Cattle breeders seek implementation of Ruga project in Gombe
Cattle breeders seek implementation of Ruga project in Gombe
The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) Gombe State Chapter has requested that the state and federal governments test the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) in Gombe.
The state chairman, Modibbo Yahaya, made the call and stated that the NLTP, which replaces the contentious Ruga project and seeks to relocate Fulani pastoralists to grazing reserves, has the potential to transform and sustain the livestock sub-sector and guarantee the country’s greatest possible economic benefit.
This was said by Modibbo in a conversation with reporters at the flag-off of a mass immunization campaign against transboundary animal diseases in Gombe. He said that allowing the herders and other pastoralists to use the grazing land in the Wawa/Zange grazing reserve in Gombe state would have made the mass vaccination that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinated for the North-east zone simpler.
In his words, “The construction of the full-fledge grazing reserve in Wawa/Zange and Nono, some of the facilities have been completed to about 70 per cent there, so we are pleading that instead of allowing Lizards and other Insects to occupy the facilities the government should put that place to use so that our people will drive gains out of it and if our pastoralists under the benefit of the project you will not see any one of them roaming around outside again.”
Additionally, Modibbo applauded the state and federal governments for launching the immunization program, which he claimed was timely and will have a significant positive impact on the livestock industry.
Dr Maimuna Habib, the ministry’s chief veterinary officer, spoke on behalf of the minister of agriculture and rural affairs and reaffirmed that the federal government and the ministry would continue to assist and work with the state in administering the annual vaccination for cattle.
