Miyetti Allah seeks livestock ministry

By Baba Yusuf

Abuja

A Fulani socio-cultural organisation, Miyetti-Allah Kautal Hore, yesterday, canvassed the establishment of the federal ministry of livestock and fisheries.
The national secretary of the group, Engr. Saleh Alhassan, who briefed reporters in Abuja, said the establishment of the ministry wouldcurb the perennial problem associated with the emphasis on crop production to the detriment of livestock and fisheries.
He stated that the call was borne out of the realisation that the national nomadic commission has failed to live up to its mandate of catering for the needs of pastoralists in the country, saying that the authorities could take a cue from Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger and Benin where such practices were instituted.
He maintained that the Benue state anti-open grazing law which became effective on 1st of November this year ran contrary to the provisions of the constitution which guarantee the rights of every Nigerians to live in any place or states of their choice.
Crying out to the authorities to wade into their plight, the group alleged that its members who are mainly herdsmen were being evicted indiscriminately after the enactment of the anti-open grazing law in Benue state.
According to him, “It violates our freedom of movement which is provided for in the 1999 constitution as amended. Restricting us is against our fundamental rights of freedom of movement and freedom to acquire property anywhere in this country as enshrined in the constitution.
He further argued that Nigeria is bound to abide by both the ECOWAS and African Union protocols, specifically Article 58 which permits pastoralists to move across borders to access animal feeds.
Also, the group’s national president and national coordinator, Alhaji Abdullahi Bello Bodejo, Alhaji Garus Jololo, respectively, expressed optimism that the Federal High Court, Abuja, would grant the group’s application seeking for an injunction restraining the Benue state government from going ahead with the implementation of the open anti grazing law.

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