The Coalition of Pastoralists Association (CPAN), has decried the impact of global warming, stereotyping as well as the implementation of some laws deliberately targeted at Pastoralists on their businesses.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, Nigeria’s Capital, the President, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) Baba Othman Ngelzarma said, “There is no gainsaying that the easiest and most effective way of destroying a group of people is to destroy their businesses and sources of revenue for sustenance.
“The Nigerian state has in recent years watched the cattle rearing business go down the drain due to natural and man-made disasters.”
The pastoralists’ group in Nigeria under the umbrella of Coalition of Pastoralists Association (CPAN) is an umbrella organisation of Pastoralists groups in Nigeria whose main objective is the promotion of peace and enhancing the welfare of its members in the country.
Ngelzarma lamented, that these challenge are backed with the conspiratorial silence of government, a lot of Nigerians especially sub national entities across the country have adopted the culture of intolerance towards our people and business of cattle rearing.
“To start with, we all know that global warming is a reality and it has affected the Lake Chad massively, forcing our people to move down south in search of water and food for our livestock. While the Nigerian government has not lifted any finger to recharge the Lake Chad and make it habitable for our people, it has watched on helplessly as different communities and state governments across the North Central and Southern parts of the country treat the Fulani as irritants or second class citizens who have no right to live or who do not deserve to have a source of living.”
The group called on the attention of the federal republic to what it called existential dangers faced by Fulani across Nigeria.
“They ban open grazing without providing infrastructure for alternatives. They therefore seize our cows and arrest our people recklessly, fine them unreasonable amounts and everyone is watching as if all is well,” the cattle breeders said.
They also requested the federal government’s immediate intervention to release thousands of livestock and innocent Fulbe herders illegally held captive by police.
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