The Northern Governors Forum on Monday in Kaduna called on the Federal Government to implement the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) to enable Nigeria transit from open grazing to ranching.
The Northern States Governors forum meeting which had northern states emirs and chiefs in attendance agreed that NLTP will help northern states to end open grazing in the region.
“The Forum also call the Federal Government to expedite action on the well establish National Livestock Transformation Programme as a spring board in transiting from the open grazing system as widely practice in the North,” Governor Simon Lalong, chairman, Northern States Governors’ Forum said in a communiqué.
Chronicle NG reports that the NLTP is a programme conceived by the National Economic Council under the chairmanship of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
According to Prof. Osinbajo, when cattle is sedentary, it will improve the productivity of the cattle. Our beef cattle Sokoto Gudali adds 0.5 Kg per day while the Brahma in Brazil which is bred in a ranch adds 2.5kg per day. Our dairy cows produce 1 litre per day, whereas in other parts of Africa, there is production of almost 15 – 20 litres per day.
He explained that the FG cannot dictate to any state on Land Use Act. “This is so because the Land Use Act of 1978 puts land under the control of Governors on behalf of their States,” he said.
He added that, “No one is giving land to anyone, as is being falsely alleged. Instead, it is our view that States that are willing and which have set aside land for development should cooperate with willing investors in commercially viable, government-supported ranches or livestock production centres for commercial use.”
