Don't Import Grass To Feed Nigerian Cattle, Bishop's Wife Begs FG

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Don't Import Grass To Feed Nigerian Cattle, Bishop's Wife Begs FG

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.