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Tag: abattoir

  • Lagos trains 400 butchers on abattoir management

    Lagos State government has trained no fewer than 400 butchers and live cattle dealers from various abattoirs and slaughter slabs.

    The training was aimed at ensuring a hygienic environment within abattoirs and wholesomeness in the red meat value chain business.

    The programme was organised by the Ministry of Agriculture.

    Presenting certificates to the participants at the end the programme, Commissioner for Agriculture Oluwatoyin Suarau called for attitudinal change among stakeholders and concessionaires in the red-meat-value chain business especially in the areas of operational procedures and abattoir management.

    He said the government in addressing these challenges sponsored some butchers, live cattle dealers and other stakeholders on a study tour of Kenya and Botswana Red Meat Industry.

    “The aim of the tour then was to expose the butchers to the international standard of operation in the industry towards improving the hygiene status in all the approved abattoirs and slaughter slabs and to ensure wholesomeness in the meat that is locally consumed,” Suarau said.

    Lagos State Butchers’ Association Chairman, Alabi Bamidele Kazeem praised the government for the capacity building programme, saying it is a sign of things to come.

    He implored the participants to train other butchers not opportune to participate so that the programme’s objective can be achieved.

  • Cows razed as petrol tanker explodes at Abattoir

    Cows razed as petrol tanker explodes at Abattoir

    Several cattle were yesterday roasted alive after a petrol tanker exploded at Abattoir in Agege, Lagos.

    Also consumed by the inferno were fresh tomatoes belonging to some traders, as well as a police cap.

    The explosion occurred around 12am. It was gathered that the tanker, which was heading towards Oshodi from Abule-Egba, lost balance while trying to avoid ramming into a commercial bus.

    The bus was said to have been making a U-turn without consideration for oncoming vehicles, whereas, the tanker was on top speed.

    In a bid to avoid colliding with the bus, said to be carrying passengers, the tanker, while swerving, fell and went up in flames.

    Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Fire Service and other motorists were said to have put out the fire.

    Confirming the incident, the Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasaq Fadipe said no life was lost. He warned drivers to obey traffic rules and regulations at all times.

  • Lagos Abattoir, purveyor of disease and death

    If you are fed up with life, wish to become diseased and die young or early, come and live near the Lagos Abattoir. Located on the Old Abeokuta Road in Agege Area of Lagos, it was meant to be a central slaughter house for cows and other animals in Lagos. When these animals are killed under hygienic conditions, their meat is transported in special vans to different beef markets in Lagos. The waste products of this operation would, thereafter, be discarded, also as done world-wide hygienically, as in modern abattoir.

    In time, this abattoir became one of the biggest job providers and gold mines of business in an otherwise squalid Lagos suburb where the average school leaver once aspired to become no more than a sub-urban bus conductor. But somewhere along the line, the dreams of the founding fathers derailed. Modern machines are no longer used for the operations. It is either that the operators found them culturally unsuitable for their work, or too sophisticated for them to handle, or that, characteristic of the Nigerian business psyche, these machines were not well maintained, broke down, were abandoned, and the operators resorted to self-help at their own level of technology. I wish to speak about only one of the operations, and to wonder why the government of Lagos State is pretending that the crudeness of this operation is not endangering the health of people who live near the abattoir.

    When I raised the later point at a small discussion group which was trying to find a solution to the health hazards that the abattoir was creating, someone with a legal mind told us about volenti non fit injuria. In Latin, this means it is impossible for a sensible person to injure himself or herself. It is a legal platform for a journalist sued for libel or defamation to defend himself or herself. If the person complaining before a judge about a publication voluntarily provided the information which led to his or her injury, what moral rights has he or she, indeed, to successfully claim damage(s). ? So, as this gentleman reasoned, if the abattoir is providing the government of Lagos State fabulous tax income every day, and some top officials of the Government have interest in the abattoir, wouldn’t it be better to look the other way and let sleeping dogs lie?

    WHAT I am about to say should infuriate or annoy millions of people in Lagos and other parts of the country, and save their lives. It is all about Ponmo (Yoruba) or cow skin.

