The Nation Newspaper

Tag: animal

  • ARMTI chief canvasses stronger animal disease surveillance

    ARMTI chief canvasses stronger animal disease surveillance

    As poultry farmers count their losses after an outbreak of bird flu, a livestock  expert, Dr Ademola Adeyemo  has  called  for  increased  surveillance to prevent outbreak of deadly  livestock diseases.

    Adeyem, Deputy Director, General  Administration, Agricultural and Rural Management Institute (ARMTI), said  the  sudden  outbreak  of  bird  flu  required the strengthening of animal disease surveillance nationwide.

    He said there was the need to strengthen surveillance and early detection systems for diseases of domestic and wild animals as poultry have already fallen victim to highly pathogenic avian influenza in less than four months.

    Although the outbreaks of the virus have so far been rapidly controlled by the health authorities, he said the virus had important economic repercussions for the poultry sector.

    According to him, the impact of the globalisation of movements of animals, people and commercial products has greatly increased the possibilities for pathogens to spread from one side of the world to the other in record time.

    Adeyemo said it was important to be on the alert given the capacity of influenza viruses to mutate. One  of the  measures, he suggested was combating diseases at their animal source, adding this can be achieved if the government can put in a competent, well-organised national Veterinary Services.

    This, he noted, is a precondition for early detection of animal disease outbreaks and a rapid, transparent response.

    While this will ensure extensive, optimal surveillance for animal diseases, the expert urged animal producers, hunters, and other key players to cooperate with the government in the campaign to boost  survelliance and promote stricter veterinary control in livestock production.

    He urged them to provide information about diseases to the public health centres.

  • Ebele’s animal farm

    Ebele’s animal farm

    There is no better way for a rich man to flatter the poor than to call himself a farmer.  Except for symbolism and passing curiosity, the rich farmer does not smell the earth, skin a goat, and scoop the crop. He loathes the ritual drudgery of seed time and harvest. The poor sow in tears; the rich reap in joy. He is the boss, owns the large hectare of land, prefers the Mercedes coupe to the tractor, would rather roll in cash than in grass.

    There are exceptions to these executive farmers, though. Take the exponent of Ujamaa and the late Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere who turned his country into a vast idyll of farmers. He died as a humble tiller of the earth. So is Jose “Pepe” Mujica, the 78-year-old president of backwoods Uruguay. He is the acclaimed poorest president in the world, who lives on his farm and shuns the glitz and glam of office.

    As an earthy man, the Owu chief, according to urban legend, exults in the ambience and toil of farming. But he does not work his farms into bountiful harvest. His hirelings do.

    Writer Eugene Ware does not like to call most of these big men farmers. Hear him: “The farmer works the soil, the agriculturist works the farmer.” So where do we place Ebele Integrated Farms Ltd? Is President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of shoeless origin a farmer or agriculturist? He has not come out to say a word about his 94 hectares of land originally meant for aviation purposes.

    In refined democracies, presidents defend themselves in their own words and voices. His spokespersons say he has done nothing wrong owning a farm acquired while in office. Farming is allowed for all public officers. On that score, the president has done no wrong. He is contributing to food security. But there are Orwellian questions to ask.

    How come the president is giving himself 94 hectares of land? Experts say a hectare approximates a football field. So 94 hectares will amount to 94 football fields. So, President Jonathan does not only hail from a village, he has made one. He is both village chief and president. He is not only the president of a vast Nigeria, but the owner of a village farm. You may call it Ebele village.

    How come a president acquires a company when he is in office? He has collided a right with a wrong. The right is that the law allows him to own a farm while in office, according to subsection 2 (b) of part 1 to the fifth Schedule of the Constitution. The wrong is that it is unlawful to do business while in office. Those two wrongs cannot make a civic right. It means no one is expected to do the business of farming while in office. The law therefore espouses the humble farmer. It means you cannot allow the task of farming to detract from your civic responsibility.

