Ngelzarma said the rest of the country perceives Miyetti Allah members as criminals who enjoy support from the Buhari administration.
By Jeffrey Agbo
National President of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Baba-Othman Ngelzarma, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of abandoning herders after the 2019 general elections.
Ngelzarma told journalists over the weekend that despite the group endorsing Buhari openly in the build-up to the 2019 polls the Federal Government has neglected livestock production since then.
The Miyetti Allah leader said, “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.
“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 was done for pastoralists. While over N500 billion was spent on agronomy, nothing was spent on livestock, almost nothing.
“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.”
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Ngelzarma, who was recently elected president, regretted that while the rest of the country perceives Miyetti Allah members as criminals who enjoy support from the Buhari administration, the herders have actually been at the receiving end of extortion, kidnapping, farmer-herder conflict, cattle rustling and banditry.
The Miyetti Allah leader explained that 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. 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,” he said.
The MACBAN president added that pastoralists are not embracing ranching because it is alien to them. He added that the lack of formal education makes the matter worse.