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22 State Governors Apply For Buhari Government Model Ranch Funds

October 27, 2021

The states whose governors have written to Federal Government seeking inclusive in the programme.

At least 22 states have indicated interest in the National Livestock Transformation Programme, as Federal Government begins model ranch fund’s disbursement.

The states whose governors have written to Federal Government seeking inclusive in the programme include Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Plateau, Zamfara, Kano, Ondo, Katsina, Bauchi, Yobe, Borno, Gombe, Nasarawa, Niger, Sokoto, Ekiti, Kogi, Ebonyi and Kwara.

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In a response to a story published by The Economist of London, the President’s spokesman, Garba Shehu on Sunday said that the Federal Government’s ranching programme had reduced insecurity in the country in the last 12 months.

Garba, urged state governors, who had not embraced the scheme, to do so.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agriculture, Andrew Kwasari, who also coordinates the NLTP, disclosed this in an interview with Punch, adding that the Federal Government would start disbursing funds for model ranches in the next one week.

He said “I have the list of all the governors, who have written to participate in the NLTP. There are 22 governors, who wrote to express interest in the NLTP.

“That is the first condition in the NLTP document. This project is not just something that is done on paper. There are guidelines as approved by the National Economic Council.”

Although he did not specify the amount that would be disbursed, the presidential aide said two of the states, Nasarawa and Plateau, would be getting financial support from the Federal Government for the establishment of model ranches in about a week.

He stated, “In fact, this morning (Tuesday), I was following up with the accountant-general’s office concerning the pilot money to Nasarawa and Plateau.

“We are expecting the Federal Government to credit Nasarawa and Plateau’s accounts; their sites are ready for take-off to build the first ranch and to train pastoralists in how to build ranches.”

Kwasari said Adamawa and Kaduna states were among the 10 states that had established offices and prepared for the programme.

He explained that the model ranches would be used to train pastoralists and help them build their own ranches, noting that some people had described the NLTP as another Ruga project.

“The government will support them, but they have their own contributions to make. We are also working with the Dutch Government, which has also given some support.

“But the bottom-line is that the NLTP is an ecosystem approach. It has six pillars that address all the things that have gone wrong with our livestock production system.

“I just spoke with the office of the accountant-general and by Friday or in a week’s time, I should be able to tell you that the money has been credited to the Nasarawa and Plateau NLTP accounts.

“I will also be able to tell you when work will start on the model projects; to me, that is the most important thing,” he added.

Topics
Agriculture