    If you cater to the welfare of over 100 million people, the law forbids you to run a business. The president knows that the farm is not just a farm but a huge investment for profit. We know that 94 hectares is not to feed his family or sell a few bananas.  So those who defend the president should understand the law. The president has violated the law in spirit, even if he can defend himself that he is technically allowed to farm. We must note that most public officers do this under fronts, which is roundly condemnable. It is remarkable, though; that the president pursues his farm dreams with sinful audacity.

    The more crucial point is that the president acquired the land through his appointee, the Abuja minister, Bala Mohammed. The man allotted 94 hectares to the president. He then allotted over 40 hectares to himself. How could the president complain when he too is on the take? That is what is called conflict of interest. Was that not the reason he fired his best minister yet, Barth Nnaji? Now should the president not fire himself – and of course the FCT minister?

    That is why we have an Orwellian matter on our hands. In Animal Farm, George Orwell’s animals that make the laws say, “all animals are created equal.” Later when law meets experience, the reigning pig acquires more powers and privileges. It then turns the matter around: some animals are more equal than others.

    The farm laws are different for the president. He can appoint the man who gives him the plot of land, and he can be the entrepreneur, president, lawgiver, profiteer, etc.

    That is different from the average farmer in Otukpo, who tills out oranges, yams, tomatoes from his humble earth. Is he a farmer like Jonathan? He does not occupy a public office. Even those who do know they cannot own businesses, no less farm businesses. It is like the story we read in younger days: Jonathan’s farm is bigger than theirs. His is a presidential farm. All agricultural laws are not made equal. Jonathan’s is more equal than others.

    If the president had acquired the land without attaching it to a company, could we have defended him? Not easily. We should have asked, when will he have the time to juggle his work as commander-in-chief chasing Shekau and saving the Naira from its monumental crash? That is the spirit of the law. Once you have it as business, you have negated the principle of integrity in office.

    In the case of the Owu chief, he is not innocent. Did he not acquire some of the farms across the country when in office? The reference by the Jonathan defenders to Obasanjo Farms Limited does not justify the president’s action. Two wrongs, as the cliché goes, cannot make a president right and another wrong.

    I don’t think it is only a matter of law, but of decency. We recall the obscenity of the probe of the former FCT minister, Nasir El-Rufai, and how some of those defending the president now took a swipe at the FCT minister then over conflict of interest.

    Nothing wrong with a president retiring as a farmer, even as an agriculturist. It glorifies the earth and enhances food security. It laughs at H.L. Mencken’s assertion that “no one hates his job so heartily as a farmer.” Not so for United States presidents who were farmers. But they did not allocate lands to themselves. Lincoln, Jackson, Jefferson and even Washington were farmers to varying degrees. In modern times, Jimmy Carter is the most famous, and to lesser degree, Lyndon Johnson. They could not contemplate allocating such swaths of land to themselves.

    The difference between that society and ours is the rule of law. They obey, we defy. Unlike the animals of George Orwell’s novel, no one is a law to himself.

  • ‘Why we need animal registration law in Lagos’

    The Lagos State Government has been called upon to institute a compulsory pet registration programme, complete with animal identification tagging and enforcement of Leash laws.

    The Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA), Lagos State chapter made this call following the death of two people in the Meiran area of the state, allegedly from  rabid dog bites. The deceased were Master James Makwa Musa, a 14 -year-old JSS 1 pupil and Miss Aishat Opakunle , a 21-year old fresh holder of an Ordinary National Diploma (OND).

    The association also warned quacks to desist from handling of veterinary biological, especially pet vaccines, such as anti-rabies vaccines and DHLPP vaccines.

    Chairman, Dr Alao Mobolaji, said his association condemned the development, describing it as quite unfortunate, “the loss of these two budding Nigerians is sad, unfortunate and needless because the disease, rabid is highly preventable by simple immunisation. Rabies is a preventable disease and has been completely eradicated from some parts of the world, such as in Austria, United Kingdom, Spain, Greece and Malta.”

    Giving an insight to how the death  occurred, Dr Alao said: “Both reside at No 114, Road 1A, Mologede Estate, Meiran. The victims were reported to have been bitten on  July 11, this year by a dog named, ‘Jerry’, a mongrel, allegedly belonging to one Mr Ogundiran of A115, Road 1A, Mologede Estate, Meiran, Lagos. Miss Opakunle died on Friday, August 8; while Master Musa died after a brief battle for his life.”

