By Hassan Danladi Idris
The Niger State Government has engaged
stakeholders in an effort to establish a database of Pastoralists in the state.
The stakeholders engagement meeting organized by the Ministry of Nomadic and Pastoral Affairs in Niger State, was to brainstorm on the modalities of how to Collect Data of the Pastoralists residing in the state with the aim to ensure all inclusiveness.
The Commissioner of the Ministry Alhaji Umar Sanda Rabe, said pastoralist communities in Nigeria were among the most neglected people in the country, suffering the highest level of food insecurity, poverty and lack of basic social amenities, but equally importantly, a lack of accurate data makes it difficult to formulate the policies needed to improve their wellbeing.
He said Niger state government under Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago, deemed it imperative to mplement the Pastoralists Baseline data collection across the 25 Local Government Areas of the state in order to plan and project well for them.
“Fulani settlers and herders were disadvantaged in their access to basic social amenities such as potable water, healthcare facilities, electricity and schools hence the need for the engagement to reach out to them.
“We want a comprehensive data of all Pastoralists in the state who are they, where are their settlementw and what is theit number, more so that basic amenities can reach out to them easily” the commissioner said.
Alhaji Rabe therefore called for support and understanding from all stakeholders to ensure that the digital data collection which is going to be a continuous process to enable everybody to be part and parcel of the government.
The meeting had in attendance stakeholders from Ministries of Planning, Agriculture, Education, Local Government and Statistics, Information and Communication Technology, Local Government Council, Traditional rulers and community leaders as well as security agencies.