National Assembly Backs Tinubu’s Livestock Reforms to End Farmers-Herders Crisis

 In a powerful display of unity and urgency, the National Assembly has thrown its full support behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s sweeping livestock reform agenda — a move seen as crucial to ending Nigeria’s deadly farmers-herders conflicts and averting an impending food crisis.

Source: WORLD POLITICS REVIEW

Speaking at a high-profile lecture in Ilorin, Senator Saliu Mustapha, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture Production Services and Rural Development, affirmed the legislature’s readiness to enact bold, evidence-driven reforms. “We are fully aligned with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda,” Mustapha declared, promising legislative backing for policies that will modernize the livestock sector and bring peace and prosperity to rural Nigeria.

The event, marking the University of Ilorin’s 50th anniversary, featured a hard-hitting lecture by Professor Attahiru Jega — former INEC Chairman and now Special Adviser to the President on Livestock Reforms. In a scathing critique, Jega warned that without urgent intervention, Nigeria’s broken livestock system could fuel further conflict, deepen poverty, and trigger a national food security emergency.

“To feed our population by 2050, we must ramp up beef production by 117%, poultry by 253%, and milk output by 577%,” Jega said, painting a stark picture of the challenge ahead. He linked Nigeria’s rising communal violence to outdated livestock practices, poor veterinary services, climate change, and dwindling grazing land, stressing that reform is not optional — it’s a national survival strategy.

The lecture drew an elite audience of academics, lawmakers, and policy leaders, all echoing a shared call to action. As one speaker put it, Professor Jega’s voice may be back in the classroom — but his message is aimed straight at the heart of Nigeria’s future.