By James Orji
The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, MACBAN has warned that the price of cow could go as high as N2 million in Lagos state if the state government passed the anti-grazing bill into law.
The bill to outlaw open grazing of cow, on Monday, passed Second Reading in the state House of Assembly, and will most likely be signed into law by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in line with the agreement reached by 18 Southern Governors, in Asaba, Delta state in July this year.
But the umbrella body of cattle breeders warn of imminent dangers if the bill is eventually passed by the state’s assembly.
The Zonal Secretary of the group in the South West, Maikudi Usman disclosed this during a one-day public hearing organised by the Assembly on the issue.
The Assembly is conducting a Public Hearing on the bill titled “A bill for a law to Prohibit Open Cattle Grazing In Lagos State, the Trespass of Cattle Land And For Other Connected Purposes”.
A section of the bill gives the state government the power to apprehend cows that violate the law, and auction same within a specified period, in case the owners failed to claim they back.
The group had earlier appealed to the state government to give the breeders enough time to train its members on how to comply with the proposed law, adding that herders were already used to moving cattle around for grazing.
He explained that it will also be more costly to breed cattle in ranches, adding that the cost of a cow could rise as a much as N2 million.
He also pleaded with the government to subsidise the cost of raising the cattle in one location.
Usman said “If cattle are bred in one place, the price could go up to about N2 million each. We agreed with some local chiefs in other states that anyone who wants to rear cows in a location should register and should indicate when he is leaving.
“A Fulani man moves from one place to another to ply his trade, but we have some bad eggs that are causing trouble. The government should allow us to talk to our people that they don’t want our cows to destroy people’s farmland.
“We have met with stakeholders in Ekiti, Ondo and even Oyo states and we reached agreements with them,” Usman was quoted as saying this in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the House, Mr Eromosele Ebhomele.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Lagos State Butchers Association of Lagos State, Alhaji Alabi Bamidele Kazeem, has pleaded with the state government not to pass the law, because of the expensive nature of rearing cattle in one location.
