Senate passes bill seeking to regulate, control cattle rearing in Nigeria

On Wednesday, the Nigerian Senate passed a bill seeking to establish the National Animal Husbandry and Ranches Commission.

Senator Titus Tartenger Zam, who represents Benue North West is the sponsored of the bill, which is seeking to govern and regulate cattle ranching businesses across the country.

Zam discussed the broad ideas of the bill, including the need for the proposed Commission to administer, regulate, and maintain ranches across the country.

He said: “The proposed National Animal Husbandry and Ranches Commission is for management, preservation, and control of ranches throughout Nigeria.”

The bill, however, met stiff opposition from Senator Danjuma Goje from Gombe and his counterpart from Kebbi, Adamu Aliero.

Both Lawmakers and former governors argued that cattle rearing and ranching activities were more in the North than in other parts of the country, reasoning that lawmaking should be for the entire country and not for a section.

Goje specifically maintained that cattle routes begin from the far north and end in Lokoja as “the route does not extend to the South”.

In his contribution, Senator Hussein Babangida Uba, representing Jigawa North-West, called for extra caution in passing the bill, given its trail of controversies in the past.

Other Senators who supported the bill contended that the proposed Commission would manage the farmers/herders crisis, hence, it should be passed.

The bill was passed after it was put to voice vote by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

It was referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Judiciary and Legal Matters to be reverted in four weeks.