The Federal Government is stepping up efforts to end the country’s protracted farmer-herder problem, with President Bola Tinubu declaring that his administration will buy land for ranches and animal production.
Tinubu made the remarks at the Presidential Villa in Abuja during a meeting with participants of the National Conference on Livestock Reforms and heads of the country’s security services.
President Tinubu received the report of the National Conference on Livestock Reforms during the meeting, which urged for the establishment of a Ministry of Livestock to better implement their proposals.
“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.