Researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Colorado have developed a superconducting switch that “learns” like its biological counterpart.
The new computer operates like the human brain
The switch, called a synapse, could connect processors and store memories within future computers operating like the human brain.
According to the study, the NIST switch supplies a missing piece for so-called neuromorphic computers.
Envisioned as a new type of artificial intelligence, such computers could boost perception and decision-making for applications such as self-driving cars and cancer diagnosis.
Biological synapse is a connection or switch between two brain cells.
NIST’s artificial synapse, a squat metallic cylinder 10 micrometers in diameter, is a connecting switch between incoming electrical spikes and the signals being output.
It works in the same way that a human synapse quickly switches between two brain cells.
According to the study, NIST’s synapse would be used in neuromorphic computers made of superconducting components, which can transmit electricity without resistance, and therefore, would be more efficient than other designs based on semiconductors or software.
Data would be transmitted, processed and stored in units of magnetic flux.
“The NIST synapse has lower energy needs than the human synapse, and we don’t know of any other artificial synapse that uses less energy,” NIST physicist Mike Schneider was quoted as saying in a news release.
Compared to a brain cell’s 50 times per second, NIST synapse is capable of firing one billion times per second.
The more firing between cells or processors, the stronger the connection.
Both the real and artificial synapses can thus maintain old circuits and create new ones.
The new synapse would be used to make neuromorphic computers, computers that function like the human brain, a reality.
These conceptual machines are made of superconducting components, which can transmit electricity without resistance, and therefore, would be more efficient than other designs based on semiconductors or software.
Data would be transmitted, processed and stored in units of magnetic flux.
Other superconducting devices mimicking the human brain cells and transmission have been developed in the past, but efficient synapses have been missing.
And NIST’s synapse now could be the crucial invention that would essentially tie them all together.
Crucially, the synapses can also be stacked in three dimensions (3-D) to make large systems that could be used for computing.
NIST researchers created a circuit model to simulate how such a system would operate.
Scientists have found a potential food source for astronauts, using microbes to convert human waste into Marmite-like food, local media have reported.
Christopher House
This is contained in their study published in the quarterly scientific journal Life Sciences in Space Research by Professor of Geosciences, Christopher House, and Director of the Penn State Astrobiology Research Centre.
According to British online newspaper, The Independent, researchers at Pennsylvania State University outlined a method to break down solid and liquid waste for producing protein and fat-rich substance from human waste.
“We envisioned and tested the concept of simultaneously treating astronauts’ waste with microbes while producing a biomass that is edible either directly or indirectly, depending on safety concerns,” they said.
“It’s a little strange, but the concept would be a little bit like Marmite or Vegemite, where you’re eating a smear of microbial goo,” the professor added.
Food supply is a major hurdle when planning lengthy space flights.
Recycling waste into nutritious food is one solution to this problem.
According to House and his colleagues, the method involves anaerobic digestion, a process that refers to the breakdown of materials in the absence of oxygen.
It is considered an efficient way of breaking down biodegradable matter.
The researcher said while their method is not ready for application yet, it provides a new model for creating food on board spacecraft.
“Imagine if someone were to fine-tune our system so that you could get 85 per cent of the carbon and nitrogen back from waste into protein without having to use hydroponics or artificial light,” said House.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says national programmes should boost active case-finding, strengthen surveillance, improve contact-tracing and focus more on early detection of leprosy cases among children to ensure achievement of the global target of zero child infection by 2020.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Photo credit: AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI / Getty Images
The call comes as the world observes World Leprosy Day on Sunday, January 28, 2018 to mark the suffering of people affected by this preventable and curable disease that appears to have eluded defeat.
Leprosy was globally declared to have been “eliminated as a public health problem” 18 years ago. However, pockets of endemicity have continued in many countries. India and Brazil report the highest number of cases annually.
Some of the children who have recently been diagnosed already showed signs of disability. This strongly calls for early case detection and surveillance, says the WHO.
Leprosy is caused by infection with the bacillus Mycobacterium leprae, which multiplies very slowly in the human body. The bacterium has a long incubation period (on average five years or longer). The disease affects nerve endings and destroys the body’s ability to feel pain and injury.
Data published by WHO in 2017 show that although the overall number of cases is slowly declining, that of new cases does not align with global efforts and resources deployed to interrupt transmission.
