Buratai Sends Troops Abroad To Learn Cattle Rearing
Tukur Buratai, Chief of Army Staff[/caption]
*As Army Sets Up Ranches Nationwide –
Amidst security challenges in the north east and Niger Delta region, the Nigerian Army has announced plans to set up cattle ranches across the country.
The Chief of Army Logistics, Major General Patrick Akem, stated this on Tuesday, while speaking at the commissioning of the Mogadishu Cantonment New Mammy Market (former Abacha Barracks), in Abuja.
According to him, the ranches will be set up in such a manner that cattle will be reared in nearly every division and brigade.
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The Army Chief disclosed that with the new initiative, officers have been sent to Argentina for proper training on cattle rearing.
“Argentina has a population of 41 million people, but it feeds about 400 million people around the world with its beef.
“To take it to the next level, we want to adopt a system where the cattle are not just free ranging coming from Sokoto to Port Harcourt, thereby making their meat tough to eat, the products will soon be coming from our own farms and ranches,” he said.
He noted that he has created the Barrack Investment Initiative as platform that affords Army family members the opportunity of raising up fishing ponds, vegetable gardens, fruits, livestock, chicken and their eggs.
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He went further to add that the army seeks to empower the wives of the officers so that they can add value to the Nigerian economy and be self-independent.
He said: “We want to tell our wives that they can live beyond the salaries of their husbands, so we are trying to empower the women in the barracks to be able to form cooperatives, so as to access loans and to a large extent be able to fend for themselves and their families, even without the salaries of their husbands.”