     

    Ponmo (Cow Skin)

    As a boy, I looked forward to the day my step mother would cook ponmo in Egusi (melon) soup. I do not remember now if the white ponmo or the brown was the more exciting to the palate. It was difficult then to tell the difference between them. Even now, I can only guess that the white is a purveyor of white fat cells, which do not burn easily, increasing the load of body fat, and the brown, the more thermogenic, which, in the body, burns easily on its own irrespective of exercise or any other physical activity. As a young man, I learned that the consumption of animal skin was dangerous to health. In Europe, India and the United States, where health awareness is more robust than in Africa, the skin of fish or chicken is removed and discarded before the fish is eaten. If fish skin, as flimsy as it is, can be considered dangerous to health, how more dangerous would animal skin be, thick as it is, sometimes thicker than the thumb? Some of my fears are conformed by Dr. Isuwa Adamu, director-general, Nigerian Institute of Leather Science and Technology (NILEST), who is quoted in www.vanguardngr.com as saying “animal skin can be suffused with disease-causing germs, chemicals and other toxic substances.” The thought that many animals have skin diseases and the fact that toxic drugs used to cure them have not expired their life spans before these animals are slaughtered are enough to deter anyone from eating it. But more worrying should be the way ponmo is cured in Nigeria before it is sold in the market. At the Lagos Abattoir, animal skin is burned in a heap of tyres set ablaze, presumably with kerosene or petrol or diesel. The bonfire yields a thick toxin smoke which, in billows, spread out to various neighbourhoods, poisoning people who inhale the air. Tyre bonfire are a menace in the United States. The experience of Americans should be a warning to us. We do not have to invent the wheel in this regard, as they say. We are helped in this in http://lexbirahviewsoftheworld.com, we are advised in the article KILLER BLACK SMOKE, WHAT BURNNG TYRES REALLY DOES:

    “I have heard enough of this tyre burning now and so too has  every-ore I have spoken to. Black plumes of smoke cover the skyline day and night trying in vain to scare people away. But it’s not the tyres that scares me more the after effects of all the toxic fumes we are inhaling. Do you know they are over two gallons (seven litres) of petroleum and oil in one tyre alone, numerous chemicals, including chlorine, styrene, butadiene and more than 20 different heavy metals. I was stunned to learn this. Styrene and Butadiene are both suspected of causing cancer, the extender contain carcinogenic Benzene, derivations and the metals like lead, chromium, cadmium and mercury don’t even burn away, they just get released into the atmosphere as fragrant ash. Tyre smoke contains high levels of toxic heavy metals, 407 percent more Chromium, 372 percent more lead, and 1448 percent more Arsenic, than coal, and the Carbon black is a fine particulate matter produced by incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, now that’s scary.  “So, having learned that mush, I then continued with my research and found that Dioxin, which are by-product of Chlorine, once released into the air, can travel long distances before settling onto the soil, water, plants and animals, miles away from the fore source sometimes, where it remains and becomes absorbed. “Dioxin does not break down. It just accumulates in the fatty tissues of animals (and humans) that consume the contaminated vegetation, meat, chickens and decay products. In humans, these dioxins can lead to reproductive impairment, development injuries and increase and an increase in the risk of diabetes. The Canadian Contario Ministry of Environment and Energy (MOEE) carried out a survey in 1991 on a tyre fire site and noted that contamination was seen in vegetables growing 100 to 200 metres away from the site and, furthermore, it remained in the soil 200 days after the fire. ‘Now the heavy metals that I spoke about earlier, and 20 different ones do not break down either, and so, they, too, build up into an alarming concentration level within the soils. They reduce crop yield and eventually destroy lots of agricultural land. The side effects to human exposure to these toxins in our food chain can lead to serious health conditions. Lead poisoning destroys human nervous systems, can cause retardation, learning difficulties, bone narrow deficiencies and stunned growth in children. Zinc can cause birth defects, Chromium and Arsenic cause cancer. When the fire is burning, we expect the smoke plume to contain hazardous substance, not did you know that, even when the fire is cooling down, it still releases other poisons and the Benzene produced in this process, once inhaled, ingested or touched will lead to symptoms such a dizziness, euphoria, giddiness, headache, nausea, weakness, drowsiness, respiratory irritation, pulmonary edema, pneumonia and skin, eyes and mucous membrane irritation. Smells like sulphur occur when tyres are being burned. But it is the odourless gas, Carbon monoxide that worries me the most. When this is unknowingly inhaled, it interfere with the transfer of Oxygen in human tissues and leads to CO (Carbone Monoxide).  This can be extremely dangerous and sufferers experience nausea and dizziness, but if not realised quickly enough people collapse into Coma and then die.

