I cannot believe that a fortnight after the Benue massacre, the governors of Nigeria’s 19 northern states have not met and agreed to float a National Livestock Bank of Nigeria

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Why has the Northern States Governors Forum not met and agreed to float a National Livestock Bank of Nigeria? Its primary aim should be to offer loans to herdsmen so they can open ranches and raise their livestock there

[2] I believe the 19 states should have like say a 30% stake in the bank. Corporate stakeholders should have like a 40% holding in the venture, with the remaining 30% sold to the public

[3] One of the primary goals of this bank should be to dramatically increase the number of cows in Nigeria from the current 20m to say the 189m produced in India

[4] Once we have the ranches, we will need to process the proceeds of these livestock, so there has to be a dramatic increase in the number of dairy plants, leather factories, abattoirs, meat cold storage facilities, refrigerated lorries, etc. We have to step up our manufacturing capability big time over the next two years. Again, the National Livestock Bank of Nigeria will provide loans for all of these

[5] Livestock transportation facilities also need to be upgraded. Is there one functional cattle railway wagon in Nigeria today? I look forward to the National Livestock Bank of Nigeria providing funding for dedicated cattle rail links that hook up ranches in say Yobe, Borno, Niger and Bauchi states with markets like Abuja, Enugu, Benin, Kano, Ibadan and Lagos

[6] To take matters to the next level, we will need to tap into the export market. This will involve thr manufacturing of mega livestock ships, made to ferry cattle, sheep, goats etc across oceans. I look forward to Nigeria becoming the manufacturing capital of such vessels. Just imagine how many jobs we would create in Nigeria if everyone in the world ordered their livestock ships from us

[7] As is always the case with shipping, you locate your shipyard on the coast, so I long to see the world’s largest livestock shipbuilding yard in the Niger Delta. Nigerians need to set themselves the goal of achieving this in the next 10 years. Again, our National Livestock Bank of Nigeria will provide the funding for this

[8] I am perplexed as to why Innoson Motors has not stepped into this debate yet. By now, the company should have delivered a prototype of a unique refrigerated trailer or truck that can serve as a mobile abattoir. Such vehicles should be electric-powered, with maybe solar panels on their roofs. Our National Livestock Bank of Nigeria should provide Innoson with any funding it needs for this project

[9] As part of an ambitious and unprecedented drive to fight protein deficiency in Nigeria, we should step up meat consumption too. To cut costs, I would like to see railway abattoirs whereby livestock are slaughtered as they leave ranches and then butchered on trains enroute to markets. By the time a train arrived at Abuja from Mokwa for instance, the cattle should be in small pieces ready to be distributed to say restaurants

[10] Nigerians need to learn how to be innovative. For instance is there any livestock-specific shipping container anywhere in the world today? Why don’t we show the world how it can be done? As a people, we simply need to elevate our level of thinking. Over to you the Northern States Governors Forum

ayoakinfe@gmail.com