He was talking in reaction to the advice given by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Bauchi State chapter, which required its members to vacate the 17 states in Southern Nigeria.
MACBAN gave the advice following a ban on open grazing issued by governors of the region after a meeting in Asaba, Delta State.
Reacting, Garba said in a Twitter thread on Monday, “I perfectly agree with this proposal. All Fulani present in Southern Nigeria should come back. We shall use the cattle, process the resources, and sell all over the world as finished goods.
“Cattle have more economic value than the entire oil and gas reserve we have in Nigeria. Our major stakeholders in the North must admit cows as business opportunities not just culture & invest heavily to bring #CowToCurrency to reality. Cows alone can solve all Northen problems.
“The job opportunities, the manufacturing centres, & the connection to global hubs of demands for the best cattle meats can open more doors and set for the liberation of Northern Nigeria from cheap and somewhat, useless oil assets. We must invest in harvesting the value of cattle.
“A litter of cow at N350 is much more than the value of a litre of oil at N145. With over 20 million cows, take 1/3 as milk-producing female on average of 5 litres a day, we’ll have almost N12 billion/day from cow milk. That’s about N700 million/state/day. About N21 billion/state/month.
“That is much higher than the monthly allocation the largest state receives in the North. Again, each cow can generate a minimum of 3 jobs. Rearing, slaughtering, processing, marketing, selling, and management. 5 million cows =15 million jobs. I marvel at the laziness of Northern governors.
“Northern governors think awarding contracts for building roads, taking their cuts is all they need for themselves. Doing so has subjected the North to condescension and dehumanisation from some elements in the South.
The time is now for them to wake up to our potential.
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“It is becoming increasingly clear that the 2023 election is a game between cattle states and non-cattle states. Let’s be blunt about this.
If Northern leaders do not wake up to this urgent reality, the target will not just be the cow, but the cow harbouring states and their adherents.
“From each cow, you have: oil, meat, skin, milk, horn, bones, dungs, grasses, more fertile land. You also have land, gold, diamond, silver, oil/gas, cement, rivers, fishes, all agricultural produce, culture, values, forests, Sahara, etc. Why would you ever wait for oil and oil only? Shame!”