Reports from 145 countries of WHO’s six regions show that, of the total of 216,108 newly diagnosed cases of leprosy during 2016, 18,472 involved children, representing almost 9% of all new cases reported annually.
Leprosy is curable and treatment provided in the early stages averts disability.
Multidrug therapy is made available free of charge through WHO and has been donated to all patients wordwide by Novartis since 2000 (and earlier by The Nippon Foundation since 1995). It provides a simple yet highly effective cure for all types of leprosy.
Discrimination
Despite global efforts to repeal laws that discriminate against those affected by leprosy, adults still face crippling social barriers and children are deprived of education or subject to bullying and rejection due to stigma associated with the disease.
Besides elimination, WHO’s new global strategy focuses on working with governments and partners to end the discrimination and stigma associated with the disease and ensure that all legislation that allows for discrimination on the basis of leprosy is overturned.
Continued discrimination against people affected by leprosy has deterred people from coming forward for diagnosis and treatment and encouraged cases to remain hidden, indirectly contributing to transmission.
Social stigma also facilitates transmission among vulnerable groups, including migrant populations, displaced communities, and the ultra-poor and hard-to-reach populations. Combating stigma and ensuring early diagnosis through active case-finding, which the new strategy emphasises, is critical to making progress.
From the pace of climate action to saving the oceans, world leaders had plenty to say about the environment during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2018 in Davos. Jahda Swanborough, Lead, Environment Initiatives, World Economic Forum, recalls the key moments from the week-long forum, which held from January 23 to 26, 2018 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland
Participants during a session at Davos 2018
The greatest threat to civilisation
As leader of the fastest growing major economy in the world – as well as the world’s largest democracy – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi started the week by telling the Davos audience that climate change is the greatest threat to civilisation.
He was followed on the Davos stage by a week-long call to action by government, business, civil society, and youth leaders.
2018: A year to step up climate action
Risalat Khan, a young climate campaigner, said: “The previous generation of decision-makers have failed us, have failed our generation. I’m not sugar coating this. I think you have already failed us through the inaction from the previous generation. And the next three years, from 2018 to 2020, that’s the time that you have to redeem yourselves.
“That is the message to the previous generation of decision makers.”
Greenpeace’s Jennifer Morgan issued a plea to every leader at Davos to “connect the dots” on climate change and recognize that incremental change will not be enough. Leaders needed to catch up with their citizens, customers, and employees in connecting the dots and increasing the pace and scale of climate action.
Leading the charge in setting new climate commitments, French President Emmanuel Macron announced France would shut down all coal-fired power stations by 2021 and would make climate action one of five pillars in his plans to reform the economy.
Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra Group, described efforts to address climate change as the century’s biggest business opportunity. For his part, he announced that all Mahindra Group companies would commit to the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change by setting science-based targets for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. He called on his peers in business to “step up” and align their business strategies with the Paris Agreement.
The head of global insurance giant AXA told participants that climate change had become a reality for the insurance industry. Thomas Buberl said a global warming scenario of 3-4C degrees would not be insurable. As a consequence he announced that AXA would no longer insure coal projects and was also divesting from coal.
A one-man parade?
Governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, said President Trump was out on his own on climate change. “There is only one man in this parade. And no one has followed him in this regard.” He said that 15 states had joined the United States Climate Alliance, which was committed to the Paris agreement and represented 40% of the US economy.
An ocean of opportunity
To date, the world has relied on the oceans to mitigate climate change. They have absorbed 90% of the excess heat humanity has produced and around 30% of our CO2 emissions. But our oceans are under threat from plastics, over-fishing, global warming, and acidification.
An ambitious new global partnership to save life in the ocean was launched by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, Peter Thomson, and Isabella Lövin, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, with funding from Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne Benioff through the Benioff Ocean Initiative.
The Friends of Ocean Action partnership will comprise leaders from science, technology, business and non-governmental groups – around 40 of the world’s most committed and influential ocean activists and thought leaders – who will leverage their collective network to scale and accelerate action to meet Sustainable Development Goal 14, which is on oceans.
A window of opportunity
However, despite the commitments and strong words used throughout the week, there was also strong agreement that the environmental challenges facing humanity and our planet are urgent and cannot be ignored. We have a narrow window of opportunity to reverse course before it is too late and 2018 must be the year leaders step up to meet the challenge.
France will shut down all coal-fired power stations by 2021, President Emmanuel Macron said in an energetic speech to participants at Davos.
