Alhaji Bello Maugeri, a native of Adamawa State, travelled down with his father to settle in Amawbia, a community in the old Enugu State, now part of Anambra State as a cattle trader, in 1986.
Maugeri’s father traded cattle across the old Enugu State, including present-day Anambra State, following the creation of the state in 1991. Enugu was the cattle depot for Southeast in the past. However, Maugeri’s father moved to Anambra to commence a livestock trade as one of the pioneer cattle dealers.
As the business expanded, Maugeri worked with his father and later became the manager of the livestock trade. After his father retired and returned to Adamawa State, Maugeri inherited the business.
Thirty-nine years later, Maugeri is today the chairman of the Anambra Cattle market in Amansea — A community on the border with Enugu State.
The market is situated on about 2,500 square meters of land (equivalent to six plots), accommodating over 150 livestock traders, including northerners and easterners in the state.
He was not timid about speaking about his business when THE WHISTLER called on him.
“Anambrarians are good, and we have been doing business with them to the extent that some of us have intermarried with them and have had children,” Maugeri told THE WHISTLER.
Igbo Dominate Cattle Business
According to Maugeri, the success of the cattle trade in an Anambra State demonstrates that tribal nuances are merely a product of human imagination.
Twice a week, nearly one million cattle are offloaded to the market, sometimes on credit to traders, including Igbo cattle traders who resell and make payment later.
The National Deputy Director of MACBAN, Alhaji Gidado Siddiki, told THE WHISTLER that more Easterners are involved in the cattle business in Anambra than northerners.
“The Igbos are the ones doing this cattle business. If you count the Igbo people; if there are 1,000 people in the business, it is only 100 that are northerners,” Siddiki, who’s also from Adamawa, stated.
According to him, having moved to Anambra in 1986 after his secondary school education, married with four children now graduates, he has recorded successes and experienced similar challenges as his Igbo brothers.
The graduate of Nnamdi Azikiwe University described Anambra as “accommodating” and “beneficial,” saying he records grossly N3-N4 million a month and an average net profit of N1.5m per annum.
Cattle Business in Anambra
Although natives of Adamawa are generally nomads, the MACBAN stakeholder revealed that not all northerners are willing to explore the nation’s eastern region due to fear of being attacked. However, he said, many northerners are taking the chance and are thriving in Anambra.
“You can see that even with the cattle we are displaying here, the place is not enough for us,” Maugeri, the cattle market chairman, noted, pointing at the over 2,500 square meters of land.
The chairman said insufficient space for the cattle market led to the collective purchase of three separate lands, estimated at over 3,000 square meters, from a family in Amansea.
Despite the nation’s average food inflation rate at 39.09 per cent in 2024, cattle trading in Anambra records significant turnover, according to Maugeri due to daily patronage from individuals and commercial traders.
The lowest price of a cow is N550,000 and the highest is N2.5m.
According to the chairman, the market enjoys frequent patronage from residents carrying out ceremonial functions and butchers.
“The livestock here comes from the North every Monday and Tuesday. Sometimes, we offload on Wednesday. Before Friday and Saturday, the number would reduce.
“About 500 to 600 rams are offloaded, then for the cattle, about 800 to one million cattle are offloaded here,” Maugeri revealed.
Challenges
Despite this feat, the cattle traders said they are dissatisfied with the government over the negligence of the market.
Despite generating substantial revenue, with over 150 cattle traders and 50 petty traders paying N17,500 per annum in taxes, the Maugeri said the market lacks proper facilities and infrastructure.
“Cattle are not meant to be kept along a busy major road, but rather in a less occupied environment for business,” Maugeri said.
“This land you see here used to be very big; we purchased it at an affordable rate from a family member in Amansea.
“Years later, the owners began to sell each section gradually. Now, the entire place has been sold.
“They issued us a notice to leave by the end of January, and we have complied by temporarily purchasing land close by while waiting for a permanent solution.
“We have been pleading to the government, from Peter Obi to Obiano and the present administration; we have written many letters.
“We visited many offices, and they set up many committees to see that we are relocated to a permanent place where we can do our legal business, but till now, the demands have not been met.
“Hopefully, this present administration is making an effort to see that we get a new place to help us do our business,” Maugeri explained.
The traders acknowledged that although lands were allocated to them during the military and post-military era and Peter Obi’s administrations, cattle traders had rejected the locations due to bad roads. However, they would not mind returning there again.
“We want the government to map out a place for the business and modernize it. By modernising it, we are saying that we do not want traders sleeping in the market.
“We can map out the market where we have shops for daily sales that end by 7 pm, not overnight, and the market closes, and everyone returns to their various homes.”
“This will also see cattle traders go home after the day’s business, and that way, the government gets to make their revenue,” Maugeri said.
Highlighting the need for sustainable management, Maugeri said, “It is like the government is neglecting the business. If the business is well-managed, the government will generate a lot of revenue from it, despite the existing tax demanded from us.”
THE WHISTLER gathered that bulldozers are currently on-site at the cattle market, indicating the end of their use, as hopes are high for the government’s intervention.
Northerners Thrive As CattIe Traders In Anambra, But Igbo Dominate Livestock Trade is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Source: The Whistler
