The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai
has revealed that the Nigerian Army would be raising up cattle ranches in such
a manner that in almost all the divisions, and all the brigades, cattle will be
reared, reports NaijaAgroNet.
Gen. Buratai who was represented by the Chief of Army
Logistics, Major General Patrick Akem, made this disclosure, Tuesday at the
Commissioning of Mogadishu Cantonment New Mammy Market (former Abacha Barracks)
in Abuja.
He also disclosed that in keeping up with modern cattle
rearing tradition, he sent officers of the Army to Argentina to look at how cattle
were reared.
“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,” Buratai
said.
He pointed out that the Army 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.
As said by him, the intention of the Nigerian Army was not
just to secure the country, but to contribute in growing the economy of the
nation.
“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 co-operatives, 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,” he said.
Equally speaking, the Commander Army Headquarters Garrison,
Major General John Malu said that the formidable shopping edifice had over 2000
shops, 27 warehouses and a printing press owned by the Nigerian Navy. He added
that the services of a reputable private security firm was contracted to handle
the security of the market.
Uboshe Uboshe/GEE
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