A bill to create a national database for livestock in Nigeria has passed second reading in the Senate.
The bill for an establishment Act of a National Livestock Bureau was passed during plenary on Tuesday, April 20, 2021.
The sponsor of the bill, Senator Muhammad Bima Enagi (Niger South – APC), said the bureau would be created for the purpose of livestock identification, traceability, registration, cattle rustling control, disease control, and other related matters.
The Senator said the bill was aimed at sanitizing the livestock industry and addressing the persistent farmers/ herders clashes as well as cattle rustling in the country.
According to him, this will enhance the development of the country’s livestock industry.
He stated;
I want to say that the coming of this Bill is timely and should be supported. The movement of livestock and their products has increased the spread of the diseases and increased the threat to human health.
This database when established, will ensure the traceability of animal products into the country, in order to safeguard the lives of citizens.
It will also serve as a guide for policy formulation by the government and ensure the regulation of participants in the livestock business.
The lawmaker said the bill intends to indicate ownership and prevent rustling, as well as collate genetic information on animals, and improve the ability to trace animals.
He noted that despite having about 40% of cattle population in West Africa, Nigeria has been unable to participate in the export of meat and other dietary product due to the absence of a management system.
He said the system would deter animal theft, and aid security agencies to mitigate the incessant conflicts between herders and farmers.
After much consideration, the bill was referred to Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development to look into it and report back within four weeks.
Decades-long conflict over access and control of land between the nomadic cattle herders and local farming communities has led to thousands of lives lost, and millions worth of property damage.
