The Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, has said the Tinubu administration never considered cattle colonies or RUGA, dismissing concerns that the government’s livestock development plan is a return of the controversial policy. He insists the initiative is a partnership involving the federal, state and private sectors.
Recall that the Federal Government recently announced six states for the pilot phase of its livestock ranching programme, beginning with the Wase Grazing Reserve in Plateau State.
The move has drawn opposition from the Middle Belt Forum and the Council of Elders, who have raised concerns over land allocation and the possibility of permanent pastoralist settlements.
Minister Maiha, while speaking with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, said the Federal Government has no plans to establish cattle colonies or revive the RUGA policy, stressing that each state has the constitutional latitude to determine the livestock development model best suited to its needs.
“This regime under the present administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu never thought of—never, ever thought about—cattle colonies or RUGA. A Livestock Development Center is a framework for a disciplined partnership between federal, state, and private sectors. In that framework, at no point is the Federal Government going to impose any value chain or solution on a state, simply because of two reasons:
“This is a federated country. Therefore, each state will have the latitude, constitutionally provided, to choose what it wants to do. Remember, the Federal Government has no land or animal resources under its own custody. The land and animal resources all belong to the states and local governments,” he assured.
Minister Maiha also addressed the position of the Plateau State Governor, insisting that the governor had not rejected the programme but had instead pointed to a misconception about what livestock development entails, particularly the perception that it is solely focused on cattle.
“He has not rejected it. He said exactly what I’ve said. Here, he said there is a misassumption of what livestock is all about.”
He also clarified that the Livestock Development Programme goes beyond cattle, noting that states can focus on farmable animals that are naturally suited to their environments and can be produced competitively.
According to Maiha, the diversity of Nigeria’s ecological zones means that states can develop livestock species best suited to their respective environments, rather than adopting a uniform model across the country.
“Most people think livestock is cattle. They are the biggest, largest, and most visible. But all farmable animals belong to the livestock sector.
“Each state in this country is endowed with one species of animal or the other, and it can do very well there. It can competitively be produced,” he explained.
Highlighting the major reason Benue State was selected, Maiha said the state was among the six states with the highest number of security incidents recorded across the country, stressing that the ministry was created to mitigate farmer-herder community clashes and other security issues marginally related to livestock.
“Number one, we made a query of all the security incidents in this country, and these six states came up top. This ministry was created to mitigate farmer-herder community clashes and certain security issues that are marginally related to livestock.”
Continuing, he said: “Remember, in all those states, there’s only one state that has an Anti-Open Grazing Law, and it came as a result of those security incidents. This is written; this is contemporary; this is on record. However, regarding what ranching is talking about: we are just helping that state to implement that law, because the law has banned open grazing and prefers ranching. What is the contradiction there? If it prefers ranching, then we are one on that.
“The issue again is not about land grabbing. What we are saying here is that the National Livestock Development Policy is talking about state governments holding stakeholder engagement with the communities and deciding on the basis of what the local community wants, driven by: availability of water, availability of feed type, availability of market access, adaptability of the animal species that they want to run with.
“Therefore, the state government is going to choose what value chain they want. Then the Federal Government, under the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, will come with national policies, standards, regulation, facilitation, food safety, etc. Then federal, state, and private sector people will now do production.”
Addressing concerns over public acceptance of the ranching initiative, Maiha said the government is not asking anyone to “dance to its tune,” but is instead presenting business models designed to attract private-sector investment, improve livestock productivity and strengthen food security.
“I have not called on anybody to dance to anything; we are selling business models. These animals need to be confined, sedentarized. They need land to be sedentary. We need breed improvement, which can only happen when these animals are in confined spaces. We need disease and health management to improve the survivability and productivity of the animals.
“The only way to do it is to invite the private sector to work with us in partnership with the state government to get land and establish ranches. Today, we are talking with a large number of people, locals and foreigners, who are interested. I have written to a number of state governments today to make land available for these people, even if state governments come in as equity. That’s what we’re talking about. The states will decide what they want to do, so we are not going to impose anything on anybody,” he maintained.
He added that the initiative is also aimed at creating jobs, strengthening food and nutrition security, and driving rural development by encouraging private-sector investment in livestock production and processing.
“We are going to work with all three tiers of government to make sure that we solve this problem and create jobs, food and nutrition security, rural development, and rural prosperity for everybody. The whole idea today is that livestock should be seen as an economic unit. I know that there are emotions, which is unfortunate, but that’s why we’re trying to clear these misperceptions. We can look at it as an economic model where people can invest money. Remember, we are talking about livestock—these are biological assets. They are biological assets moving. We want to confine them, improve on their productivity, and then bring them up to an industrial level.
“This is the business model we are selling, and it doesn’t matter where these animals come from. What we want is cold chain, certified meat for public consumption, and things that can create jobs. This is the paradigm shift we are bringing to the ministry,” he concluded.
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