The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) on Monday asked the Federal Government to stop state governors from enacting the anti-open grazing law.
MACBAN Secretary-General, Saleh Alhassan made the comment during a press conference in Abuja.
He said the law would undermine the relative peace and stability currently enjoyed in the local communities, threaten the social order and exacerbate cattle rustling.
“The National Assembly and Mr President should intervene and stop the current attempts by some state governments to criminalise our means of livelihood of cattle-rearing through enacting of satanic and obnoxious laws they call Anti-Grazing Law,” he noted.
“The Federal Government should create a ministry for livestock and fisheries as obtainable in many African countries. Nigerians should adopt strategies in responding to changes of climate change as it affects livestock production not negative laws.”
Alhassan noted that anti-open grazing laws would destroy livestock production and send millions who depend on the livestock value chain into poverty.
The Miyetti Allah leader also called on the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to take an inventory of grazing reserves in the country and fully develop at least one grazing reserve in each senatorial zone.
He appealed to the National Assembly to rescue the pastoralists by resuscitating and passing the Grazing Reserves Commission Bill and other livestock management bills initiated by the previous assembly.
While referencing the African Union and ECOWAS Protocols/regulation of pastoralists and trans humans, the MACBAN spokesman asked the Nigerian government to domesticate the law in the country.
According to him, if the protocols are properly documented and implemented, it will effectively tackle the scourge of illegal migration in Nigeria.
Alhassan’s remarks come four months after the Southern Governors Forum announced a ban on open grazing of cattle across states in the region.
The governors after meeting in Asaba, the Delta State capital, asked President Buhari to address Nigerians on the state of the nation.
It also met months later and instructed states in the region to enact anti-open grazing laws in their domain to curb incessant clashes between herders and farmers.
