The National Economic Council has proposed a modern livestock rearing system to address the recent insecurity challenges Nigeria has been facing in some parts of the country between farmers and herders.

The NEC meeting, chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima and attended by the federation’s state governors as well as the sole administrator of Rivers State, raised this observation on Thursday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The NEC meeting, the second this year, was held amidst the spate of attacks in some states of the country, including Plateau, Benue, and Kwara States, where scores of citizens have been killed by suspected gunmen.

The killings in these parts of the country have raised concerns among Nigerians, civil society organisations, international organisations and well-meaning individuals who have called the government out for not acting to find solutions to the crisis.

In its report on the rising insecurity in Nigeria, Amnesty International noted that “many of the victims of last’s deadly attack who could not run — including children and the elderly — were slaughtered and left in pools of blood. The inexcusable security lapses that enabled this horrific attack”. 

The international organisations knocked the government that “Issuing bland statements condemning these horrific attacks is not enough, and genuine commitment to protecting the people must be demonstrated by ensuring adequate security of lives and property, as well as ensuring justice for the victims. Consistent failure of the authorities to bring the actual suspected perpetrators to justice is emboldening impunity.”

In his response to the situation, President Tinubu gave the service chiefs a standing order to form a synergy to work with the locals to formulate security strategies for urgent action to end the escalating violence in the affected states.

Meanwhile, speaking after the NEC meeting today, the Bayelsa State Governor, Duoye Diri, said the executive council called for the modernisation of livestock rearing in the country, stating that security challenges in the country cannot be separated from the farmer and herder clashes.

He further explained that the council agreed that the current system of livestock raising in the country is fuelling the farmers-herders clash, as witnessed recently in parts of the country.

Governor Diri clarified that the Accelerated Livestock Development and Growth Strategy, unveiled by the new Ministry of Livestock Development, aims to increase the sector’s revenue generation to between $70 billion and $90 billion by 2035.

“Council emphasised the fact that we cannot continue to live in the past, and we must now work towards modernising livestock production in Nigeria. The Ministry is looking at that sector (livestock development), as I said, being modernised, but more importantly, emphasis is placed on cattle ranching and peacebuilding.

“And we believe that the council’s ministry presentation on cattle ranching is a modern solution to the issues of farmers and herders’ clashes,” he explained.

No Talks on State Police/strong>
However, the governor of Bayelsa pointed out that because of the nation’s security concerns, the National Executive Council (NEC) was unable to address the state police issue. Although he acknowledged that the state police discussion was on the council’s agenda, he said that the council lacked the resources to investigate the discussions surrounding the topic.