Olusegun Mimiko, a frontline presidential contender in Nigeria, has said that creating cattle ranches in the country doesn’t have to cause violence.
The presidential candidate of Zenith Labour Party, while speaking on AIT’s morning programme, Kakaaki on Wednesday, October 17, 2019 said that the Nigerian government needs to think creatively about the value chain in cattlerearing as he condemned the violence that has trailed the Middle Belt region and other parts of the country.
Dr. Mimiko said the claim in some quarters that nomadic cattle rearing is in the DNA of the Fulani is a class construct to keep the herders on the lowest rung of the prosperity ladder.
He said cattle rearing has become a modern business and that owners should be disposed to investing funds into the business instead of the highly unproductive, yet controversial method of exposing young people to the grueling and dangerous movement of animals across the length and breadth of the country for grazing.
“Those who claim that nomadism is in the DNA of cattle rearers have their children in colleges, home and abroad but justify their class dominating scheme by such untrue statements,” the frontline presidential contender said.
“Suffering, dangerous living, is not in the DNA of anybody and cattle herders ought to be encouraged to live more decent lives by cattle owners who should own and sustain modern ranches,” Mimiko said.
According to the presidential contender, “government can only act by designing broad and specific policies to support and incentivise ranch owners.
“Land cannot continue to be an excuse, there are lands lying fallow, especially in the northern part of the country and there’s nothing that says ranches must be created all over the country. It is a big business, whoever wants to create ranches should look for how to source land.
“For example, you can create a ranch in the north and have a mega abattoir there, with effective transport system and a reliable refrigeration system.” He added.
Citing an example of what his government did in Ondo State to combat nomadic cattle rearing, Mimiko said; “in Ondo State we created agro business cities which served as ranches for rearing cattle and a source of employment for young people interested in agro business.”
He added that “it doesn’t cost limbs to create ranches.”
