The Chairman,
Senate Committee on Agriculture, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, has asked the Federal
Government to go ahead with its plan to recover the old cattle grazing routes
because herdsmen activities affect every part of the country.
Adamu, who
also served as a two-time governor of Nasarawa State, disagreed with those who
argued that the Federal Government should not dabble into grazing issues
because it had no constitutional powers to do so.
The Senator,
who spoke with our correspondent in Abuja, said herdsmen needed the cattle
routes because of the challenges they usually faced when they wanted to adopt
other forms of transportation.
He said the
Federal Government should attend to the welfare of herdsmen just as it was
providing basic amenities for others involved in private businesses across the
country.
He said,
“People who venture, in the face of security challenges, to take their cattle
by road, get to some of the southern states, and at a roadblock, they were
stopped and the vehicle burnt with the cattle.
“Now, what
are we telling ourselves? Is the hatred that far? Is the innocent businessman
or woman who takes cows to the South guilty of the facilities that they should
get and they don’t have?
“Spare part
dealers in Abuja markets and other places have got facilities provided by the
government, like clinics, tarred roads, electricity, water, and so on.
“What has the
herdsman who rears cattle done? How is he benefiting from the government? He’s
Nigerian and entitled to all the benefits the government provides. What is he
getting?
“People argue
that cattle rearing is a private business. Is auto spare parts or banking not
private business? Why are they relying on the government?
“We are
dishonest; hatred and prejudices are killing genuinely positive initiatives. We
should check this because we are destroying the basis of our togetherness.
“More cows
are eaten in the South than North. These herds of cattle do not drop from
heaven. They are reared by people and moved by road, because we don’t have a
modern means of moving cattle.
“In the
north, I don’t know of five farms that have got the kind of modern facilities
for moving cattle, where they will feed, drink, and have veterinary attendants.
“I don’t know
about veterinary clinics along the routes like we used to have. So, if you
don’t want routes, how do you want herdsmen to convey the cattle?
“(The
President, Major General Muhamnadu Buhari, retd.) didn’t create that problem,
and he cannot singlehandedly create all the routes, facilities and make them
available to the farmers.”
Source: punchng.com
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