    Now if one burnt tyre contains seven litres of petroleum and untold amount of toxins, how much is released into our atmosphere every time someone decides he wants to set off a road block with a tyre fire of, maybe, 10 tyres or more in one go? What becomes airborne after rioters have thrown hundreds of petrol bombs at the police or set fires to gas cylinders? The website http://lexbirchviewoftheworld.com has more information to give us, which makes robust our understanding of what the Lagos Abattoir is doing to our health. Now, many youngmen and women who go to enjoy themselves at their favourite joints where they “chill” out eat lots of ponmo which they wash down with their favourite drinks. Believing that they are civilised people eating civilised food, they do not know that their ponmo is poisoned by tyre fire smoke.  Dr. N.W. Walker speaks of such people in a cell (Tissue) salt therapy which he wrote about in a healthy and damaged colon chart when he says:

    “For the guidance, benefits and use by colon irrigation and lavage establishment operators, and for the education of the layman. Civilized life means an artificial life; civilized people, living in a civilized manner and eating civilized foods, cannot, in every nature of things, have truly HEALTHY COLON. Health and sickness have their roots in the COLON.

    In www.lesspollution.org/learn.html, we learn of 15 good reasons why tyre fire is dangerous to health. It says the pollutants place children especially at risk, as small particles settle in the lungs. When breast milk is contaminated by them, the poisons are transferred to breast-feeding babies. Even fetuses are not spared. The elderly and asthmatics come under fire. So are people with lowered immunity. Heart problems may escalate.

    Now, I speak through the experiences of some families who live in the catchment area of the Lagos Abattoir tyre fire smoke. Around this abattoir are beautiful housing estates such as Millennium Estate, Oke Oba GRA scheme 1, Maplewood Estate, Sunshine Estate, Awoniyi Estate, Labak Estate and others. Many estate families are “dead” asleep when the tyre-burning begins at about 3am. Some members of the family are woken up from deep sleep, choking or coughing. All the bedrooms are infiltrated. The air is rotten, smelly. Electric fans may help a little. Air conditioners help out. Some come out of their flats for fresh air but discover they fare no better. I know of someone who is woken from sleep and finds his room so darkened that he can hardly see the electric lamps in the ceiling. What of people who smell the pollution in their kitchens? How will they cook without these particles falling on their food? Some people go out of their homes in the mornings but return at about 9pm or 10pm to find the air thickened again with tyre fire smoke. Apparently Ponmo sellers at the Lagos Abattoir cure the cow skin with tyre fire about two or three times a day, the premium time being in the night. My friend, George Uberg, a health-conscious fellow who lives somewhere on Iju Road, says it is a “terrible experience”. I advised him to wear a nose guard, day and night, take Orange peel powder to detoxify regularly.

    So does Diatom.

    So does Cilantro.

    So does Chlorella

    Which chelate heavy metals and other toxins out of the blood. Where breathing is affected, orange Peel powder taken with water, juices or meals help. Someone told me of a recipe for kidney cleanse the other day. It is a vegetables the Yoruba call Efo ebolo. When I searched for the popular English name, what I got was Yoruban bilogi. It is macerated and boiling water is poured over it in a container. When the infusion is cool enough to drink, it is served and taken, says this fellow who calls himself Bush Sense or Bush Doctor. This recipe complement our regular kidney cleansers and tonics such as Bell’s Kidney  Cleanse and function Tea, Nettle, Yarrow, Water melon seed tea, Kidney Rescue, Dandelon e.t.c.

    Blood cleansers are indispensable. So are nerve building tonics. The liver should not be forgotten. Burdock root should be added to a compendium of herbs which should include Milk Thistle and Liver Balance among others. If I find myself menaced by the Lagos Abattoir, I would design a regimen for the night hours which would place antioxidants on guard in my system day and night. Meanwhile, why have both the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) not come to the rescue of the neighbourhoods of this abattoir since many of the residents do not even know the danger in which they live. LASEPA and FEPA appear to be slow organisations. In the 1980s, when I was Editor of the Guardian, The Science Editor, Mr. Seun Ogunseitan, who discovered the KOKO toxic waste dump, wrote an article saying that underground water in Ijesha area of Lagos was polluted by heavy metals to the tune of more than 3,000% above World Health Organisation (WHO) safety levels. More frightening was his suggestion that no Nigeria water works systems had a device to remove heavy metals from drinking water. In other words, people who live in Ijeshatedo area of Lagos continue to drink heavy metals-polluted water with the risk of developing cancer and other terrible degenerative diseases. Last week, however, that is about 30 years after, LASEPA announced publicly that it had tested underground water in wells in 20 Local Government Area of Lagos State and found all heavily polluted with heavy metals. That means that, if there is still no device to remove heavy metals from water (boiling does not do it, it only worsens it by concentrating them),  it would mean that all the “pure” water we drink in Lagos, and all the bottled water too, have heavy metals inside them. These is frightening, especially as there may be a correlation between these sources of drinking water and a massive growth in the rate of cancer in Lagos State. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode should act immediately. Formal Governor Babatunde Fashola wanted to relocate the abattoir from Agege but he could not before he vacated power to Ambode. Nevertheless, he tried to sanitise the operation and he extracted land from the abattoir area for a beautiful housing estate which the government may be unable to sell because of the menace of the abattoir.