President Emmanuel Macron says a green strategy could create jobs. Photo credit: REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier
President Macron said he wanted to “make France a model in the fight against climate change,” as one of five pillars in his plans to reform the economy.
“That is a huge advantage in terms of attractiveness and competitiveness. Talent will come where it is good to live. We can create a lot of jobs with such a strategy,” he said.
Across the European Union, the economic tide is already turning against coal power: more than half of the bloc’s 619 coal-powered plants are losing money, according to a report. A combination of rapidly falling prices for renewables and air pollution laws are pushing them out of business.
President Macron also called for the EU, which already opened the world’s first carbon trading market, to “go a little bit further and create a floor price for CO2.” Carbon markets work by providing a financial incentive to pollute less; many experts have called for a minimum price on carbon to boost progress.
Not long returned from a meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping, President Macron acknowledged the Chinese leader’s commitment to the Paris Agreement.
Looking ahead to the gargantuan infrastructure project set to link China with Europe, Macron said:
“The new Silk Road has to be a green road. We cannot have a coal-based route.”
Whether silken or green, it will still be a bumpy road ahead to keep warming within the 2°C
targeted by the Paris agreement.
“On climate change, we’re losing the battle,” Macron said, adding that the world needed concrete action and results by 2020.
The Director-General, Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Prof. Sani Mashi, says the mixture of harmattan and heat conditions presently being experienced in some parts of Nigeria is caused by oscillation of Inter Tropical Divide (ITD).
Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, Prof. Sani Mashi
Mashi, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday, January 28, 2018, explained that ITD is the point where the South-westerly air mass and north-easterly air mass meet.
He further explained that the climate of Nigeria was being controlled by those two major air masses that were moving along opposite directions.
According to him, while the north-easterly travels from Chad, through the Sahara desert into Nigeria through the north eastern direction, south-westerly comes from the ocean through the coastal side.
“Wherever they meet, that point is a divide that is known as Inter Tropical Divide (ITD).
“Already, that oscillation has ceased and it is much towards the southern part of the country meaning that the much of ITD is already in favour of the south-westerly that is coming from the southern part of Nigeria.
“Meaning that the south westerly is pushing the north westerly.
“So, that being the case, it means we are now expecting more moist condition than dry condition in the north central part of Nigeria.
“That is why we are not experiencing much of harmattan in the north central Nigeria and the temperature has started going down already.
“That means a build up to the expectation of rainfall in the northern central Nigeria and that is the situation we have right now,’’ he said.
According to Mashi, the south westerly air mass from the southern part of the country is moist and usually hotter, while the north easterly air is drier and cooler.
He added that while the north easterly air mass brought lower temperature, the south westerly air mass transported hotter and higher temperature into the central region.
“Because of that the higher temperature is leading to more evaporation leading to more chances of condensation and that is why you have such a contradicting situation.
“You have haze and at the same time, the temperatures are higher.
“The expectation is that when you have haze the temperature should be lower because the north easterly is associated with lower temperature.
“South westerly is warmer because it has moisture and it is associated with warm air (ocean current).
“You are expecting that you would have higher heat where you are having because the ITD is oscillating and it is moving from one part of the north central to another.
“That is why we have these two contrasting situations in one location in most of north central Nigeria,’’ Mashi explained.
According to him, the harmattan period is already becoming shorter because the south westerly air mass is already overpowering north easterly air mass over central northern Nigeria.
The implication of this according to him is that we are likely to have early commencement of rain within central northern Nigeria.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) says the mixture of harmattan and heat presently being experienced over the central part of Nigeria can lead to early rainfall in the region in 2018.
Submerged part of BIPC Quarters, Makurdi, Benue State. Rainfall caused widespread flooding in central Nigeria in 2017
Prof. Sani Mashi, the Director-General of NiMet, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday, January 28, 2018.
He explained that the oscillation of Inter Tropical Divide (ITD) within the central region resulting from the meeting of south-westerly and north-easterly air masses would lead to early rains.
Mashi explained that ITD is the point where the South-westerly air mass and north-easterly air mass meet.
According to him, wherever the two major air masses meet will have rain.
“The harmattan period is already becoming shorter because the south westerly air mass is already overpowering north easterly air mass over central northern Nigeria.
“So, the implication of this is that we are likely to have early commencement of rain within central northern Nigeria,’’ he said.
