By Joy Odor Reportcircle News
Tempers flared at the National Assembly on Friday as lawmakers confronted the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development over what they described as a “dangerous funding vacuum,” after confirming that not a single kobo was released to the ministry in 2025 despite mounting insecurity and food shortages linked to Nigeria’s fragile livestock system.
The explosive budget defence session of the Joint Committee on Livestock Development quickly turned into a high-stakes interrogation of government priorities, policy execution and the future of Nigeria’s cattle economy.
Chaired by Shehu Buba and Wale Raji, the hearing opened with lawmakers declaring the meeting “a defining test” for the newly created ministry.
The Committee recalled that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu established the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development on July 9, 2024, as a centrepiece of his agricultural and security reforms aimed at ending farmer-herder clashes, boosting protein production and transforming rural economies.
But less than two years later, the lawmakers warned the vision may collapse before it begins.
“This is not routine oversight,” Senator Buba declared.
“We must interrogate allocations, examine implementation capacity and ensure value for money. The nation’s stability depends on it.”
He cited constitutional provisions requiring legislative scrutiny before any public money is spent, stressing that reform without funding is “policy theatre.”
Nigeria’s Livestock Paradox
Nigeria holds one of Africa’s largest cattle populations yet imports milk, meat and dairy at massive cost.
Lawmakers listed the root causes:
archaic open grazing systems
weak veterinary coverage
poor feed infrastructure
limited meat processing capacity
According to the committee, these failures fuel rural banditry, farmer-herder violence and food inflation.
Then came the revelation that stunned the chamber.
Livestock Minister Idi Mukhtar Maiha admitted the Ministry has received no cash-backed funding for 2025.
“For 2025, there has been zero performance because there has been zero release,” he said bluntly.
“We have been operating using the ₦20 billion from the take-off grant.”
He explained:
₦75bn take-off grant approved in 2024
only ₦20bn actually released
₦11.8bn budget allocation in 2024
₦0 released in 2025
The Chamber erupted in murmurs.
A $32 Billion Sector Hanging in Limbo
Despite the funding freeze, the minister said the government has designed a National Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy to formalise Nigeria’s largely informal livestock economy estimated at $32 billion.
The plan includes:
ranching transition programmes
digital animal identification
breeding and veterinary expansion
feed and fodder corridors
water infrastructure
processing facilities
Security Angle Raises Alarm
Maiha warned the issue is not just agricultural but national security.
He revealed the ministry has already identified 417 grazing reserves and livestock service centres nationwide, part of a shift toward structured ranching aimed at ending migratory conflicts.
Lawmakers agreed the stakes are enormous.
Without urgent investment, they warned:
rural violence could intensify
food inflation may worsen
import dependence will deepen
economic diversification plans may fail
The Committee demanded immediate clarification on implementation timelines, inter-governmental cooperation and regulatory frameworks, insisting reforms must move from paper to pasture.
By the close of the hearing, one message echoed across the chamber:
Nigeria cannot solve food insecurity, insecurity and rural poverty while its livestock Ministry runs on empty.
The Lawmakers vowed continued scrutiny, warning that “policy without funding is abandonment.”
