National president of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Baba Ngelzarma, has said that despite supporting President Muhammadu Buhari’s reelection bid in 2019, he neglected herders.
Ngelzarma, former secretary of the association who was recently elected president, stated this on Saturday in a chat with journalists in Abuja.
The president said while huge sums of money have been voted for the development of agriculture in the country, little or nothing has been earmarked for animal husbandry.
“On the eve of the last election that brought in Buhari for the second term, we endorsed him. We showed the world that we are with him but thereafter, up till now as I speak to you, nothing has been done,” he said.
“Buhari has abandoned the pastoralists. This is very clear, whether Buhari or his lieutenants, the pastoralists have been abandoned by the government. In the last eight years, nothing tangible… while over N500 billion was spent on agronomy, nothing was spent on livestock, almost nothing.
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“Go and check all the state government’s budgetary provisions including the federal government’s budgetary provisions. If you see what is budgeted for livestock, you will be surprised.
“Livestock is being neglected completely.”
Ngelzarma said though MACBAN is happy about the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP), it would do little or nothing to address the problems of pastoralists.
“Only recently the Buhari administration started implementing the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) where some states have accessed the N3 billion, N6 billion funding,” he said.
“Some states started it, the one in Yola has started but we see it as a project that cannot solve the problem.
“How do you think a livestock centre that can accommodate not more than 20,000 cows can solve the problem of the cows in Adamawa that are over two million? But as a model, it is okay, we appreciate it. At least the pastoralists will see how to modernise animal husbandry.”