The NiMet boss also said that the rainfall around the central states in December was not unusual, explaining that the same concentration of ITD within the region was responsible.
NAN recalls that there was rainfall in mid-December, 2017, a situation that had not occur for some years.
He said that the ITD had been oscillating going up and down within the central part of the country from November to December and even early part of January.
Mashi added that instead of the ITD to be progressing either moving down south or moving completely down north, it had continued to oscillate going up and down within the region.
“The implication of this is that over the central part of northern Nigeria for most part of November and December because of that oscillation, you have two conditions that were interchanging.
“The dry condition that is coming because of the air mass that is coming with the dry air and then the moist air that is coming from the southern region.
“Because of these two conditions you have the heavy air mass that is dry and the heavy air mass that is moist.
“Because of that, condition was created within the central northern Nigeria with condensation which means, moist condition coming to become condensed into cloud leading to the formation of rains.
“Because of that, you have some isolated cases of rainfall events in the central northern part of Nigeria.
“For instance, within Abuja, there was rain towards the third week of December and like I said, those events were recorded mainly within the central northern part of Nigeria and because this oscillation of ITD,’’ he said.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) said early cessation of rains in parts of Nigeria would have led to massive crops failure if early warnings were not issued to farmers through its 2017 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP).
Cassava farming
Prof. Sani Mashi, the Director-General of NiMet, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday, January 28, 2018 in Abuja.
According to him, “farmers have taken that warning seriously which is why we don’t have much reported cases of crop failure”.
“The implication of early cessation is the failure of crops that take longer time to mature.
“But because of the fact that a number of farmers have already been forewarned on the need to avoid going for crops that last longer time to mature, probably they have taken that that warning seriously.
“The cases of reported failure in terms of crop productivity are not so significant within the country.
“But definitely, there are cases of that crop failure, only that it was not significant enough probably because of large harvest or a lot of farmers have gone for early variety of crops species.
“Remember that when we made our predictions we made appeal especially to Agricultural Development Project offices of the various states on the need for them to make adequate publicity and enlightenment to farmers,’’ he said.
Mashi said that the level of accuracy of its 2017 predictions based on the feedback it had received so far was between 75 and 82 per cent.
According to him, the agency is yet to receive adequate feedback on the predictions from across the country to be able to determine a definite level of accuracy.
“The major challenge we have had in evaluating the level of accuracy of our predictions in the 2017 prediction is that we have not gotten the adequate number of feedbacks.
“But from the few feedbacks that we have got, the range of accuracy varies between 75 and 82 per cent.
“If we have received wider coverage in terms of the response, probably we would have got more reliable information.’’
The Federal Government says it has so far trained more than 8,000 farmers on rice value chain activities under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Programme (ATASP) Phase 1.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh
The National Coordinator of ATASP-1, Mr Haruna Akwashiki, said this in an interview the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday, January 2018.
He noted that the training was done in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB).
According to him, the training is in line with government’s determination to diversify the economy through agriculture, reduce imports and attain self-sufficiency in rice production.
Akwashiki said that 152, 651 tonnes of grains had been released to the market by farmers who were beneficiaries of the programme.
He explained that ATASP-1 had three major components of infrastructure development, commodity value chain and programme management.
According to him, the programme has also trained 3,931 beneficiaries on cassava and 3,498 beneficiaries on sorghum value chain.
“We have trained 205 youths on seeds production technology because we believe that one of the problems that farmers are facing today is the inability to get improved seeds.
“We are working assiduously on this to make sure that improved seeds are made available to farmers.
“More than 40,000 youths have also been trained in various aspects of agribusiness.
“About 120,000 new jobs have been created along the commodity value chain component,’’ he said.
The National Coordinator said the programme had provided eight clinics, 21 hand pumps, five rural markets, 10 primary schools in seven participating states in its infrastructure development component.
He listed the participating states to include Anambra, Enugu, Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto and Niger.
Akwashiki said that the construction of irrigation scheme and roads in the states would soon commence across the participating states.
NAN recalls that ATASP-1 was established in 2015.
The programme is being funded by the Federal Government and AfDB as its contribution to agricultural development in the country.
Its main objective is to ensure attainment of food and nutrition security, employment generation, wealth creation and import substitution.
NAN also recalls that the Federal Government had announced that the country would achieve self-sufficiency in rice production by 2018.
