By Doris Esa
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Muhammad Nanono, on Thursday inaugurated the 5Council of Nigerian Institute of Animal Science, expressing confidence it could deliver on its mandate.
Nanono, at the ceremony in Abuja noted that the core function of the institute was to offer leadership in the governance of the affairs of the institute
I have no iota of doubt that this council, filled with an array of accomplished Animal Scientists of various professional disciplines will fulfill this core function.
I am particularly happy that the institute since its inception in 2007, it has proved its mettle in the fight to engender national self-sufficiency in safe animal protein intake through appropriate regulations of the livestock industry.
The minister said that the regulations were indeed potent in curbing quackery and promoting safety of animal products and trade competitiveness.
However, there is still a lot of ground to be covered if the institute must fully deliver on its mandate and remain relevant as a key regulatory body in the livestock subsector.
We must forge ahead without losing track of the achievement of the past.
The institute must not shy away from playing a deserved lead role in proffering the needed solution to the current burning issue of incessant conflicts between herders and sedentary farming communities in Nigeria.
According to him, land resource is indeed scarce and not expandable but science has proven that we can generate all we need with renewable agricultural strategies for both crop and livestock production from the available land resource without any form of conflict.
I strongly call on the institute to come up with scientific and practicable models that the government can adopt to finally lay to rest this front burning problem.
The nation needs to quickly transit from this conflict era to becoming a net exporter of premium beef, emulating and surpassing the enviable achievements of countries like Uruguay and others.
Uruguay has metamorphosed over the recent years into a leading exporter of premium beef to the EU, U.S. and even the Chinese markets.
It took Uruguay years of branding, food safety and quality reforms as well as investment to get to that enviable market leadership. It will take us nothing less, he said.
Nanono said that the ministry had handed over the National Livestock Training Centre to the institute.
I am confident that you will put the facility to efficient use not only in training but also in the establishment of model units for livestock production that will impact the economy through improved livestock productivity, he said.
Earlier, President of the Nigerian Institute of Animal Science (NIAS), Prof. Baba Abubakar, thanked the minister for his support to the institution.
Abubakar also appreciated the hard work, passion and dedication of the institutes founding fathers and mothers adding that our best is yet to come, God willing.
There are two issues that I would like to flag with the minister; one is with regards to the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) which was recently launched by the Federal Government.
I dare say that if there is any organisation that can play a major role in the implementation of this programme, it is certainly NIAS.
This is not far-fetched as we have collection of the requisite technical expertise in virtually all disciplines of animal husbandry to effectively facilitate the implementation of this plan, he said.
He called for the establishment of additional animal husbandry research institutes.
According to him, if we are to compete favorably with the sub-regional, regional or global livestock space, then we need to do the needful by establishing additional livestock research institutes in the country. (NAN)
Source: NAN News