The Fulani social and cultural organization, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, said that Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate for the All Progressives Congress, has promised to deal with the Livestock Intervention Programme and the return of “450 grazing routes across the country.”
In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Saleh Alhassan, who is in charge of the group, also known as Miyetti Allah, said this.
The contentious Rural Grazing Area Scheme, also known as RUGA, was suspended two years before the introduction of the Livestock Intervention Programme, according to NewsXtra.
The Federal Government said that one of its goals was to solve the long-running problem between farmers and herders across the country.
Many southern states wanted ranching. They said that raising cattle was a private business. Herders should buy land and graze their animals on it. This would stop the frequent fights between herders and farmers, they said.
Alhassan said that a Tinubu administration would protect the interests of Fulani pastoralists. His group had previously backed the Tinubu/Shettima ticket.
He said, “We have absolutely endorsed Tinubu for the presidency. We were there in the forum. This was based on the manifesto of the APC’s candidate. It was a unanimous endorsement of the candidature of Tinubu. Our interest is better protected in the Tinubu/Shettima presidency.
“Tinubu gave us the commitment to ensure the implementation of the National Livestock Development Plan of the current administration of the President, Muhammadu Buhari, where they will ensure the modernization of the livestock sub-sector and address the issue of cattle rustling and kidnapping allegations between herders and farmers.
“We will have more ranches and exotic breeding grounds across the country and the gradual sedentarisation of the nomadic herders. This is what we are looking for in the Tinubu/Shettima presidency.
“The 450 grazing routes, most of which are located in the North, are the starting points of any modern ranch one wants to build in this country. Those are areas provided for herders to do their business for cattle rearing.
“If one wants to start any modernization, Nigeria should begin from the grazing routes dedicated for livestock farmers in the First Republic. We cannot build ranches on nothingness, and the land issues have to be seriously considered. This is what Tinubu has promised to address.”