  • Lagos issues two-week ultimatum to illegal abattoir operators

    Lagos issues two-week ultimatum to illegal abattoir operators

    As part of the measures to curb the spread of unwholesome processed meat and meat products, the Lagos State Government has read the riot act to operators of illegal abattoirs and slaughter slabs in the state.

    According to the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon. Toyin Suarau, the warning became necessary in order to guarantee wholesomeness in the process of meat which Lagosians consume.

    The Commissioner who disclosed this in his office, stressed that it is necessary to monitor the whole process of meat handling right from the Animal Markets to the Abattoir, and even transportation, saying that government has handled significantly the distribution aspect by introducing the Eko Refrigerated Meat Van which is now used to transport meat rather than the former obnoxious meat transportation.

    “Government will continue to close down illegal Abattoirs and Slaughter Slabs which are not hygienic and not in compliant with the relevant laws governing meat slaughtering in the state,’’ Suarau said.

    He said that the issue of animal slaughtering is still a big issue because a lot of animals must be inspected before and after slaughtering according to the meat inspection law.

    “The danger with unrecognized abattoirs is that the animals slaughtered there are not inspected by veterinary professionals to detect the one that has diseased or pregnant ones because it is illegal to slaughter pregnant animal,’’ he revealed.

    The Commissioner stressed that Government is giving all operators of unauthorized abattoir within the State two week to close down operations.

    He however disclosed that two-week ultimatum has been given to the operators of illegal abattoirs located within Military Cantonments and Barracks in the State, where Veterinary Officers are denied access, stressing that Government can no longer tolerate such illegal practice.

    According to Suarau, “We have veterinary officers deployed to all recognised abattoirs in the state to inspect and certify the meat hygienic for human consumption and that is why we are advocating that all illegal abattoirs in State should be shut down.”

    The Commissioner further disclosed that the authorised abattoirs in the state are Abattoir and Lairage Complex Agege, Achakpo Mechanized Abattoir Ajegunle, Ologe Mechanized Abattoir Badagry (Under construction), Matori Slaughter Slab, Itire Slaughter Slab, Ilaje Slaughter Slab, Ikorodu Slaughter Slab, Badagry Slaughter Slab and Epe Slaughter Slab.

    He however reiterated that Government will continue to clamp down and arrest operators of any abattoirs within the nook and crannies of the state that is not officially recognized.

  • Meat sellers bemoan poor abattoir, roads

    Meat sellers operating in Kuje Area Council have lamented the deplorable state of abattoir and bad road to pose a threat to meat business in the area.

    The Chairman of Kuje Butchers Association, Alh. Isa Musa, in an interview with the News men over the described difficulty faced by abattoir operators to be alarming.

    Musa said, “The abattoir is in a terrible condition and it discourages customers from patronizing our meat even with Christmas just by the corner; They rather find alternative.

    “The price of beef has dropped as people don’t buy from us because of the terrible state of the abattoir and bad road.

    “They prefer buying chickens and cat fish from the poultry farms located along Kuje-Gwagwalada road.

    He said the abattoir was built by previous regime of Kuje Area Council under Mr. Jibrin Wowos’ administration and since then has been abandoned.

    He therefore appealed to the Area Council authority to fix the road and equip the abattoir with the necessary facilities.

    Mallam Aminu Garba, a butcher at the abattoir, described the slaughter room and the medium for transporting meat to Kuje market to be terrible and unhygienic to the public.

    He identified lack of water at the abattoir, electricity, bad road from the abattoir to the market to hinder the conveyance of clean meat and farm produce to the market for sells.

    Garba Said, “The abattoir had been in existence for a long time and has not been renovated all these while; we don’t get water to wash the meat properly and the slaughter room is bad.

    “The road we convey the meat to Kuje market is in a bad shape and very dusty; The meats are covered with dust before we get to the market.

    “People prefer to buy chickens at the poultry farms because the meats are not clean.

    The butcher also urged the Area Council to build a befitting abattoir and provide basic amenities, to promote the growth of meat business and standard of living in the area.

     

  • Community provides land for abattoir

    Community provides land for abattoir

    An abattoir sitting on eight hectares of land is in the offing in Awka, the Anambra State capital but the government and residents have the Umuike village to thank for donating it. The community is in Awka South Local Government Area of the state.

    The abattoir project contractor Mr. Dozie Abajue of Hyperfarms Construction firm said it will be ready next year.

