Mohammed Sabo Nanono, Minis­ter of Agricul­ture and Rural Development has disclosed that Nigeria’s Cattle Market is worth over N3 trillion.

Nanono stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the in­auguration of the 5th Council of the Nigerian Institute of Animal Science (NIAS).

Nanono declared that no responsible nation would toy with this huge market.

He regretted that Nigeri­ans have allowed emotions and sentiments to becloud their sense of reasoning given the lingering herders/farm­ers conflicts.

He said: “We are in a dan­gerous time in this country. Cattle rearing forms a very important part of livestock development. Recent happen­ings in the country do not au­gur well for the development of livestock in Nigeria.

“We have allowed ourselves to be betrayed by emotions and sentiments. The cattle market is worth over N3 tril­lion. No nation can toy with this sector,” he said.

The minister, therefore, tasked members of the 5th Council of the Nigerian In­stitute of Animal Science (NIAS) to work assiduously in resolving the lingering conflicts between herders and farmers in Nigeria.

He said: “I have no iota of doubt that this Council is filled with an array of ac­complished Animal Scien­tists of various professional disciplines that can fulfil its’ core function, which is to offer leadership in the governance of the affairs of the Institute to continue to deliver on its mandates.

“The Institute must not shy away from playing a deserved lead role in proffering the needed solution to the current burning issue of incessant conflicts between herders and sedentary farming communi­ties in Nigeria.

“Land resource is indeed scarce and not expandable, but science has proven that we can generate all we need with renewable agricultural strategies for both crop and livestock production from the available land resource without any form of conflict.

“I strongly call on the In­stitute to come up with sci­entific and practicable mod­els that the government can adopt to finally lay to rest this front-burning problem.

“The nation needs to quickly transit from this con­flicted era to becoming a net exporter of premium beef, emulating and surpassing the enviable achievements of countries like Uruguay which has metamorphosed over the recent years into a leading exporter of premium beef to the European Union, United States of America and even the Chinese markets.”