Rochas Okorocha, the lawmaker representing Imo West in the National Assembly, has said that Nigeria loses billions of dollars from cattle business, urging the Federal Government to invest in the business.
He stated this during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, noting if cattle business is being tapped well, it could create one million jobs for Nigerians.
“Do you know how many billions of dollars this nation is missing by not doing this business of cattle in the Federal Republic of Nigeria?” he asked.
“This business of cattle can create one million jobs for Nigerians if well managed. I wish Nigerians can call me or the governor will call me and say ‘look Rochas, the N76billion we want to give to youths and share, take it and fix the cattle business.’”
“If I don’t create one million jobs within the shortest possible time, then know I am not Rochas. This is business. Poor people will say ‘see money and people are just joking with it.’”
When asked if President Muhammadu Buhari administration has failed Nigerians in addressing the worsening insecurity, the economy, and other sectors, Okorocha did not reply in the affirmative or negative.
While stressing that if President Buhari has failed, then the failure is collective, Okorocha advised that the nation’s challenges should not be politicised.
He also commended the 17 southern governors for meeting in Asaba, the Delta State capital to discuss sensitive issues that concern their region, describing the meeting as the first in the nation’s history.
Okorocha, who is the former governor of Imo State, said the call for a dialogue by the regional governors is a call for peace rather than war.
“What I understand from this whole meeting is that things are not well and I like the term they used – National Dialogue.
“Dialogue means there is something you are doing that I don’t like and there is something you are doing I don’t like, can we come under a round table and discuss it?
“That is a call for peace and not a call for war. So that should not be taken out of context and does not look like polarisation. I don’t think that is the intention.”
Okorocha’s remarks come five days after the southern governors agreed on restructuring, open grazing ban, among other issues.
The governors also asked President Muhammadu Buhari to convoke a national dialogue to address widespread agitations amongst various groups in the region.
