The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, has said that to end clashes between farmers and herders, Nigerians must control the movement of their animals.
Mr Musa stated this on Wednesday while briefing journalists on the forthcoming Maiden African Chiefs of Defence Staff Summit slated for Aug. 25 to Aug. 27, in Abuja.
He said that Nigerians must embrace ranching as part of efforts to fight insecurity, adding that the old practice where there was understanding between farmers and herders had been eroded.
“We must stop killing animals. Traditionally, what we have done before is, if an animal strays into a farm, we arrest it, then the owner comes and pays a fine and he takes it back. If we do that, we will have peace.
“But it is important that we get areas where we can keep these animals. They are better off when they are kept on a ranch.
“If you don’t want to call it ranching, call it whatever it is, but provide an area where they don’t need to move around.
“I want us as Nigerians to look at this so that we can deal with this issue. Because one of the big security challenges we’re having is this issue of farmer-headers,” he said.
The CDS emphasised that ranching had a lot of advantages for the owner of animals, hence it should be something that should be embraced without hindrances.
According to him, once animals move around, they spend energy. They are smaller, and they don’t produce as much milk for you.
“Why don’t you do that? Why don’t you ranch them? You get the best out of them. So it’s a win-win for all of us,” the CDS said.
Mr Musa condemned insinuation in some quarters that he encouraged government to take people’s lands because he was advocating for ranching.
“Some people felt that we are encouraging the government to buy farms and ranching is a business.
“I think anybody who is interested in ranching should also do that. Again, if state governments are interested in their own regions, they should do that.
“They can also show model ranch farms for people to do, but what we are saying is that for us to address this security situation, we must stop animals from going into farms,” he added.
(NAN)