TheCable

Atiku Bagudu, governor of Kebbi state, has advocated for a permanent framework to limit the movement of cattle from the Sahel to other regions in Africa.

The Sahel is a semi-arid region of Africa that stretches from Senegal through parts of Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Sudan to Eritrea.

Bagudu spoke on Saturday at the 2021 Pastoralists Week held in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital.

According to NAN, the meeting was jointly organised by Dosso state in Niger Republic, Alibori state in Benin Republic, and Kebbi state, alongside ECOWAS and the national boundary authorities of the three countries.

The governor said any framework designed by the meeting would be accepted by the Nigerian government, as long as it is in the interest of unity and progress of West African countries.

Bagudu is also the vice-chairman of Nigeria’s Food Security Council (NFSC).

“Animal husbandry is an important work in West Africa, and I am happy that we all appreciate the importance of this sector and I am glad that the CILSS is leading efforts to generate resources that will help us to develop the sector,” he said.

“There was a statement that about $300 million dollars funding has currently been mobilised by the CILSS and that is most important. What this funding can do is to help us draw the attention of the world to the potentials in animal husbandry in West Africa.

“This is because, it requires more than that to develop and we must have a way of communicating it to the ECOWAS leadership, perhaps the African Union (AU) leadership, that we need them to be unanimous in this area so that we can generate billions of dollars that can support the pastoral sector in West Africa.”

He noted that the pastoralism sector is full of hardworking people, and as such, any investment in the sector would yield the desired results, including better returns on investment.

“I believe that Nigeria, particularly President Muhammadu Buhari, will support us on this programme as quickly as possible so that we can demonstrate how it will work,” he said.

“Even before then, the current protocol of West Africa, and the framework of operations, allows us to collaborate more and I propose that we send the recommendation to the appropriate authorities.

“So that Dosso, Alibori, Nigeria and Kebbi state, supported by ECOWAS and CILSS can create this framework, while we are waiting for our national leaders to endorse it and send it to other countries so that they can come and learn from us.”