The Nigerian Army will start cattle ranches in divisions in the country, the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai has said.
Yaahoo Journalist reports that Buratai made this comment while speaking recently at the Commissioning of Mogadishu Cantonment New Mammy Market (former Abacha Barracks), Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
This online news platform understands that the establishment of cattle ranches will be coming after President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government suspended the Rural Grazing Areas (RUGA) meant to curb herdsmen and farmers clashes.
The Army Chief said he sent officers of the Army to Argentina to study cattle rearing. This, it is believed, will help the Army set up the cattle ranches in nIgeria.
Buratai was represented by the Chief of Army Logistics Major General Patrick Akem who noted that the cattle ranches move is in keeping up with modern cattle rearing practices.
“Argentina has a population of 41 million people, but it feeds about 400 million people around the world with its beef,” he said.
“To take it to the next level, we want to adopt a system where the cattle are not just free-ranging coming from Sokoto to Port Harcourt, thereby making their meat tough to eat, the products will soon be coming from our own farms and ranches.
“We want to tell our wives that they can live beyond the salaries of their husbands, so we are trying to empower the women in the barracks to be able to form co-operatives, so as to access loans and to a large extent be able to fend for themselves and their families, even without the salaries of their husbands,” the Army boss said about cattle ranches.