The Federal Government’s plan to establish cattle colonies as a way of checking the incessant herdsmen/farmers clashes has continued to attract reactions and vast interest since it was announced by the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, three weeks ago.
A herd of cattle
Ogbeh, while unveiling the policy, said that 16 states had indicated interest in the scheme and were prepared to volunteer parcels of land for it.
Reviews from across the states indicated that the policy has become an issue for discussion at newspaper stands, social joints, eateries and offices, with anxious Nigerians either condemning it, or suggesting that it has some merit that should be considered.
Many state governments as well as ethnic and regional associations have met over the policy and took positions, while many more are still conferring before deciding.
Already, many states in the south have openly rejected the policy, while some governors in the north, who earlier endorsed the idea, have backed out.
Kogi governor Yahaya Bello, for instance, who was quoted as endorsing the policy, has been told by two of the three major ethnic groups in the state – the Igala and Yoruba – to steer clear of their territory in his search for the land to be used as cattle colony.
The Kogi situation is similar to Plateau’s, one of the states listed by Ogbeh as ready to allocate land for the purpose. Some of Plateau’s leaders have openly rejected the idea and vowed to resist it.
First to fire the salvo was Senator Jonah Jang, Gov. Simon Lalong’s predecessor, who said that his Plateau Central constituents were opposed to the creation of cattle colonies and were not ready to relinquish their ancestral lands to be used for that.
Mr Titus Alams, former Speaker, Plateau House of Assembly, also voiced his opposition to the policy, declaring that Plateau has no land to spare as its farmers do not even have enough.
With more voices kicking against the policy, Lalong capitulated on Friday and told Plateau residents, via a statement signed by his media aide, Dan Manjang, that no Plateau land would be carved out and donated to be used as a cattle colony.
As the policy gets increasingly controversial, pundits appear lost over the difference between the colonies and ranches. Or even the grazing reserves the National Assembly rejected in 2008.
Ogbeh explained: “Cattle colonies are better for the breeding of cows because 30 or 40 ranches can share the same colony. A ranch is usually owned by an individual or a company with generally few cows. In a colony, you could find 30,000 cows owned by different owners.
“The reason why we are designing the colony is that we want to prepare on a large scale, on economy of scale, a place where many owners of cattle can co-exist, and where cows can be fed well, because we can make their feeds. They can get good water to drink. Cows drink a lot of water. We can give them green fodder.’’
From the minister’s explanation, colonies will be larger and sit on lands acquired by the Federal Government, unlike ranches where cattle breeders will acquire land according to extant rules and subject their operations to the norms and cultures of their host communities.
But for Dr. Sylvanus Atoh, a retired teacher and farmer, the idea of cattle colony has remained largely unpopular because it sounds “rather abstract’’.
“The idea may be a good one, but many people still do not know what it means and therefore suspect that it may be a tool being used to achieve some sinister agenda.
“The initiators have not clearly explained its modus operandi, thus giving an impression that communities will be created or carved out of existing ones solely for herders, availing them access to lands that are not theirs,’’ he said.
He advised government to step up efforts to address fears by providing answers to some crucial posers.
“There are many posers. If the land is acquired and the cattle colony is established, who owns that land? Who controls it? Does it belong to the Federal Government, traditional communities or families from whom it had been collected?
“What of the economic trees in such lands? Do they belong to the original owners of the land or the herdsmen occupying the colonies?’’
Atoh expressed the fear that the cattle colonies could turn out to be “states’’ within a state because they would be autonomous communities whose life style might not be the same with their host communities.
Mr Emeka Anosike, Chairman, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), has also expressed reservations about the potency of the cattle colonies as a panacea to the herdsmen/farmers clashes.
“The minister has said that a colony will host 40 ranches which means that hundreds of herders will settle there. Such herders will increase in number and seek more land to occupy which could cause more clashes.
“Again, the lands to be donated are arable lands belonging to people which perpetually denies them of their ancestral property. If each state donates 10,000 hectares of land as proposed, it will translate to 370,000 hectares of land mass given to a group for personal business.
“Nigerian communities are agrarian in nature and need lands for their agricultural activities; taking away scarce arable lands will impede farming activities in rural communities.
“The best step is to encourage individual cattle owners to acquire land for ranching which is the practise in other civilised climes,’’ he said.
