SENATE PASSES BILL TO CONTROL, REGULATE CATTLE REARING RANCHING BUSINESS IN NIGERIA

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Following a contentious discussion on Wednesday, the Nigerian Senate has passed a bill to establish the National Animal Husbandry and Ranches Commission.

The purpose of the measure, which Senator Titus Tartenger Zam of Benue North West supported, was to govern and supervise the nation’s cattle ranching and raising industry.

While elucidating the overall framework of the law, Zam emphasized the necessity for the proposed Commission to oversee, control, and protect ranches throughout the nation.

He said, “The proposed National Animal Husbandry and Ranches Commission is for management, preservation, and control of ranches throughout Nigeria.”

The bill, however, met stiff opposition from Senator Danjuma Goje from Gombe and his counterpart from Kebbi, Adamu Aliero.

Both lawmakers and former governors argued that cattle rearing and ranching activities were more prevalent in the North than in other parts of the country, reasoning that lawmaking should be for the entire country and not for a section.

Goje specifically opined that cattle routes begin from the far north and end in Lokoja, as “the route does not extend to the South”.

In his contribution, Senator Hussein Babangida Uba, representing Jigawa North-West, called for extra caution in passing the bill, given its trail of controversies in the past.

Meanwhile, other Senators who supported the bill contended that the proposed commission would manage the farmers/herders crisis; hence, it should be passed.