KACRAN urges Tinubu to end exclusion of Pastoralists in Govt’s policies, programmes
From Habibu Idris Gimba, Damaturu
The Kulen Allah Cattle Rearers Association of Nigeria has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to end the exclusion of Pastoralists in government’s policies and programmes in the country.
The National President of the Association, Hon Khalil Mohammed Bello, made this call in a statement made available to newsmen in Damaturu, the state capital of Yobe.
According to him, the association is begging the president to end the exclusion of pastoralists in the Government’s policies and programmes, by making adequate budgetary provision in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Directorate of Animal Husbandry Services and Rural Development FCT which is aimed at developing livestock in Nigeria.
Bello disclosed that majority of Nigerians believed that a genuine Democrat, came with strong visions and mission to free Nigerians from the foreign and internal avoidable debts and bringing to an end the people’s suffering within the most shortage period of time.
The statement partly read, ‘‘We want to remind the members of the said committees to note that pastoralists are the most negatively affected by the hardship/difficulties faced by Nigerians due to the total removal of oil subsidy because, our people are mostly residing in the bushes and remote areas who on daily basis have go to various markets to buy their daily needs which rendered them to be the most vulnerable as per as paying high cost of transportation is concern to please holistically capture herders in their expected novel submission to our beloved/action President.
‘‘Therefore we ardently and respectfully call on our beloved and highly respected President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to please make strong provision/arrangement through the Directorate of Animal Husbandry Services of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to be distributed monthly or quarterly by the said Directorate as palliative to Nigeria’s Herders. Because, this is the only way the nation’s Pastoralists will be amongst the beneficiaries of President Tinubu’s good administration’s gestures.”
The National President lamented that, the former Senate President Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan who even promised to lead a struggle will provide justice and fairness to Nigeria’s Herders whom he admitted that, they had been totally ignored by the previous Governments.
He added that even the former ministers of Agriculture and rural development, Mr Audu Ogbe, and Dr Muhammad Mahmoud Abubakar, have disclosed that the Nigeria’s pastoralists and pastoralism in general is not receiving much desired Governments’ attention, which he described as very unfortunate but must be addressed.
KACRAN noticed sorrowfully that, the major reason for the exclusion of Pastoralists in government’s policies and programmes has to do with the fact that, Government’s attention is always on the execution of elephant projects such as constructions of roads, bridges, offices, houses, solar energy, development of arable farming etc which has nothing to do with genuine livestock development which is the bed rock for the provision of nutritional food and additional income to the country.
The most painful of all is till now, even though both the Federal executive and the legislative arms of government agreed on the marginalisation of livestock sector as evidently heard from the former Senate President and former Ministers of Agriculture and Rural Development but yet no concrete stand or measure is being taken to address the anomaly.
