Tuesday Live: Cattle rearing, crop production not govt business
Chima Azubuike, Gombe
Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Yahaya, on Tuesday, said government across all divides should as a matter of urgency treat cattle rearing, and indeed agriculture as business.
Yahaya made this disclosure on NTA flagship programme Tuesday Live, while analysing the topic: perspective on reviving grazing and forest reserves, monitored by our correspondent.
He said the responsibility of government is to protect lives and property, adding that failure to ensure this portends negligence.
Yahaya said, “Cattle rearing livestock production and infact agriculture because it dovetails to something that is agricultural and they go together is not government business.
“The essence of government is to provide security for lives and property, provide services to humanity that’s all and if you fail in doing that it means government is not doing it responsibility, is not executing it responsibility properly.
“What is the essence of government putting money for example to educate people without education you can’t go nowhere and if you don’t educate people it means you can not advance. Education serves the individual more than collectively so if you support people to go to school and you don’t support people to go to businesses how will you now engage them.
“How can you provide food security because you can’t live without food and if you don’t provide the food by providing that support for either crop producers or livestock producers then how can you guarantee your own food security as a Nation. Without food security where will the country be ?
“So, I don’t believe anybody that thinks along that line is doing the correct thing. I will rather suggest that government gets more focus, put in more resource and support these people as a business because the struggle we are in now is for us to provide means of livelihood to the people so that they can have sustainable life independent of the Government.”
Yahaya said food security would be achieved, when Agricultural activities are well harnessed.
“That is business and if we are able to achieve that we would have done alot we can not expect that people would have the capacity to organise themselves especially as they are capital intensive that focuses on modernization; culturally, traditionally and the socio-economic activities of the people without the proper means of livelihood.
“I don’t think things can work well without that it would mean government is not even discharging it responsibility for me I think it is very very key government to get more focused trying to sort out so that our people will sustain their lives and there would be food security and we can guarantee that there will be people and happiness in the country,” Yahaya added.
On wawa-zange grazing reserve which is said to be the pilot programme of Federal Government National Livestock Transformation Plan and the biggest in Nigeria, Yahaya said the state has over 58 others and 30 forest reserves.
He said, “The Wawa-zange grazing reserve we have talked about is gazetted and as at today Gombe has 58 grazing reserves and forest reserves. Majority have been bastardized because of the encroachment.
“Now it will mean for you to sort it out you need to do a thorough analyses to know where to site what at what point, once you do that the rest of the things will follow. If you don’t allow anybody else that doesn’t have business to do with animal husbandry in an area left for grazing you will not have an problem again.
“You could support people that wants to set up an abattoir, instead of taking the animals life to where they would have been consumed, you can cut and process and take them processed to the places they are going to be consumed. The first grazing reserve was established as far back as 1927.”
