Nutrition Security: Senate affirms livestock industry critical to Nigerian economy

*The leadership of the Senate has assured the poultry industry stakeholders that it will try to do anything possible to ensure the sector is protected and promoted for the people to earn their livelihood and have food reserves

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

The leadership of the National Assembly has said that the development of the livestock business is essential to the diversification and growth of the Nigerian economy.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan stated this in his remark Tuesday, April 20 after a bill, sponsored by Senator Muhammad Enagi Bima (Niger South), for an Act to establish the National Livestock Identification and Management Bureau scaled second reading on the floor of the Upper Legislative Chamber, reports Vanguard.

Photo: NairaIdeas.Com

According to Lawan, the Nigerian Government or Legislature will try to do anything possible to ensure that such an industry is protected and promoted to ensure that people earn their livelihood and have a food reserve of a sort from that industry.

If properly harnessed and regulated in the country, the Senate President stressed the livestock industry has the potential of generating trillions of Naira needed to stimulate the economy along the trajectory of exponential growth.

On questions raised at the debate on bill regarding the competence of the National Assembly to legislate on the livestock industry, Lawan contended that the Federal Legislature was acting within its legislative jurisdiction to seek the establishment of the National Livestock Identification and Management Bureau.

He explained: “This is an industry of between N5 to N10 trillion Naira in this country…. Any government or parliament will try to do anything possible to ensure that such an industry is protected and promoted to ensure that people earn their livelihood and have a food reserve of a sort from that industry.

“I believe that in this Senate, we even had a resolution or intervention that was based on the Doctrine of necessity because there was a need for the National Assembly to intervene even when it was clear that there was no provision for such a situation.

“Sitting here, I believe that we will be doing this country well; we will be doing justice and a lot of services to our people that we legislate on this.”

The Senate President stated “the identification is just one side of it, but the protection and management of this sector of our economy that is so huge and massive are critical to our economy.

“It is not something that we will leave to the states to do whatever they want to do. Let the states also try to legislate to complement whatever the National Assembly will do.

“So, based on Standing Order 25(h) which gives me the authority to interpreted both our standing orders – the rules and constitutional point of orders – I rule that this Senate and, indeed, the National Assembly has the legislative competence to legislate on this matter.”

Earlier, Senator Bima, sponsor of the Bill for an Act to Establish the National Livestock Identification and Management Bureau, had said the livestock sub-sector is an integral part of agriculture and vital to the socio-economic development of the country, though its productivity currently is very low.

The lawmaker stated that the piece of legislation under consideration seeks to solve the challenge of animal identification and management in the country.

According to Bima, the Bureau when established, would be responsible for livestock identification, traceability, registration, cattle rustling control, livestock disease control, among others.

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