Some analysts have also argued that cattle colonies must first be preceded by a census of herdsmen and their cattle, so as to know what number to cater for.
One such analyst is Mr Adamu Yusuf, a retired civil servant now a farmer based in Saminaka, Kaduna State.
“As it is, we do not know the number of cattle in Nigeria. We do not know the number of herdsmen either. So, how can we effectively plan?,’’ he asked.
He said that a census of herdsmen was important in view of recent observations that most of the herdsmen attacking rural farming communities were not Nigerians.
Yusuf recalled that Kaduna Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, in 2016, confirmed that herdsmen attacking rural communities in that state were not Nigerians.
He quoted the governor as saying that he had established contact with the attackers who were based in some West African countries, and had begun discussions with them toward halting the attacks.
“So, if we established such cattle colonies, what is the guarantee that they will be occupied by local herdsmen and not foreigners?,’’ he asked rhetorically.
Accounts of attacks on Plateau rural communities, as relayed by their traditional rulers, appear to lend credence to Yusuf’s position.
The monarchs, at a meeting organised by the Plateau Police Command and held in Jos recently, said that the attackers were very different from the herdsmen they had related with, over the years.
Mr Patrick Mandong, the Gomre of Kuru and Rev. Ronku Akaa (rtd) the Braa Nggwe in Bassa, all disclosed that the attackers were “strange people’’, and urged government to strive to rid the nation of such strangers.
Like Yusuf, the monarchs advised that effort to settle the herdsmen and their cattle must be preceded by a thorough screening so as to avoid accommodating foreign elements that were not interested in peace.
But as government trudges on with the policy, Ogbeh has tried to assuage the fears by saying that communal land ownership would not be transferred to herdsmen wherever colonies are established.
“There is no truth in the speculations that government is conspiring to grant supremacy over communal land to herdsmen. Government is not using herdsmen to colonise anyone because the project is being executed in partnership with the government of states that volunteered land for it.’’
He said that the Federal Government would fund the project while those wishing to benefit from it will pay some fees.
Ogbeh said that government would soon hold a stakeholders’ meeting on the implementation of the new policy so as to listen to the complaints and address the fears.
Dr. Ahmed Muhammad, former Executive Director, National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), Vom, believed the colonies have their merits. However, he suggested that ranching remains the best option for the cattle breeders because “it is more compact’’.
He advised government to sell the ranching idea to the herdsmen with conviction, saying that it would make it easier to draw a line between Nigerian and foreign herdsmen, who cannot be steadied in one place.
“The herdsmen also desire a better life and will buy into an initiative that promises them that; they should be enlightened to focus more on quality instead of the quantity of cows,’’ he said.
Muhammad said there is need to settle cows in one place, and attributed the opposition to the cattle colonies on the delay in establishing them when land was available.
“Government should have established the colonies, grazing reserves or ranches long ago. It will be difficult now because the land is getting smaller.
“Livestock has been neglected and more attention paid to crops. There are grazing reserves and cattle routes in every state; the respective governments know this because they were all gazetted. It is unfortunate that they have been sold or turned into settlements,’’ he said.
Ironically, some leaders of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), the umbrella body of the herdsmen, do not believe on the need for cattle colonies.
Alhaji Sadiq Gidado, its Chairman in Awka, Anambra State, told newsmen recently that cattle colonies would not work “especially in the South-East geopolitical zone’’.
“In the South-East, the proposed cattle colonies cannot work; you cannot just take somebody’s land and give to another person to conduct his own business; it is not right,’’ he said at a press conference in Awka.
He said that the Anambra government has devised a way of avoiding herdsmen/farmers clashes by working in synergy with security operatives, farmers and herdsmen through the Cattle Menace Control Committee.
Gidado, who dismissed cattle colonies and ranches as “political creations’’ by politicians to bring disharmony between farmers and herdsmen, blamed the frictions on migrant cattle breeders, who were not members of MACBAN, saying that the body had fashioned out some measures to forestall future incidents.
“The regulation is that you only graze where there are no farms. If you destroy farmlands intentionally or unintentionally, you must be punished for what you have done and be made to pay for what you have destroyed,’’ he said.
As the debate rages on, many observers have seen merit in Gidado’s position that what was required is a workable solution that will protect the interests of all sides.
Observers urged the government to consult widely to arrive at a lasting solution that will address mutual fears and restore the age-old cordial relationship between the farmer and herdsman.
