By Moboluwade Tobiloba
The Lagos State House of Assembly, on Monday, passed the anti-open grazing bill for second reading.
The bill, entitled “A bill for a law to Prohibit Open Cattle Grazing In Lagos State, the Trespass of Cattle Land And For Other Connected Purposes”, would prohibit open grazing, illegal entering of farms, the trespass of castle among others.
Reacting to this development, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) has said its members are not ready for the ban on open grazing in Lagos State.
During a one-day public hearing on Wednesday organised by the state House of Assembly on the bill, the association’s Zonal Secretary for South-West, Maikudi Usman, made this known.
Usman said their members needed more time for enlightenment, adding that they are not used to breeding cattle in one place.
“When we say we will keep cattle in one place, the owner of the cattle will not have funds to feed the animals in one place.
“They have already depended on going from one place to another because in the rainy season time, we have where we settle down, and we also have for the dry season,” the zonal scribe said.
He pleaded with the state government to give the herders more time to train them on how to breed cattle in one place, rather than encroaching farmlands.
