The federal government has settled for the choice Adamawa, Plateau and Nasarawa states for the pilot scheme of its National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) designed to address the lingering crises between farmers and herdsmen in some parts of the country.
This was disclosed by the chairman of National Economic Council (NEC) Sub-Committee and governor of Ebonyi state Mr Dave Umahi after a meeting at the State House in Abuja presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
The National Economic Council had in September 2019 proposed a N100 billion budget for the implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan.
Under the arrangement, the federal government would bear 80 percent of the N100 billion while participating states would support with the balance of N20 billion and land for the programme.
The governor said the choice of participation is in the hands of state governments, stressing that the federal government would be responsible for the development of the sites in the states that agree to it.
“We are getting there. We have penciled down three states that we have evaluated: Adamawa, Plateau and Nassarawa. We are going ahead to ask them to submit their programmes and costing for implementation.
“The expectation is that we have clear mandates. One is that this programme is going to resolve to a very large extent the farmers-herders conflict. If we revive some of the grazing reserves, especially in the north, for willing states, we are going to see this conflict come down. Then, also a modern way of cow rearing for greater benefits. These are things we expect to see.
“We have spoken to people in the grazing reserves, spoken to the traditional rulers, the district heads and the population within that location and they are willing to go with the programme: the NLTP.
“In this programme, you are going to have some farmers that are within the grazing reserves doing their farming and the herders also doing theirs. Of course there is going to be a demarcation.
“The emphasis still remains that it is the willing states. Even if you have grazing reserves like some states in the north and the state is not willing to key into it, it is not compulsory,” he said.
The governor also spoke Ebonyi state’s investment in rice production and the criticism that has trailed the quality of locally produced rice in the country, saying Nigeria had become better economically since the President Muhammadu Bihari administration had decided to focus on it.