    The state governor, Chief Willie Obiano has announced that the abattoir, said to be one of its kind in these parts, will cost the contracting firm and the state government $11.4 million (about N2.576 billion).

    The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon. Afam Mbanefo told The Nation that Hyperfarms will be ably supported by a Dutch company known as MAREL, one of the best in livestock processing and packaging, according to him.

    Also, he said that Hyperfarms has the capacity to slaughter and process 400 cattle per day and could easily handle 1000 cattle per day, when fully operational.

    The traditional ruler of Awka community, Obi Gibson Nwosu commended Governor Willie Obiano for his efforts in making Anambra look like any other capital city.

    The monarch further hailed the people of Umuike village in his kingdom for bringing out the land for the abattoir project, which according to him, would create job opportunities in the community.

    Speaking with The Nation in Awka, the chairman of Umuike land management committee, Chief Dilim Okafor, lauded governor Obiano for his initiative of bringing such project to Awka.

    Again, he said that the governor followed Anambra State’s land policy by inviting and negotiating with landowners before embarking on the project.

    He said the abattoir, when completed would give the community a new face compared to what people operate in the area as slaughter houses.

    Okafor, one of the elder statesmen in Umuike village in Awka, commended Obiano’s administration on behalf of the village for some of the projects the government was doing in the area.

    Furthermore, he urged the state government to initiate other projects in the community, which according to him had been yearning for developmental projects in the part.

    According to the septuagenarian, “this community is equally due to have a five star hotel in it, we also need other projects to be like other capital cities in the world and we believe Obiano has the capacity to do it.”

    “Anytime the state government is ready for any of these developmental projects, we are ready to provide enough lands for them because we have enough” Okafor said.

    While speaking with The Nation after the foundation laying event, Obiano said the commencement of construction work on the ultra modern abattoir was the most critical step following the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in June.

    Obiano expressed a strong reservation with the current state of abattoirs in the state.

    According to the Governor, “what we have as abattoirs in Anambra State is not a standard we should adopt. The hygiene surrounding the places where animals are slaughtered and processed is still very poor.

    “So, we are going to address that with this kind of abattoir. Secondly, we are going to build the same thing for other senatorial zones. We will build one in Oyi Local Government and another one in Orumba.

    “These will address the challenge in these critical areas. it is only when we have done this that we can start enforcing the minimum standards of hygiene conditions surrounding meat processing, packaging and sale”

    Throwing some light on the equity structure of the investment, Governor Obiano explained that the abattoir is a partnership between Anambra State government and Hyperfarms Limited which owns 90 percent of the equity while the state government owns 10 percent. The host local government retains 2.5 percent.”

    The governor also revealed that on completion, Hyperfarms Limited would create 250 direct jobs and 1500 indirect jobs.

    He further assured that the abattoir would be ready for commissioning after one year of commencement of construction.

     

  • Fed Govt, firm sign MoU on operation of abattoir

    Fed Govt, firm sign MoU on operation of abattoir

    The Federal Government  has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)  with Multi-Net Group Limited on the development and operation of modern international standard abattoirs in the six geo-political zones of the country.

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Sonny Echono signed the pact with the firm’s Chairman, Dr. Uzoma Obiyo to produce healthy, quality fresh and meat locally in order to generate income and livelihood for the  livestock farmers that he will work with.

    Speaking with reporters after the signing ceremony in Abuja, Obiyo said: “My dream and objective for this modern abattoir is to produce healthy and quality fresh and local produced animals, provide income and livelihood for livestock farmers of whom he is intending to work with, towards achieving his dreams, and also to attract young unemployed youths into farming and live-stock production.”

    He said his company expects a situation where a young person will be proud to say that he or she is a butchery expert and earning good living with it.

    Obiyo noted that Africa, especially Nigeria, has no excuse to rely on imported meat products.

    According to him, since the hygiene and quality of imported meat are questionable, his firm has moved to develop a meat and livestock process value-chain whereby there will be traceability in the  meat products, guarantee of the quality and hygiene.

    He said:  “I believe  that Africa and Nigeria should not be relying on imported meat products of which the hygiene and quality are questionable, he wants to develop a meat and livestock process value-chain whereby there will be traceability in our meat products, and also the quality and hygiene will be guaranteed.

    “ At the moment such facility and process is lacking, so it is of no surprise that most of the large hotels and restaurants in Nigeria, import their meat and livestock products from South Africa, and costing the nation a large chunk of its scarce dollars in capital flight and of cause denying our local farmers their needed in-come.”

    The Chairman of Multi-Net maintained that he is on a mission and will not stop until Nigeria and Africa is self-sufficient in feeding its populations and providing them with adequate energy for domestic use and industrialisation.

