President Bola Tinubu on Monday declared his administration’s resolve to transition the country’s livestock sector from open grazing to modern ranching, describing the move as critical to national security and economic stability.
Speaking at the opening of a two-day National Economic Council conference in Abuja, Tinubu said he expected the meeting to produce clear resolutions on ranching, livestock investment, and agricultural diversification, promising to ensure their delivery.
The President directly linked the persistent farmer-herder conflicts and the activities of bandits to the outdated practice of open grazing, stressing that the resulting insecurity had become an unacceptable economic burden.
“I’m confident that the resolution of this conference will include dairy farming, livestock investment, ranches and diversification of our agricultural produce. I promise you here that I’ll play my part,” Tinubu told the gathering of governors, ministers, federal lawmakers, and private sector leaders.
He reiterated his commitment to strengthening security forces to defeat terrorism and banditry, which he said had “kept all of us sleepless at night.”
“That, I promise you, is what has kept all of us sleepless at night, but I assure you we will win with determination and resilience. We will overcome this unacceptable terrorism and banditry. It’s not part of our culture. It’s foreign to us,” the President stated.
The conference follows Tinubu’s directive to Vice President Kashim Shettima and the NEC in December 2025 to develop a concrete roadmap for transforming the livestock industry. At the time, the President had tasked the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Maiha, with identifying grazing areas for conversion into ranches.
“We must eliminate these areas of conflict and make the livestock reform economically viable. The opportunity is there, let’s utilise it,” Tinubu had said last year.
Acting on that directive, the NEC subsequently inaugurated a Livestock Development Committee, chaired by Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris and with representation from all six geopolitical zones, to fast-track the reforms nationwide.
Tinubu’s latest push comes against a grim backdrop of violent attacks linked to land and resource conflicts. Most recently, suspected extremists killed at least 162 people in Kwara State on February 3 after communities rejected demands to adopt a strict version of Sharia law. That same day, bandits killed 20 others in Katsina State following the collapse of a local peace deal.
In his address, the President also highlighted broader economic achievements, noting that his administration’s monetary policies had stabilised the economy and gained international recognition.
He commended the Central Bank of Nigeria for restoring confidence and pointed out that state and local governments now receive higher and more predictable federal allocations, improving their ability to pay salaries and deliver services.
Vice President Shettima, who presided over the rest of the conference, urged all officials to ensure that economic growth translates into tangible improvements for ordinary citizens.
“The inclusive growth on our radar is not an exercise in sloganeering,” Shettima said. “Our mission is incomplete if a child born in Lafia does not have the same chance to thrive as one born in Lagos.”
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, who convened the conference, challenged stakeholders to mobilise all tiers of government toward building a $1 trillion economy by 2030 and eradicating poverty.
The Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite, identified poor implementation and a lack of committed technical partners as the reason many government projects fail. She announced that the ministry was compiling a national asset register to track public investments and proposed a new model of public-private partnership where partners co-invest with the government.
The conference, themed ‘Delivering Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development,’ continues on Tuesday with a focus on fiscal coordination and development strategies.
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