The controversial plan by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to import grass from Brazil for the feeding of Nigerian cattle has attracted the attention of the Anglican Church in Nigeria, with the wife of the Bishop of Ihiala Diocese in Anambra State, Mrs. Chinyere Okafor, calling on the Federal Government to shelve the idea
Mrs. Okafor, who is also the President of Ihiala Diocesan women’s ministry, argued that instead of importing grass from Brazil, government should develop a scheme for local grass cultivation focusing on the southern part of the country where there is an abundance of grass for the feeding of Nigerian cattle.
Delivering her presidential address at the annual women conference of the Diocese held at St. Mary’s Anglican Church, Isseke, Mrs. Okafor, an Engineer, observed that if implemented, the scheme would provide employment for the restless youths in the forest -bell of southern Nigeria as well as boost earning of farmers. According to the Bishop’s wife, grass from the southern part of Nigeria would be enough for ranch operators in the North to feed the cows, adding that by so doing, the existing rancour between herdsmen and farmers in parts of the country would be reduced drastically.
To her, there is no justification for vehicles and other road users to be struggling for the right of way with cattle, as she advised the federal and state governments to ban movement of cattle on the roads and establish cattle ranches across the country.
She also condemned the menace of the herdsmen in the southern part of Nigeria, arguing that time has come for the Federal government to fully address the socio-economic malady by courageously curtailing the criminal activities of the herdsmen. She was, however, full of praises for the Federal government for using dialogue as a 0means of resolving the insecurity crisis in the country. The wife of the Bishop also called on Federal Ministry of Education and the Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) to rescind their decision to merge Islamic studies with Christian Religious Knowledge in schools. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Mr fr mbaka what vision did you see about this? Or God did not show you this?
ReplyDeleteHow did Mbaka enter this story? Did you even read it? Nonsense.
DeleteThat's a brilliant idea.
ReplyDeleteImporting Grasses into Nigeria will be second mistake to be made by Nigeria Government. If a country like Saudi Arabia in the desert exports grasses, we need to be sincere to ourself and our dear country.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing stopping the Northern part of the country from producing enough grasses for our animals if we really know what we need.
As part of our support for the government, one must speak out his or her observations when it comes to National Interest.
Oil is our main income earning source in the country. Problems started when some unpatriotic ones among us killed our refineries to impose importation. As a country, importing refined oils is a shame. Therefore, we should not add to our import lists.
Madam Bishop, you missed the point. The grass to be imported is not to feed the cattle directly but to plant, develope and localise it on the Nigerian soil. The grass is not seasonal but grows all year round, an attribute warrants its adoption on the Nigerian soil (just as Malaysia adopted our palm trees and are now the indisputable leader in palm production). Any attempt to stop the massacre of innocent souls as a result of herder/farmer crisis is worth a trial.
ReplyDeleteAbankajt you are absolutely correct. Most people now politicise almost every move taken by the federal government. I believe the wife of the Bishop should engage herself more in church related activities rather than dabble into issues she may not have enough information and knowledge about. The issue is for exploring better grass yield and new variety from Brazil to plant and develop here in Nigeria in order to multiply them in commercial quantities and sell by farmers to Cattle Breeders and not what the Bishop Wife is assuming. We should leave such issue to the experts and not misinformed our congregations. Of course I am not surprised that such comments is emanating from people of the SE as this has now become a daily occurrence to jumping the gun on any issues from the current government.
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