The cow does not need oil

By Ahmadu Shehu, Ph.D.   It is true that the large chunk of Nigeria’s export comes from oil and that Nigeria depends to a great extent on this commodity for economic survival. However, this situation is the result of economic laziness – one of the many curses that came with crude oil to our country. […]

By Ahmadu Shehu, Ph.D.

 

It is true that the large chunk of Nigeria’s export comes from oil and that Nigeria depends to a great extent on this commodity for economic survival.

However, this situation is the result of economic laziness – one of the many curses that came with crude oil to our country. In the pre-oil era, Nigeria was faring better, leading in many aspects of social and economic endeavours, especially agriculture and technical skills.

 This diversity of resources made our economy very resilient. Those were the days when Nigeria was a role model to the developing world.    

Speaking of livestock and animal husbandry in today’s Nigeria leads to misleading insinuations that some supremacist ethnic group domiciled in the bush wants to hijack the “southern-oil-money” to rear cows. 

These claims are not only wrong but also pathetically ignorant of national and global economics. The fact is that, all over the world, animal husbandry is mainly economic and not ethnic, religious or regional.

 It is a matter of income, survival and sustenance. Data from butcheries, ternaries, restaurants, etc. in Enugu, Lagos and Port Harcourt can confirm this.    

 However, I do not squarely blame the proponents of these narratives for their lack of understanding of the basic economic outlook of this country.

 I assume that this kind of utter ignorance is also one of the curses caused by crude oil in Nigeria. 

Just as it killed all other viable sectors of our economy and transformed our political leadership into a set of docile, sit-and-wait set of people it has succeeded in destroying our intellectual discourse.

Today, all socioeconomic conversations are viewed from the narrow prism of petrodollars.   

Thus, our socio-economic and political conversation is now bereft of ideas and far from our social realities.

 It is sad to see many people failing to appreciate the glaring fact that six decades after the discovery of oil at commercial quantity, this country did not only fail to develop but has moved backward in all indices of human and social development. 

The topmost hierarchy of political leaders, policymakers and civil society has failed to learn one simple, practical truth: that the strength, resilience and prosperity of our country are not in oil. They are right there under our feet and noses, at the backyards, waiting forever to be harnessed and utilised. 

Nigeria can take a cue from our mates, ala Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, India, etc.

Now, back to the “oil-money” narrative. Are herders and cattle breeders actually asking for “oil-money”? No. In fact, herders do not care – or are not interested in the existence of crude oil in Nigeria.  

Secondly, those of us advocating for the development of the livestock sector do so for the economic advancement of Nigeria, in general, and not just the herders or “Fulani” as would say the bigots. For one, agriculture (livestock and crop) is the largest contributor to Nigeria’s economic growth. 

It contributes 40 per cent of economic activities, employing over 60 per cent of our country’s population. 

That is some 160 million Nigerians. You may think that the livestock sector is economically barren and that governments and other sectors of the economy do not benefit from it. You may even argue that only the “Malams/Awusas” benefit from the economic resources in this sector. But, you are dangerously mistaken and I will show you why.

In Nigeria today, livestock is a multibillion dollar business sector. Estimates by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture show that each year, Nigeria produces (and consumes) at least 18.4 million cattle, 43.4 million sheep, 76 million goats, 180 million poultry birds, among other things.

 Multiply these numbers to any amount of years and see the contribution of the livestock to the Nigerian economy. For the purposes of demonstration, let’s assume each of the 18.4 million heads of cattle is valued at $200 only. What you get is a staggering 6 billion dollars – three trillion naira per year – i.e. about a quarter of the country’s annual budget.

My experience in cattle businesses tells me that governments at all levels make a minimum of 10% direct revenue on each cattle, ranging from THE market, LG, state, transportation, etc. levies that trail the cattle market chain. 

But, this is just for cattle. These numbers multiply exponentially when other varieties of livestock come into the equation. 

Now, consider other extended revenues on factories and sub-sectors that rely solely on livestock, such as leather, meat and dairy industries. 

While doing the maths, please remember that these raw and food materials serve Nigeria, one of the largest markets in the world, the most populous African country and the largest economy on the continent. 

The economic resources and taxations derived from this sector are simply massive!   The question that naturally follows this arithmetic is, therefore: How much is Nigeria’s budget for the development of this sector and the millions of people it employs?  As Nigerians, we are aware of the 12 per cent derivation to the so-called oil-bearing states at the expense of other equal federating units. 

The basis for this disparity is to enhance development of the immediate oil-bearing communities. Similarly, a large chunk of the oil income is reinvested in the development of the oil and gas industry.

 Businesses and individuals in this industry benefit tremendously from these incentives and investments.  

On the contrary, the Nigerian budgetary allocations for agriculture in general and the livestock sector in particular, have been very meagre and far below the lowest AU benchmark of 10 per cent. For instance, from 2015, the allocations for agriculture have been below two per cent of the budget, receiving a paltry N160 billion (1.37 per cent) in 2020.

Obviously, this is far from commensurate to the economic and financial contributions of the sector in Nigeria’s GDP. It also negatively affects the lives of the majority of Nigerians whose livelihoods depend on agriculture. 

 While the government’s spending on agriculture is itself pathetic, the situation is even worse in the livestock sub-sector. 

For instance, under “promotion and development of animal production and husbandry value chain” the 2020 budget proposes only N546.1 million for the whole livestock sub-sector. 

Note that this amount was not budgeted for just cattle, or sheep, or poultry, but for the whole livestock value chain in Nigeria. And that is just a proposal, not actual spending. 

This, given the resources, financial and material contributions of the sector is an insult to the human senses of any keen observer. Juxtaposing this estimate to that of the crop value chain makes the economic injustice against livestock producers even more glaring. 

 It appears, therefore, that across all the three tiers of government, and even within the agricultural sector, livestock production and development are grossly marginalised.

Now, it is in this socioeconomic reality that the governments and other Nigerians outside the economic chain of livestock anticipate a quick, sufficient, and even elegant modern livestock breeding system in Nigeria. 

Worse still, the government expects these people who suffer from this severe lack of financial support, access to social development and political representation to be absolutely immune to the social consequences of this economic inequality and injustice. 

 The points to be derived from the foregoing discussion are that herders and livestock breeders do not need oil or its by-products to grow livestock. 

By and large, herders are not asking for “oil money” because the cow does not need oil to prosper. We are only saying that the money accrued from the livestock sector – a small portion of our contribution to the nation’s economic basket be reinvested into the very sector that produces it as is done for other salient sectors of the economy. Full stop!  

 Dr. Ahmadu Shehu is a herdsman and an academic. He can be reached via [email protected]