President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has taken a bold step in solving the perennial farmers and herders clashes following the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development.
The president created the new ministry on Tuesday during the inauguration of the Renewed Hope livestock Reform Implementation Committee established to address the issue of farmers-herders crisis.
Constant clashes between farmers and cattle herders have lingered for too long with many Nigerians demanding solutions from the government.
While some Nigerians welcome the development, others insist that the president has finally succumbed to pressure from mostly Fulani herdsmen for a ministry to be created for them to take care of their business.
President had Tinubu in September, 2023, approved the establishment of the Presidential Committee dedicated to the reform of the livestock industry and the provision of long-term solutions to recurring clashes between herders and farmers in the country.
This followed the submission of a report from the National Conference on Livestock Reforms and Mitigation of Associated Conflicts in Nigeria.
Also, the president of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, Usman Ngelzarma had last month appealed to Tinubu to create the livestock ministry.
Ngelzarma said,‘‘The entire livestock value chain issues can be addressed holistically rather than what is going on now at the National Assembly, working to create a bill for Animal Husbandry or Ranching. Ranching is just an aspect of livestock instead of going for ranching why can’t the president create a pool-blown ministry for livestock so that all the value chain related to livestock issues can be addressed holistically by that ministry?
Analysts insist that Tinubu has taken one of the critical steps to addressing the problem by creating the new ministry.
