President Bola Tinubu says his administration’s renewed focus on driving international and local investments into the livestock sector will end farmer-herder clashes.
Tinubu said this on Thursday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the signing of a Letter of Intent between the Nigerian Government and JBS S.A, one of the top three largest meat processing companies globally.
“What we are doing right now is that we are solving a problem that afflicts humanity in that part of Africa.
“Clashes between farmers and migrating cows have caused some lives and bloodshed when there is a modern, civilised way to solve those problems and even bring a successful economy out of it.
“We are trying to turn a situation of tragedy, hopelessness into economic opportunity, see through problems and see the opportunity that is involved in it,” he said.
The Nigerian leader called on the company to see the considerable potential in the $2.5 billion livestock investment opportunities in Nigeria, especially with its huge population and tap into it.
“We’ve heard so much about you in terms of the reputation, and we believe in the partnership we are forging today.
“Food security is extremely important. As we talk right now, there is hunger. However, there is huge hope. And you are one of those hopes that we are looking at,” said the president.
Tinubu told the JBS top executives that Nigeria was ready to do business with them, assuring them of a good return on their investment.
Prior to his visit to Brazil, the president had commissioned a team of Nigerian officials and private sector players to take advantage of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio to conduct a study tour of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
He charged them to explore the opportunities in livestock development, meat processing, seed development and multiplication for key grains.
In his remarks, Idi Maiha, the Minister of Livestock Development, who led the delegation, said the team embarked on extended tours of companies on their operations, as well as the deployment of technology.
He added that from their interactions with various companies, JBS S.A. was chosen to be the second-largest meat processing company in the world.
Maiha said the company could process 33,000 cattle daily and over eight million birds daily, using advanced zero-waste practices.
The company employs over 200,000 people across its subsidiaries in more than 50 countries in the world including the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia among others.
Wesley Batista, founder and President of the JBS group, said the company was the largest employer of labour in Brazil with over 79 billion dollars in revenue already in 2024.
“We are glad to work with Nigeria to work together to develop the livestock industry there.
“We think it’s a good opportunity for our business in Nigeria and Africa as we believe Nigeria can be the centre of supply of protein to many countries in Africa.
“We look forward to working with you. We are almost in December and this year is almost gone. We hope to be in Nigeria as soon as possible,” he said.
Other members of the delegation included Hon. Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi, Minister of State, Agriculture and Food Security as well as Prof. Attahiru Jega, Co-chairman of the Presidential Livestock Reform Committee.
Others were: Prof. Mohammed Yahya, the Secretary of the Committee and Aisha Rimi, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council.