For seven days now, Rt. Hon. Isa Mohammed Ashiru has been the most discussed topic across media platforms in Kaduna State. From his appearance at interactive session with the Jama’atul Nasirul-Islam, JNI, Kaduna State Chapter to the interface with the congress of the NLC, and then the parley with members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, in Kaduna, the PDP governorship hopeful has given the opposition and indeed the public plenty to chew and to talk about.
In all those fora, Ashiru presented his 5-point agenda which bother on security, agriculture, healthcare, education, science and technology, and youths and women empowerment with aura and deftness of touch. He left no one in doubt about his plan to reunite the state, collaborate with religious-based and Traditional Institutions as well as the the youths in turning around the fortunes of the state.
He demonstrated great knowledge of the history state, promised fairness to all zones and LGAs and also a new leaf for rural dwellers, particularly the youths. His reference to training rural youths on raising/rearing the Kalahari goats (jajayen awakai) in commercial quantity targeting the Eastern (Igbo) region as the major market is cerebral.
Unfortunately, instead of praises, some members of the opposition APC, who either out of mischief or sheer ignorance resorted to making a caricature of his presentation. But to set the records straight, the demand for goat meat in Nigeria and the world has been the on the rise with even some of the countries considered to be advanced earning billions in foreign exchange from the export of goat and sheep meat. According to a report, in 2020, Australia exported $2.7B in Sheep and Goat Meat, making it the 1st largest exporter of Sheep and Goat Meat in the world. At the same year, Sheep and Goat Meat was the 9th most exported product in Australia. The main destination of Sheep and Goat Meat exports from Australia are: United States ($707M), China ($663M), United Arab Emirates ($143M), Malaysia ($136M), and Qatar ($133M).
In a state wrecked by 8 years of crass ineptitude in governance that culminated into abject poverty, bankruptcy (every citizen owing over 32,000 naira), worsening agriculture and rural neglect, training its rural farmers, especially youths innthe art of rearing goats and tapping into a virgin global market should receive commendation and not condemnation.
The teeming but poor rural population should not allow itself to be deceived by the agents of of a political party that has made poverty and hunger the new normal in Kaduna State.
In the face of the unbearable debt burden, dwindling federal allocation, and high unemployment rate, proposing livestock farming for rural dwellers among other agricultural and economic policies is certainly a great idea.
Rt. Hon. Isa Mohammed Ashiru, mat your vision for the people of this state see the light of the day after the major of the people must have given you the mandate come March 12, 2023.
Without any iota of doubt, ashiru is coming!
~Edward John Auta is the Special Adviser, Media and Public Affairs and Senior Member of the PDP Campaign Management Committee in Kaduna State.
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