    He stressed that his company is also concerned about the provision of locally produced petroleum products for local consumption.

    Obiyo said that issues of local content unsettles him, noting Nigeria has the human and natural resources to drive its economy without a recourse to foreigners.

    “I believe we have the capacity both in human-resources and natural resources and it is for that reason. I am a passionate supporter and promoter of Local Content in every sector, because I see no reason our best are running out of the country and helping to build other country’s viable economy while we are employing people from those foreign countries, whom their own countries will not employ,” he said.

    Projecting into the future, the chairman maintained that he is committed to seeing Nigeria dominates the  global economy in food export and production.

    At the moment, Obiyo said that he wants to produce healthy and fresh quality food for Nigeria with zero wastage because everything in the farm and in the abattoir will be utilised.

    He regretted  seeing a lot of wastes in the food, agricultural and livestock chain. He revealed that  he has also got a viable and implementable plan to go into fisheries and fish processing and storage.

    Obiyo called on the Federal Government, the citizenry, especially other entrepreneurs to emulate the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to support the local industries.

    On his own, he said he is ready to collaborate with Federal and State governments and agencies  to make  foods and livestock, healthy, hygienic and affordable by all.

    He sought the concerted efforts of all Nigerians and the President for a serious and sincere fight for locally produced food in the country.

    Obiyo recalled that Multi-Net Group Limited had early this year signed an MoU with the Federal Ministry of Power for the  development of  the coal fields in Enugu.

    The MoU, said the chairman, is for the generation  500mega-watts (mw) in the first instant and in the long-term increase the generation  to 1,000mw.

    He revealed that after the pact with the Ministry of Power, he has flagged-off the studies  necessary for the implementation of its project -”Using coal to Light Up Nigeria.”

    The chairman noted that unlike many who just sign MOU and do nothing with it, he “ is a restless, creative, energetic and innovator who is resolute and convinced that we have all it takes to produce enough power for domestic and industrial use but also for export.”

    Since signing the MOU, Obiyo noted that he has commenced and nearly completed all the necessary studies needed to commence the next stage of making his project “Using Coal to Light Up Nigeria” a reality.

    He however explained that “the only delay now in bringing my dream to reality is the Coal licence of which I am hoping that, with the intervention of the Federal Ministry of Power and all the necessary agencies that I will move fast with his very detailed and time-lined road–map on generating 500mw of electricity from coal.”

    Commenting on his enterprise, he said MULTI-NET GROUP LIMITED is wholly owned and an indigenous Nigerian company, of whom he is the Chairman.

    He described himself as an established and successful entrepreneur in the Telecom Industry.

    Continuing, the chaiman said he “is a man with a good nose for business opportunities that sometimes people are becoming to imagine me as the Warren Buffet of our own but they can see me by-passing the success of Warren Buffet, so the only comparison between us is our noses in smelling out business opportunities even when others do not see it.

    “For Dr. Obiyo, any difficulty I encounter in the process everyday life and business becomes another business potential, because I do not believe in moaning or passing bucks but I believe that Nigerians and Africans should solve all our infrastructure problems.”

  • Rage in Anambra community over abattoir

    Rage in Anambra community over abattoir

    Amansea community in Awka North Local Government Area, Anambra State hosts one of the state’s three abattoirs. For 15 years the abattoir had existed, there had not been any squabble between members of Chisom Butchers’ Association and the community. But NWANOSIKE ONU writes that penultimate Sunday, operators of the abattoir were allegedly attacked by thugs over local government revenue issues

    Until recently, the 15-year-old abattoir at Amansea in Awka North Local Government Area, Anambra State, has never witnessed any form of squabble. Being one of the three abattoirs in the state, it usually is a Mecca of sorts to nearby communities. According to some residents, this is so because beef from there is neat and cheap.

    Regrettably, the chairman of Awka North Local Government Area, Cosmos Okonkwo, was alleged to have stormed the abattoir with 10-bus loads of thugs who were allegedly armed with dangerous weapons such as guns, machetes and clubs, among others and beat the chairman of Chisom Butchers’ Association, Christian Nwankwo mercilessly. The event occurred penultimate Sunday,

    Nwankwo
    Nwankwo

    Explaining his ordeal, Nwankwo told our correspondent that trouble started when the council chairman demanded that the association should pay to him the revenue which accrues from the abattoir instead of paying it to the state government coffers.

    He said Governor Willie Obiano had directed that all the abattoirs in the state should pay all revenues to the state government and not to any other person, group or association.

    Before then, Nwankwo had alleged that the association has been giving the local government chief N30, 000 per week, adding that the sum of N300 was paid for each cow that was slaughtered in the abattoir. He said that was after signing some agreements with him before the Governor’s directive.

