Ahmed Ododo of Kogi, on Thursday, inaugurated Private Veterinary Practice (PVP) programme aimed at ensuring consumption of safe and healthy livestock
By Stephen Adeleye
Gov. Ahmed Ododo of Kogi, on Thursday, inaugurated Private Veterinary Practice (PVP) programme aimed at ensuring consumption of safe and healthy livestock in the state.
Ododo, while inaugurating the programme in Lokoja, said livestock farming played a critical role to ensure food security and drive industrialisation in the state.
The governor urged stakeholders’ collaboration in the agriculture sector to ensure that the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES) project succeeded in Kogi.
“Livestock farming plays a critical role in our strategy to ensure food security in and drive industrialisation in the state.
“I pledge our full cooperation with all stakeholders in the food value chain to achieve large scale livestock farming in Kogi State.
“We are prepared to implement the necessary legal and administrative framework and affirm to eliminate any obstacle that hinders investments in this vital sector,” he said.
Ododo commended the World Bank team for the support, especially in the establishment of Livestock Service Centre (LSC) in the state, saying that the government was commitment to taking full advantage of the project for the benefit of the people.
“We are all coordinators in this project, and we will see to its success,” he said.
He reiterated the government’s seriousness towards the programme given its impact on the lives of the people, and warned against any act of sabotage from state officials.
“In the last four to five months, I have seen the role that L-PRES has played in the lives of our people,” he said.
Also speaking, Dr Manieval Sene, the Task Team Leader of L-PRES Project, World Bank, on the Implementation Support Mission to Kogi, said the project implementation remained on track.
Sene urged the State Implementation Committee as well as as the Project leadership to work assiduously to ensure that the project impacted the lives of the people.
According to him, a strategic plan has been developed for the project and it counts on veterinarians in the state to ensure the success.
Earlier, Dr Sanusi Abubakar, the National Project Coordinator of L-PRES Project, Abuja, said that Kogi had taken the lead in the implementation of the L-PRES project in the country.
While enumerating the importance of the Private Veterinary Practice (PVP) programme, Abubakar described the programme as a calculated attempt to strengthen veterinary practice in Kogi.
He explained that the involvement of private veterinarians in the L-PRES was borne out of the fact that only 15 per cent out of the over 11,000 Veterinary Doctors in Nigeria work with government.
“Therefore, we need more of them in the project to render services such as vaccination, disease surveillance, treatment of disease, outbreak response amongst others in both urban and rural areas,” Abubakar said.
On his part, Mr Onoruoyiza Abdulkabir-Otaru, the State Focal Person and Special Adviser on Agriculture to the governor, commended Ododo for his efforts in the development of the agricultural sector in the state.
Otaru noted that the State Implementation Committee had procured a Toyota Hilux van, 20 Motorcycles and some medical consumables for the programme implementation, and organised training and capacity building for the private veterinarian and the livestock farmers.
Also, Dr Olufemi Bolarin, the State Project Coordinator, applauded the governor for prioritising livestock development in the state.
He gave assurances that his office would collaborate with relevant stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of the programme.
Bolarin described the PVP as a model that other states in the country could emulate, saying that Kogi’s qualification to host the prestigious Livestock Service Center (LSC) underscored the state’s progress in livestock development.
He added that the National Coordinating Office had approved an additional two livestock hubs for the state.
“With this development, Kogi will serve as the epicentre of livestock development, not only in the Middle Belt but across Nigeria,” Bolarin stated.
In his remarks, Dr Tolu Omotugba, the Chairman, Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA), Kogi chapter, called for the domestication of L-PRES project with the establishment of Kogi State Ministry of Livestock Development to cater for the livestock farming. (NAN)
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