In a candid interview on Arise TV From 10:58, a political economist, Adakole Ijogi discussed the challenges arising from population growth since Nigeria’s independence, particularly regarding the availability of grazing reserves for cattle breeders.
He noted that the population has increased from 45 million at independence to over 200 million today, resulting in the encroachment of grazing reserves by human settlements.
He contrasted this situation with the significant number of people engaged in small and medium-scale businesses across the country, estimated at 33 million.
He expressed skepticism about claims that there are 10 million cattle breeders, implying that the scale of the issue might be exaggerated.
He said, “From the tone of independence, they created grazing reserves for these cattle breeders. It was 45 million population at independence, now it is over 200 million population. So, all those grazing reserves have been encroached on by population explosion. The total population of small and medium scale business in Nigeria according to statistics is 33 million, how can you tell me that cattle breeders are 10 million?”….Seë_Morë