    According to counsel to the butchers’ association, Emma Okechukwu, the earlier agreement was that the council would provide water supply (boreholes and overhead tanks), re-roofing of the slaughter house and slabs, re-roofing of concrete slabs and provision of good drainage system within the premises of the abattoir.

    But after five months of payment to the council without commensurate facilities at the abattoir as agreed with the council, the butchers started asking questions. This, he said, infuriated the council chairman who began to threaten and intimidate members of the butchers’ association.

    Based on the threats, harassments and intimidation by the council chief to force his clients to pay, he was reminded of the subsisting injunction by the Federal High Court for stay of execution until the determination of the matter pending in the court since 2010.

    But in disregard to the order, Okechukwu said, the council chairman sent his internally-generated revenue (IGR) team who came with a letter from the council chief demanding the sum of N800, 000 as environmental levy. He added that the meat sellers had no other option than to join him in pursuing the case that has been pending in the Federal High Court.

    •From left; Nwagu, Ezeonu, chairman, Nwankwo and Okechukwu, the lawyer. Inset: Nwankwo
    •From left; Nwagu, Ezeonu, chairman, Nwankwo and Okechukwu, the lawyer. Inset: Nwankwo

    Speaking with our correspondent in Awka, the Vice-Chairman of the meat sellers, Emma Nwagu, said but for the intervention of the Awka Police Area Commander, Usman Yusuf, there would have been a bloodbath in Awka.

    He said the people took them unawares because they were not envisaging such a thing from the chairman of a council. He said the thugs disembarked from the buses and held Nwankwo on the jugular and forced all of them to lie down on the ground.

    He said: “When we saw some vehicles approaching the abattoir, we thought they were customers because this place is always like a market because of the kind of meat we sell here.”

    Not only that the chairman of the council allegedly invaded the slaughter house with thugs, Mr. Nwankwo and members of his executive alleged that the thugs stole N18.7 million which the members contributed in order to buy cows.

    Also, they alleged that Okonkwo and his men made away with 16 live cows the cost of which they put at N2 million.

    While reacting to the allegations by the butchers, the council chairman described them as baseless and unfounded.

    He said if anybody wanted to know the true position of what transpired on that day, such information could be provided by police men from the B–Division Department who were present.

    Furthermore, he told our correspondent that since the butchers had reported the matter to the police, they are supposed not to be carrying up such baseless allegations.

    When the police Area Commander, Usman Yusuf was contacted for comment on the matter, he confirmed the near mayhem that almost crippled the community.

    Yusuf said when the report reached the police, they had to mobilise their men to the place to avoid any break down of law and order.

    “The story is true, but we thank God that we restored peace to the warring parties. The matter has not ended because the command has gone into investigation already.

    “We are not going to say anything on the matter yet, until investigations are completed to establish what really happened,” he said.

    Already, Mr. Nwankwo has appealed to Governor Obiano to come to their aid.

    He wondered if it was a crime for people from other states to establish businesses in Anambra State, adding that the council chairman has allegedly threatened to deal with them because they are from Ebonyi State.

     

  • Karu Abattoir: A dirty, money-making facility

    Karu Abattoir: A dirty, money-making facility

    Most people probably find it difficult to believe that an abattoir can generate any form of revenue for a government.

    Although it was confirmed a few weeks ago by the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development secretariat (ARDS) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mrs Bema Madayi that the Karu abattoir provides the FCT an Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N5m monthly, people still wonder why the abattoir is still an eyesore.

    The road leading to the facility and its surroundings is unsightly during the rainy season. Even though The Nation visited in the dry season, there were still indications of the types of health hazards to resident’s miles away.

    When the rain comes, the abattoir becomes extremely muddy, smelling to the high heavens as the rains wash animal dung and bones into neighbouring houses, since it does not have a proper drainage system. Faeces is washed to the road nearby, making it impossible for residents to get by without waddling in the thick mud of faeces.

    Unfortunately, behind the tiny fence of the abattoir is a primary health centre that caters to the health needs of residents nearby and after it rains, all the waste from the abattoir floods the health centre with the smell of dung and rotten meat prevalent. Patients and staff will have to leave the premises to avoid suffocation and infection that might have come with the waste.

    An attending nurse at the health centre, Margaret, explained that it is horrible being close to the abattoir.

    She said, “during the rainy season, we and patients do not enjoy coming here because of the smell due to the cow dung that washes into the health centre and normally, we can’t stay here for more than 6-7pm, because most of them smoke and take hard drugs by the fence, they stab one another when they get high and will refuse to pay after treatment but instead threaten us with the knives that they always carry about.”