    He said both of them showed the vital signs of rabies in human, “Signs include fever, delirium, abnormal behaviour, numbness and loss of muscle function, drooling of saliva, hallucination, restlessness, swallowing difficulty and hydrophobia (fear of water). The suspect dog, ‘Jerry’, died five days after biting these two young people.”

    The association wants the state government to arrest and prosecute the owner of the rabid dog that led to the deaths of the two young Nigerians.

    Already, the NVMA State chapter is planning to dedicate this year’s World Rabies Day, by immunisation of unimmunised dogs in Meiran area of the state, to commemorate the memories of the two deceased, on 28th of next month; still the chapter wants further actions from the state government.

    The treasurer, Dr Omotayo Ajala said in the interim the government should, “remove all stray dogs in the Meiran area of Alimosho Local Government Area with immediate effect and screened for any possibility of rabies infection; all dogs owners the area should vaccinate their pets and present an up to and vaccination certificate of their pets from a qualified veterinary surgeon.”

  • ‘How to stop trans boundary animal diseases’

    A consultant to the World Bank, Prof  Abel Ogunwale has  urged the Federal  Government  to be vigilant in the face of  trans boundary  animal   diseases that  can  affect  livestock and human  beings.

    Ogunwale, a lecturer in Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Ladoke Akintola University, said the  best way to protect animals against these diseases is to improve border checks and strengthen biosecurity on farms.

    He stressed the need to provide  significant support to enhance capacities of animal  health  authorities to play a significant role in making the country better prepared against the threat of transboundary animal diseases.

    These include high impact infectious diseases, including foot and mouth disease and avian influenza, such as H5N1 and H7N9 that can spread easily across national boundaries.

    He said the mechanism and structure, the governance of animal health systems should   be improved to  provide  the most effective response to address livestock diseases.

    As the threat of animal diseases is evolving, driven by various factors, Ogunwale said the situation requires continued vigilance and more work to give the capability to prevent and respond appropriately to them.

    While urging vigorous control measures, temporary closure and disinfection of animals markets and other rapid response interventions, Ogunwale noted that it was imperative to carry out and maintain targeted surveillance in animal populations to understand where and how widespread out breaks are.

    He stressed that it was important to understand risk factors, identify the animal source of diseases, geographical extent and the characteristics of animal diseases.

    According to him, good biosecurity and hygiene measures implemented by farmers, livestock producers, transporters, market workers and consumers represent the first and most effective way to protect the food chain and human health as well as livelihoods.

    Underscoring  the importance of continuing surveillance and strong biosecurity to protect animal and human health, livelihoods and consumer confidence, Ogunwale called    for  surveillance infrastructure and capacities for the early detection and identification of diseases.

  • Expert warns against animal feeds contamination

    THE Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin, Prof Abiodun Adeloye, has urged the government to ensure that animal feeds are free from contamination.

    Increased animal health challenges, he said, has raised the awareness of animal food safety that spotlighted the risks to the food chain.

    Adeloye stressed the need to improve surveillance and monitoring for contaminated feed.

    Animal feeds, according to him, required multiple raw materials mostly from crops grown in the farms. Many of the ingredients used by the animal feed industry are materials not used for human consumption or are products remaining after processing materials for human food, known as co-products for animal feed.

    The livestock Industry, he said, is faced with a variety of potential contaminants within the animal feed, mostly the contaminants come from incoming materials.

    For this reason, he maintained that it was important to assess the severity and probability of the potential contaminations in order to determine the actions required, if any, to control the potential risk.

    He called on feed manufacturers to focus on controlling contamination hazards, adding that feed samples from across the supply chain should be sent to laboratories to check for contaminants.

    He suggested that testing is performed at feed mills or even points of entry where feed materials enter the country.

    He urged the government to enforce safety procedures for the supply, handling, manufacture, storage and distribution of commercially produced feed for animals.

    According to him, lack of regulations to guide animal feedmanufacturers could threaten the livestock sector.