Livestock Development: Tilde welcomes Jega’s appointment, worries over paltry allocation to Ministry
A former member of the Presidential Committee on Implementation of Livestock Reforms, Dr Aliyu Usman Tilde, has welcomed the appointment of Professor Attahiru Jega as Special Adviser to the President on Livestock.
He however expressed concern about the poor budgetary allocation for the new Ministry of Livestock Development, saying it was as if it was primed to fail.
In a post on his Facebook page, Tilde, a former Commissioner for Education in Bauchi state, described Jega as one of the very best from the North, who has high measure of integrity, and has led the livestock reform committee.
“He has deep knowledge of the livestock sector. Appointing him as Adviser is a very good thing.
“However, it is imperative for the people of the North, where Jega comes from, to know that before they start to castigate him if things don’t work out, the budget of the ministry shows clearly that the government doesn’t seem to be interested in the sector, I’m no longer enthusiastic about the creation of the livestock ministry.
“The government budgeted just N11 billion. The ministry is to create seven ranches yet the budget for each is a paltry N50 million. Even the issue of conflict resolution, as important as it is, only N70 million was earmarked for that. That money will not even be enough for logistics.
“With this scenario, the tendency is to heap the blame on the minister and special adviser, whereas it is the government that doesn’t seem to be interested in the whole thing,” he observed.
Tilde also cited the example of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children, which has been consistently starved of funding since its creation.
He indicated that only N1 billion was allocated to the commission for capital projects in 2025 from a total budget of N1.8 billion.
The details showed that the money is supposed to cover skills acquisition programmes, renovation and equipping of Tsangaya schools and learning centres, establishment of state offices nationwide, procurement of computers and office equipment, purchase of vehicles, and purchase of a fixed asset with over 20% of the N1 billion, among others.
