NIGERIA : Stop Governors From Enacting Anti-Open Grazing Laws .[Briefing audio file of the press conference]

THE Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore has asked the National Assembly to stop the enactment of the open-grazing laws by some governors in the country.<br /><br /><br />Miyetti Allah National Secretary Saleh Alhassan made the call in Nasarawa State on Monday.<br /><br />He claimed that the law was targeted against Fulani pastoralists.<br /><br />He said that the law would undermine the relative peace and stability currently enjoyed in the local communities, threaten the social order and exacerbate cattle rustling.<br /><br />Alhassan noted that the anti-open grazing laws would destroy livestock production and send millions of people depending on the livestock value chain into poverty.<br /><br />He appealed to the National Assembly to rescue the pastoralists by resuscitating and passing the Grazing Reserves Commission Bill and other livestock management bills initiated by the previous assemblies.<br /><br />He said that the review of the Land Use Act was long overdue to accommodate the interest of all land resources users, including pastoralists.<br /><br />He further said that ranching, as envisaged by many, required capital investment and was difficult to sustain, uneconomical, and not small livestock holder-centred.<br /><br />While calling on the Federal Government to create a Federal Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries as obtainable in many African countries, Alhassan canvassed for at least one grazing reserve in each senatorial district across the country.