KEY POINTS
- Ranching reforms top agenda at economic council talks.
- Ranching reforms linked to security and growth.
- Tinubu pledges delivery of ranching reforms.
President Bola Tinubu on Monday said he expects Nigeria’s top economic policy forum to deliver concrete resolutions on ranching, livestock investment and agricultural diversification, pledging to ensure the proposed reforms are implemented.
Speaking at the opening of the two-day National Economic Council conference at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja, Tinubu tied the need for livestock sector reform to the country’s security and economic challenges, describing banditry and terrorism as major impediments to growth.
“I’m confident that the resolution of this conference will include dairy farming, livestock investment, ranches and diversification of our agricultural produce,” Tinubu said. “I promise Nigeria that this will be delivered.”
Ranching reforms central to livestock strategy
The president’s remarks build on earlier directives issued in December, when he asked Vice President Kashim Shettima and the National Economic Council to develop a roadmap for transforming Nigeria’s livestock industry through ranching as a durable solution to farmer-herder conflicts.
At a Federal Executive Council meeting on December 10, Tinubu tasked Shettima, who chairs the council, with engaging state governors and stakeholders on the adoption of ranching reforms. He also directed the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Muktar Maiha, to identify villages and existing grazing reserves and rehabilitate them into modern ranches.
Following that instruction, the council at its 155th meeting on December 18 inaugurated a Livestock Development Committee chaired by Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris, with representation from all six geopolitical zones, to accelerate nationwide ranching and livestock production reforms.
Tinubu said the objective was to eliminate conflict-prone areas while making livestock reform economically viable, adding that Nigeria had significant untapped opportunities in the sector.
Ranching reforms linked to security efforts
At Monday’s conference, the president also renewed his pledge to strengthen security forces to defeat terrorism and banditry, which he said had kept Nigerians awake at night.
He described violent attacks as foreign to Nigeria’s culture and warned that failure to address insecurity would continue to undermine economic progress. Tinubu thanked Vice President Shettima for steering what he described as sustained intellectual engagement at the council, and commended governors, particularly in Borno and Katsina states, for supporting security efforts.
The president arrived at the venue shortly after noon and formally declared the second edition of the conference open.
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, convened the meeting under the theme “Delivering Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development: The Renewed Hope National Development Plan.” The meeting runs from February 9 to 10 and focuses on fiscal coordination, investment mobilisation, and stronger development partnerships between the federal and state governments.
