The President of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Dr Bitrus Pogu, has reacted to the creation of a new Ministry of Livestock Development by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He said that his group has been speaking against the current form of animal husbandry, which he said has led to clashes between the herders and the farmers.
A few days ago, President Tinubu had approved the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development. The federal government said that the new ministry will address the herders-farmers crisis which has led to loss of lives in the past years.
The creation of the new ministry was also met with mixed reactions from members of the public, with some people saying that the creation of the new ministry was targeted at favouring a section of the country.
While reacting to the creation of the new ministry, Dr Pogu said that the current form of animal husbandry allows Fulanis from other West African countries to come into Nigeria and forcefully take over lands.
According to the report by The Sun Newspaper on Saturday, he said that the Fulanis from those West African countries should be made to go back to their countries, while the Fulanis from Nigeria should be accommodated and allowed to have ranches for their cattle.
He said, "These people should go back to their countries, while our local Fulanis will be accommodated and allowed to ranch their cattle around if infrastructure could be provided by the ministry.
"But it shouldn't be a blanket thing because we cannot accommodate Fulanis from other countries who have been brought in deliberately to change demographics and create problems in Nigeria."