Cattle freight from Gusau

The Managing Director, Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending,ý Abdulhameed Aliyu, described the arrival of cattle by train to Lagos from Gusau as a feat and a pleasant surprise as well as (a) good omen for the innovative project of moving cattle from the north to the south by rail.

According to Aliyu, “We are indeed happy to hear that the wagons have arrived ahead of schedule. We are very delighted that the historic train has arrived earlier than projected.”

It is indeed sad if not depressing posturing to be smart in an environment like Nigeria, where anything goes. You end up doubting the humanity of otherwise enlightened individuals who handle the reins of office. In my days at the University of Lagos, the typical question was, “Ibu du ewu?” Meaning, “Are you a goat?”

We are so used to mediocrity that any activity or service delivery that approaches the norm is hailed as phenomenal. How on earth can the MD of NISRAL describe the mere arrival of a cattle train in Lagos after a two and half day journey as historic? When was this young man born?

In several writings proposing solutions to the unabating problem of the wandering Fulani herdsmen, I had recommended that cattle for slaughter must henceforth no longer arrive at the destination on the hoof. Cattle can cross state boundaries ONLY in a truck, trailer or train. It could not have been an original idea of mine when I recall those modes of cattle transfer in my youthful days at Enugu from 1957 to 1967 before the shooting war started. I lived barely 300m from the Railway Station and the locomotive running sheds.

The bar for performance has been set so low that it may not surprise me if Aliyu gets awarded an MON for “inventing” the cattle train. The question should have been why it took so long. Is this train ride a stunt, or a sample of things to come? Only time will tell.