While speaking to State House correspondents at the end of the
National Economic Council (NEC) meeting held at the Presidential Villa
in Abuja on Thursday, Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, said that
the Council, has agreed to stop the movement of herdsmen in the country,
starting with Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Kaduna and Plateau.....
According to the governor, at a meeting presided over by
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday, the council approved the
creation of ranches across the country, adding that the five mainly
affected states which have witnessed killings from the herdsmen/farmers
clashes were expected to make land available for ranches.
He said: “Today we looked at three categories of herdsmen in
Nigeria. We looked at the foreign herdsmen that come in due to the
treaty and we continue to say that the treaty is not being properly
implemented.
“For any herdsman to come into Nigeria from outside, there
should be a kind of certification, there must be a letter, even though
you are not coming in with a Visa, you have to travel with ECOWAS
documentation.
“Animals that are coming into the country are required to be
quarantined, but this is not being done. This is one category. Secondly,
we have the nomadic herdsmen, who during the dry season, travel from up
North to the Middle Belt down to the South. This creates conflicts .
"Also foreign herdsmen coming all through the way from
neighboring countries and traveling through the farm lands also cause
conflicts.
“Then of course, we have the migrant herdsmen who migrate for a
very long time and settle with the villagers and even inter marry with
them. These are the three categories we have in Nigeria.
“We agreed that movement is not profitable to the herdsmen
because they value the milk from the cows even more than the cows
themselves. So, the movement is not healthy for the cows as it dries up
the meat and give less than two liters of milk per cow per day.
“We condemn the issues of foreign invasion by foreign herdsmen
and l am happy that the Federal Government is doing something about it.
“Today, there was a meeting of ECOWAS countries on the subject
and we also agreed that these movements have to stop and occasionally by
those who have settled and integrated from other parts of the country
like the middle belt, they sometimes go into conflicts with farmers.
“In all we agreed that there is a more profitable and modern way of raising these cows which is by ranching.
“We have agreed that the states involved are going to give
lands. Niger and Kaduna have given lands and Plateau is also giving
land. Ranching is being practiced in Mambila, Taraba States and they
have success stories with regards to that.
“We also agreed that through the Agric Ministry, we need to
introduce new species of cows. The Minister told us that there are new
species that produce as much as 60 liters of milk per day.
“So, we have agreed that we are going to work on these new species, while also working with our ranching.”
"We also agreed that livestock production in Nigeria has not
been taken care of. As we are taking care of the farmers by way of the
Anchor borrowers scheme, of course, the farmers cry of the high interest
rate on the Anchor borrower scheme.
“The rate of interest should be between 2 and 5%, so, we should
extend those gestures to the herdsmen. And it was discovered that most
of these cows are not being herded by their owners.
“Big men buy these cattle and give them out to the herders. The
children of the herders have nothing to inherit. They therefore, go
into cattle rustling and other forms of criminality.
“Through this policy and intervention in the livestock
production, it will be possible for the herdsmen to own their own
livestock and have something for the future. We also agreed that there
is need for good lives for the herdsmen. Through these policies their
children will be able to go to school."
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