From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
N500 experts and stakeholders will on Monday in Abuja assemble to deliberate on solutions to mitigate the lingering farmer-herder clashes in the country.
The two-day event organised by the Kano State government is titled sustainable livestock reforms and mitigation of associated conflicts in Nigeria: Farmer/herder clashes.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Saturday, the chairman of the committee and former chairman Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, disclosed that stakeholders expected at the conference are drawn virtually from all the segments of Nigerian society.
“The primary objective of the conference is to bring together a range of stakeholders for cross-fertilisation of ideas with regards to how to reform the livestock sector in this country for significant value addition to the economy of Nigeria.
“The conference will also deal with how to ensure that such reforms are sustainable, and promote social cohesion rather than conflicts, which have bedevilled the livestock production sector and discount with the traditional practices associated with livestock development in this country, has been conflict-ridden.
“It is very important that we find permanent solutions in terms of mitigating those conflicts, and indeed, having sustainable ways of not only developing the livestock sector but actually preventing, if not totally eliminating, such conflicts,” he enumerated.
Speaking further, he said that: “the 500 stakeholders expected at the conference are drawn virtually from all the segments of Nigerian society. There will be government officials, traditional rulers, civil society organisations, there will be people from academia, there will be representation from our development partners here in Nigeria.
“And we have chosen the best of the best resource persons to make presentations during the conference. Some of them are professors, entrepreneurs, corporate persons associated with livestock business, researchers, associations of either key producers, key participants in the livestock value chain.
“Without sounding immodest, I think we can say this is perhaps the best or one of the best groupings of arrays of stakeholders in an inclusive process in order to address a national problem.
“There is no doubt that given the competence and calibres and the capacity of the people we are putting for this conference, the deliberations are going to be very rich and therefore impactful in terms of producing a blueprint to address this problem on a sustainable basis,” he said.