The leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association has said that it also knows that herding is counterproductive to cattle farmers and herdsmen.
It said, in the real sense, it neither paid the herdsmen nor the cows whose potential and output were being diminished by the system.
The National Secretariat of MACBAN, Baba Ngelzarma, made this known in Abuja on Friday, when the association met with the Sultan of Sokoto, Abubakar Sa’ad, over the crises occasioned by herding.
He urged the Federal Government to address social support programmes of pastoralist with a view to educate and empower them.
He also emphasised the needs for government to initiate programmes that would take idle pastoralist out of criminality and engage them to learn other skills in addition to cattle rearing.
“Even the cattle rearing are they getting money? Their cattle are not competing with the ones you have in other parts of the world that weigh 700 to 800 kilograms per cow.
“The milk output is also not competing with the other ones in the world where one single cow is given an output 50 litres per day.
“We still hold the outdated species of the cow that are weighing not more than 100 to 120 kilograms and given out an output of milk that is not more than three to five litres per day.
“So, a lots need to be done by government, religious leaders, traditional rulers and pastoralist associations,” he said.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, he stated that MCBAN was a peace loving association, adding that it was never a criminals association “because we have Sultan as our Chairman Board of Trustees.”
Ngelzarma enjoined members of the association in the South West to remain peaceful, stop farm destruction, stop night grazing, respect the people’s culture and tradition.
He also admonished them to recognise the laid down rules and regulations and avoid criminality.
