The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, (MACBAN) has alleged that politicians are laundering their ill-gotten wealths through cattle businesses.
The newly inaugurated national President of association, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, said this while briefing journalists in Abuja.
“Many rich businessmen and politicians now use the cattle business for money laundering due to the cashless policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The government is leaving a multi-trillion naira business in the hands of illiterates with no form of organisation,” he said.
MACBAN, while clarifying that it has not adopted any candidate for the 2023 presidential election, it also claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari abandoned pastoralists despite their contribution to his victory in 2019.
Othman frowned at the bad image attached to the Fulani in the country.
He further lamented that animal husbandry is dead despite huge funds allocated to agricultural Ministry in the country.
Speaking on next year’s elections, Ngelzarma said the association had already presented its demands before the four major contestants, adding that the candidates’ response to the demands would determine who its members will vote for during the election.
He said, “I have presented our seven points demand on behalf of the pastoralists to the candidate. So we are looking forward to their responses before we decide on what to do. We have not endorsed any candidate for now. We are still consulting.
“On the eve of the last election that brought in Buhari for the second term, we endorsed him publicly. But thereafter, up till now as I speak to you, nothing has been done for us. Buhari has abandoned the pastoralists. This is very clear. Whether Buhari or his lieutenant, the pastoralists have been abandoned by the government.
“For the last eight years, while over N500 billion was spent on agro-economy, almost nothing is spent on livestock. Go and check all the state governments’ budgetary provisions, including that of the Federal Government, if you see what is budgeted for livestock, you will be surprised. Livestock is being neglected completely.”
He added that the National Livestock Transformation Plan is not the solution to challenges pastoralists are currently facing.
The MACBAN President said, “Only recently, the Buhari administration at its tail end began to implement the NLTP where some states have access to the N6 billion funding to establish Livestock centres. Some have started it but we see it as a project that cannot solve the problem.
“How do you think a livestock centre that can only accommodate only 20,000 cows, can solve the problems in a state like Adamawa of over two million cows? Though we appreciate it as a model, this cannot solve the problem.
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“We also think we are suffering because people think Buhari is for us and we are for Buhari. That is why we became battlegrounds for politicians. That is why we are being tagged criminals. This is because political opponents when they want to fight Buhari, they attacked the Fulani. We know Buhari is a Fulani man and when he came in first, he showed the world that he has cows. So we have become a battleground for politicians and victims of circumstance. This is because Buhari is the head of state but Buhari has done nothing for us.”
Ngelzarma, however, said abject poverty is the reason some herders resorted to criminal activities due to poverty and ignorance.
According to him, there are mass exodus of some of the pastoralists from the country over security concerns.
He said, “98 per cent of cattle are owned by Fulanis. They live in a vulnerable place where they are victims of Kidnapping. Before you see someone kidnapped on the highway, a lot of herders have been attacked in the bush. Some are trying to leave the country looking for a peaceful place where they protect their lives and properties.
“The biggest surprise is that the cattle business is a multi-trillion business that is left without any form of organisation. Instead of creating prosperity, the business has become an avenue of criminality and money laundering because the producers, transporters and dealers are illiterates. This is a multi-trillion naira business in the hands of illiterates with no form of organisation. This is next to oil and it can sustain the economy of this country with very good harnessing and organisation.
“Today with the cashless policy, people are laundering money by buying cows. This is because you don’t need to go through any form of scrutiny before buying a cow. You are not issued a receipt when you buy.”
He observed that pastoralists were not embracing ranching because it is alien to them, adding that the lack of education is making the problem worse.
“Whatever mode of ranching that is being introduced into this country, these guys would hardly embrace it, the reason is it is alien to them as it is not capturing the reason they are rearing their cows.
“To them, the quality does not matter much, what matters much to them is the quantity. They also want to die and leave so many cows for their children to inherit,” he stated.
He clarified that pastoralists are not criminals, as a result, they must be protected by the government.
Ngelzarma said, “We are a trade group pursuing our cow-rearing business like any other trade group in this country. The small children we see roaming about with cows deserve protection against cattle rustlers, kidnappers and Bandits. Our trade is under threat. But for somebody to put us inside one basket because of crimes perpetrated by a few among us is not fair. We have respected traditional rulers and governors among us.
“Though we have criminals in our folds just like any other tribe, but there are some that went to criminality because of necessity just like the Niger Delta youths when they were offered amnesty, these guys also deserve some form of amnesty for them to be reintegrated into the system.
“When insurgency started in the Northeast, the pastoralists, Fulanis were the target of Boko Haram. Until when they finish rustling all our cows, they started ransacking and looting communities. At a stage, the Maiduguri cattle market which is the largest in West Africa was closed for three years because it became a market for stolen cows. We suffered more than any society in the Northeast. While all these are going on, there has never been a time when these pastoralists enjoy any form of support from this government.
“Some of our state branches who were seen endorsing a candidate have cautioned them against that. But as far as the national body is concerned, we have not endorsed anybody now. We have to consult widely and see who is interested to solve our challenges before we sit and decide on where to go.”
