President Bola Tinubu has stated that his administration’s renewed focus on driving international and local investments into the livestock sector of the agricultural value chain will end the recurring crisis of farmer-herder clashes, eradicate hunger and poverty in Nigeria as well as promote economic prosperity.
Tinubu made this assertion on Thursday, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during the signing of a Letter of Intent between the Nigerian government and JBS S.A., one of the world’s largest meat processing companies.
Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, relayed Tinubu’s remarks in an official statement.
“What we are doing right now is that we are solving a problem that afflicted humanity in that part of Africa, clashes between farmers and migrating cows that have caused some life and bloodshed when there is a modern, civilized way to solve those problems and even bring a successful economy out of it,” Tinubu said.
“We are trying to turn a situation of tragedy, hopelessness into economic opportunity, see through problems and see the opportunity that is involved in it.”
The Nigerian leader called on the company to see the considerable potential in what he called the $2.5billion livestock investment opportunities in Nigeria, especially with its huge population, and tap into it, given JBS S.A’s globally recognized expertise in the area of guaranteeing food security.
“We’ve heard so much about you in terms of the reputation, and we believe in the partnership we are forging today,” Tinubu said.
“Food security is extremely important. As we talk right now, there is hunger. However, there is huge hope. And you are one of those hopes that we are looking at.”
Tinubu told the JBS top executives that Nigeria is ready to do business with them, assuring them of a good return on their investment.
Prior to his visit to Brazil, the President had commissioned a team of Nigerian officials and private sector players to take advantage of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio to conduct a study tour of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and explore the opportunities in livestock development, meat processing, seed development and multiplication for key grains.
In his remarks, the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Muhktar Mahia, who led the delegation, reported to President Tinubu that the team embarked on guided, extended, and intensive tours of companies on the scale of their global reach, the integrated nature of their operations as well as the deployment of advanced technology.
According to Mahia, JBS S.A. was chosen to be the second largest meat processing company in the world with the capacity to process 33,000 cattle daily and over eight million birds daily, using advanced zero-waste practices.
The company employs over 200,000 people across its subsidiaries in more than 50 countries in the world including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia among others.
Wesley Batista, founder and President of the JBS group, said the company is the largest employer of labour in Brazil with over $79 billion in revenue already in the year 2024.
“We are glad to work with Nigeria to work together to develop the livestock industry there. We think it’s a good opportunity for our business in Nigeria and Africa as we believe Nigeria can be the center of supply of protein to many countries in Africa. We look forward to working with you. We are almost in December and this year is almost gone. We hope to be in Nigeria as soon as possible,” the founder and Chief Executive said.
Other members of the delegation included Minister of State Agriculture and Food Security Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, Co-chairman Presidential Livestock Reform Committee, Professor Attahiru Jega, the Secretary of the Committee, Professor Mohammed Kuta Yahya, and the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Investment Promotion Council, Aisha Rimi.