    When The Nation caught up with the chairman of the Karu abattoir Magaji Kata, he confirmed that they WEre aware of the health hazard that the abattoir could cause its surrounding community, but insisted that they are not to be blamed because they faithfully pay their revenue when due and it will be good to see the result of what they are paying for, it is left for the government he said to do something about the environment they operate in.

    Kata stated that, “Our biggest problem in this place is the lack of drainage that should wash our waste into the stream instead of the way that it ends up on the streets, defiling the environment, if only we can get a huge gutter that will be directed to the stream and away from residential areas, we have a stream that does not dry up and flows as far as river Lokoja.

    “The problem we have here that causes people around to think of the abattoir as a nuisance is that, the environment is filled with sand instead of it being cemented like other standard abattoirs in the country, if you walk into the Agege abattoir, you will find that it is cemented, which is because, we deal with meat which easily gets dirty and is not hygienic for it to fall to the sand.

    “Another reason for the smell that people complain of is the fact that we do not have a cattle ranch in this place, our cows are dumped in the mud during the raining season which inflicts them with ill health, diseases and we will have to wear rain boots to get access to them but the worst part of the mud is that we have witness several accidents were some of our boys taking care of the cattle will stumble and fall into the mud, maybe the person passes out but we wake up in the morning and find their dead bodies because the mud prevented them from breathing when they fell.

    “If our cattle ranch can be done properly and drainages made for free flow of water in the rainy season, the residents around us will no longer complain because about our waste getting into their houses, during the rainy season.”

    He also explained that the Agege abattoir is actually the type of abattoir that they wish to have, as it has a cattle site on one side, slaughter house on the other and a well cemented segment for the meat to be distributed and sold.

    Kata explained that the problem with the abattoir is the level of people you found there, who smoke all kinds of things, including some drug addicts who enjoy starting trouble. He also and they can have two sufficient gutters; all the problems the abattoir experience will be resolved.

    Alhaji Gambo a butcher at the market who believes that the government is playing with their intelligence by making promises to them that it is not ready to keep said, “We whole heartedly accept all the policies introduced by the government, but all the things they tell us that should be avoided are the same things that they turn around and do, so now, he look at it and wonder what kind of a thing this is, whether the government was telling lies in the first place and made us support them.”

    They all agreed that a committee was set up sometime back by the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Olajumoke Akinjide to look into the standard of the abattoir which they cooperated with completely and they all hoped that the report will be considered and something done soon to prevent an epidemic in the environment come rainy season.

  • FCTA, firm seal abattoir deal

    FCTA, firm seal abattoir deal

     

     

     

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and lease agreement with a private investor, Capital Meat Processing Company Nigeria Limited for the establishment of an ultra-modern Abuja Central Abattoir at Tungan Maje in Gwagwalada Area Council of the territory.

    The agreement valued at N1.25 billion was signed by the Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide and Secretary, FCT Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat, Mrs. Olvadi Bema Madayi on behalf of the FCT Administration while the Chairman of Capital Meat Processing Company Limited, Dr. Umaru Mutallab and the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Aliyu El-Nafatu, signed for the company.

    Akinjide, who explained that the central abattoir would be constructed on the basis of public private partnership management, said the project would be completed and operational within 12 months.

    She noted that the construction of the ultra-modern Abuja central abattoir became imperative in order to ensure that FCT residents consume beef prepared in hygienic environment.

    “When completed, the abattoir will have the capacity of slaughtering 500 heads of cattle and 1,500 sheep and goat per day. In the meat processing and fabrication component, about 40 tonnes of meat would be processed into about 10 number products such as sausages, hotdogs, steaks, premium and briskets, among others.

    “It is expected  that when fully operational about 1,000 jobs would be created including professionals like veterinarians, para-veterinarians, livestock officers, butchers, technicians, labourers and drivers, among others,” the minister disclosed.

    She added that the foreign technical partners of the private investor would transfer meat processing technology to their Nigerian partners and also train the Nigerian personnel in the art of processing, curing, aging, fabrication, storage and packaging of meat.

    The minister assured that the new abattoir would be of international standard and would meet the requirements of the World Health Organisation and Food and Agriculture Organisation.

    Responding on behalf of the private investor, the Chairman of Capital Meat Processing Company Limited, Dr. Umaru Mutallab, praised the FCT Administration for its determination and commitment to ensure a hygienic environment for meat processing in the territory.

    “Our interest in establishing an ultra-modern abattoir stems from the need to ensure that the public consumes hygienic food in the FCT. We assure all stakeholders of our determination to make this work,” Mutallab stated.