N’Assembly asks livestock minister to end farmers, herders crisis

Members of the Joint Senate and House Committee on Livestock Development have urged the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Muktar, to leverage his new ministry to address the perennial problem of farmers/herders crisis in the country.

The lawmakers told the minister that Nigerians were looking up to the ministry to develop the livestock sector in a way that would address crises between farmers and herders which had led to loss of lives and destruction of property.

They made the call on Tuesday when the minister appeared before the joint committee to defend the ministry’s budget for 2025.

A member of the committee and former governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, stressed the need for an urgent need for the ministry to embark on intensive sensitisation and advocacy campaigns on the issues of ranching to change the wrong mindsets of Nigerians, adding, there are a lot of misconceptions about ranching.

Senator Abdul Ningi while speaking on the strategic importance of the ministry, urged the minister to harness the potential of the livestock sector for the development of the country.

Chairman of the joint committee, Senator Musa Mustapha, in his remarks, said there was a need for the new ministry to focus on addressing issues of value chain development, infrastructure, climate change issues, and women and youth empowerment.

On his part, the co-chair of the joint committee, Wale Raji, emphasised the need for adequate funding for the ministry to enable it to carry out its mandate in line with the aspiration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Agenda for the sector.

He also stressed the need for more advocacy and sensitisation to enable Nigerians to understand that livestock development is beyond cattle rearing, saying, there are other aspects of livestock such as poultry, piggery, sheep, and goats production, among others.

Earlier, the minister in his presentation informed the committee that the ministry budgeted N10 billion for capital expenditures and N1.8 billion for overheads.

He said the capital expenditures spread across the six geopolitical zones of the country are aimed at providing critical infrastructures for the development of the sector.