By Cajetan Mmuta
Chairman of the South East Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, (MACBAN), Alhaji Gidado Siddiki, has disclosed that the association will soon organize a sensitization workshop on cows identification programme.
He said the one-day workshop is part of the measures in place by the association to curb cattle rustling, farmers/herders clashes, and other ethnic challenges confronting the unity of Nigeria.
Siddiki explained that the programme would enable Miyetti Allah and their host communities in the regions to identify owners of each cow, the boys tendering them, and to trace the herders in case of any incident.
He warned that after the exercise, no unregistered cow would be allowed in the southern states of the country.
The MACBAN chairman, in a statement he personally signed and made available to newsmen in Awka the state capital said that the workshop would be a regional sensitization exercise on the National Animal Identification and Traceability System, NAITS, which is to be implemented across the country.
“It is being driven by the Department of Animal Husbandry of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), with whom we are in a tripartite Agreement since 2018 for the rollout of the NAITS project, Siddiki explained.
The workshop, he added, hold in Enugu, Enugu State on August 28th, 202, stressing that stakeholders, such as political office holders, farmers associations, and traditional rulers in the Southern Regions of the country would find the exercise useful.
He explained that “NAITS project is a unique animal information management system for tracking of all livestock in Nigeria, from birth to exit (slaughter), using forgery-proof Ear Tags, livestock passports and electronics database developed to global standards stipulated by the International Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR)”.
He listed the benefits of the system to include: reliable data for livestock planning and management, transparency in revenue generation, security management and conflict, prevention and deterrence of cattle rustling.
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Other socio-economic benefits, according to him, included animal disease surveillance, prevention, and emergence risk management; livestock movement control and tracing; genetic improvement, and employment opportunities.
Siddiki pointed out that from August 28, 2021, no cow would be allowed to enter the southern states without a registered tag, as constituted by the national leadership of MACBAN.
