Why is the Nigerian government planning to create a livestock ministry when there is an existing Ministry of Agriculture and a framework that can achieve the same purpose?
Development Diaries reports that President Bola Tinubu administration recently announced a move to create Ministry of Livestock Development to ‘improve meat and dairy production and reduce violence between migrant herders and farmers’.
Certainly, the Ministry of Livestock Development will be duplicating the functions of an existing department under the Ministry of Agriculture, creating an unnecessary increase in the government’s expenses.
Does the country really need another ministry for livestock when there is the existence of the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP)?
The NLTP is a framework to transform the livestock sector and eliminate conflict by evolving and strengthening intensive livestock production systems, with the aim of making the sector more productive and sustainable.
Already, President Tinubu’s ministerial cabinet is the largest so far, at a time that Nigeria’s economy is in its worst state. This move is another misplaced priority amidst calls for reduction in the high cost of governance.
We believe that if the NLTP introduced by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari is implemented, it will transform the livestock industry in Nigeria and end the clashes between herders and farmers.
Development Diaries calls on President Tinubu to carefully reconsider the economic impact and effectiveness of such structural changes in government before embarking on the proposed plan.
Photo source: Bola Tinubu
