to herders.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria has given an update on its Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) which was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 17, 2015.
Giving a breakdown of the ABP score-card on Tuesday, March 2 in Kebbi state, CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele said to sustain income-generating activity for rural dwellers with significant potential for growth, the programme has so far had an impact on the creation of jobs, among others.
In a related development, the governor of Akwa Ibom, Mr Udom Emmanuel has signed an agreement for the citing of a multi-billion fertilizer plant in his state.
Governor Emmanuel was part of a Nigerian delegation led by the minister of state for petroleum resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, that visited Morocco to set out the next steps of the $1.4billion fertilizer production plant project launched in June 2018.
Jerrywright Ukwu is an Abuja-based senior political/defence correspondent at Legit.ng. He is a graduate of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos and the International Institute of Journalism in Abuja. He is also a member of the Nigeria Union of Journalists. He spends his leisure-time reading history books. He can be reached via email at jerrywright39@yahoo.com.
Source: Legit.ng
