The National Economic Council (NEC) has constituted a committee on livestock development to expedite the implementation of livestock production in the  country.

The committee was constituted on Wednesday during the 155th meeting of NEC, chaired by the Vice-President Kashim Shettima, held virtually.

The committee has one member each representing the six geo-political zones, comprising Bauchi for the North-East, Niger for the North-Central, Ondo for South-West, Imo for the South-East, Cross River  for the South-South region, and Kebbi for the North-West.

Other members of the committee include the ministers of livestock development, agriculture and food security, budget and economic planning, and the senior special assistant to the president on agribusiness.

The council directed the committee to, among other things, review the recommendations of the Presidential Livestock Reform Committee and the proposal of the ministry of livestock development as well as identify interested states willing to implement the programme.

President Bola  Tinubu had during the Federal Executive Council meeting held on December 10, directed NEC to work in collaboration with the ministry of livestock development, to come up with a roadmap for the transformation of the industry.

The ministry worked on the proposal which was presented at the meeting for council’s endorsement with  a view to transform Nigeria’s livestock sector into a modern, peaceful, and profitable engine of national development.

Mr Shettima, who is the chairman of NEC, said a practical, enduring, and nationally accepted solution to the farmer-herder crisis will guarantee food security in the country.

He stated that while food security was a moral obligation to the citizens, it can only be guaranteed by practical, enduring, and nationally accepted solutions to the farmer-herder crisis.

”We must acknowledge with absolute regret the deep distrust created by this violence, born out of a trade and an ancestral practice that ought to have remained a central pillar of our food security and rural economy.

”The loss of lives, the destruction of homes, and the devastation of farmlands must end.

“We cannot perform a task as fundamental as feeding ourselves unless we find an enduring, practical, and nationally accepted solution to the farmer herder crisis.

” Food security is a moral obligation to our people,” he stated.

The vice-president identified mismanagement of long-standing tensions between farmers and herders as the cause of “the conflicts that have strained the ancestral bonds of communities across Nigeria.”

He regretted that what started “as a challenge of coexistence gradually hardened into cycles of violence that were allowed to persist for far too long without a durable solution.

He said, “Today, that violence respects no geography. It has become a shared nightmare that has scarred every region, disrupted livelihoods, and eroded trust between neighbours who once relied on one another for survival. “

Mr Shettima commended Mr Tinubu’s bold initiative to transform livestock production in Nigeria, especially integrating the sector as a key component of the national economy.

Mr Shettima urged the state governors to take seriously the presentations on livestock development by the ministry of livestock development and the Presidential Livestock Reform Committee (PLRC).

He also urged the governors to leverage opportunities in the sector for economic transformation, conflict resolution and restoration of peace in parts of the country.

Mr Shettima said that it was in acknowledgement of the huge potentials and opportunities in the sector that President Tinubu created a separate ministry for livestock development in Nigeria.

He assured that the recommendations of the PLRC and the Ministry of Livestock Development would be given priority attention by the Tinubu administration.

The vice-president sought the support of sub-nationals to fully harness the vast opportunities in the sector.

”The presentations before us today offer critical insight into responses designed to confront these realities.

”They speak directly to the challenge of stabilising our food systems, restoring confidence in rural economies, and reducing the security pressures that flow from competition over land, water, and livelihoods.

“At their core, these presentations seek to dispel the false choice between agriculture and security by demonstrating that both are inseparable pillars of national stability,” he added.

Addressing journalists at the end of the NEC meeting, the minister of budget and national planning, Abubakar Bagudu,  commended Mr Tinubu for establishing the ministry of livestock development’.

He said, ” Livestock development is an important national economic activity. All parts of Nigeria are blessed in one way or the other.

”The central challenge is how to recognise this as an economic activity and for all to come together, so that we support its modernisation to contribute to national economic growth and prosperity and eliminate conflict associated with some of its practices. ”

 (NAN)