By Edwin Philip, Lafia
The President Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association,( NVMA) Dr. Moses Arukuyo, said the Lafia abattoir should be reconstructed, equipped with water and sanitation facilities, as the current state of the facility poses a health risk to the workers and consumers.
Dr Arukuyo, made this known to reporters shortly after an assessment tour of the Lafia abattoir on Monday which was part of celebration of the World Veterinary Day, put together celebrate the works of veterinarians across the globe, placing emphasis on their roles and responsibilities in the society.
Speaking on the state of the Lafia abattoir, NVMA president advised the Nasarawa State government as a matter of urgent public health concerns should consider the demolition of the abattoir and reconstruct a new one to include slabs on the floor, drainage system, provision of water, adequate electricity to power the place.
“You cannot have an abattoir without water. It’s a risk, not just to all of us. This is not a place where animals should be slaughtered. This is a public health risk”
“To the government, if I’m permitted to say, I would say declare a state of emergency concerning this abattoir. It’s not something to postpone, hundreds of cattle have been slaughtered here, and I meant for public consumption. So a state of emergency should be declared concerning the abattoir” he said.
He said the condition of the facility poses a health risk, ranging from zoonotic disease such antrax for the workers because of layers of blood debris are stuck to the floor of the abattoir that has no slab, no drainage and exposed to public health issues.
“If you have an outbreak of anthrax here, people would die in their thousands, If you have a single case of anthrax in this kind of place, it won’t be for one year, with the kind of floor I have seen here, with shortage of water supply, if mistakenly there’s an outbreak of anthrax here, it will not go in three years, it won’t go in ten”
“The spores of this anthrax will be buried inside the ground I’ve seen here. Because the flooring is not there, blood have kicked here over the years” he added.
According to the veterinarian, women consuming meats produced in such an unhygienic environment are prone to having frequent abortion and miscarriages.
” Like I said, sometimes a woman is having frequent abortion, our counterparts may not have insight into what could be the problem because our trainings are different.”
” The woman is sorrowing, you know, year in, year out for me as a vet, I can tell you possible reasons now for that, may be today we start to have tentative diagnosis where it’s coming from, yes, I’m not saying absolutely, but at least one or two reasons, seeing what I’ve seen here today” he added.
He described as unacceptable the development where Nasarawa State have only six veterinarians in their employ to take charge of 13 LGAs, stating that the situation is the same a cross the country, where one Veterinary Doctor is to 2,500 animals.
” How does the Vet. measure up to that? So beginning from Nasarawa and nationally, this is a national emergency situation, something needs to be done” he emphasised.
On his part, Dr. Mukhtar Sabuwa the Chairman of Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association, Nasarawa State Chapter, said the abattoir was built 14 years ago, without the slaughter slab, floor and no proper drainage system, which was the beginning of the problem.
“And again, over time, 14 years down the line, there has not been maintenance or adequate renovation of the Abattoir. So, it’s over 14 years since the primary construction, there is need for proper readjustment and of course, if possible, to demolish the Abattoir”
“But if it cannot be demolished, there should be something that should done to put it into good usage for public safety” he said.
Speaking with our correspondent, the secretary of the abattoir, Mohamed Gambela, said the challenge that they are facing here is water.
“We need more water. We need more boreholes here’s.
Because we are using much water here, even the reservoir itself, we are in need of a reservoir”
He however called on the government to visit the abattoir to see what they are passing through, so as to put the place on good shape.
It was revealed that the authority collect two thousand Naira, per animal slaughtered, as a means of generating revenue and in return provide basic amenities for them, but that seems to be lacking.
In his paper presentation, at the event marking the World Veterinary Day in Nasarawa, which held at the Federal University of Lafia, the Chief Veterinary Officer of Nigeria, Dr. Samuel Akawu Anzaku, said the major emphasis of the World Veterinary Day is celebrating the vetenary profession contribution to animal health, public health and environment health with focus from food derived from animals.
“The meat we eat, the milk we drink, the eggs eat and so many other associated products and the emphasis is that what is our role that we have been playing and continue to play because we determined the safety of this food including anti microbial substance”
On his part, the Dean Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Prof. Muhamed Danlamin Salihu, centered his paper on one health and environment, the role of veterinarian in ensuring the safety of humans in the environment, collaboration between the human doctors, the animal doctors and environmental scientist, so as to make the environment a better place for all.
” You will recall that both human and animals are found on the same environment a mistake from one of this three can caused disaster in the entire environment so human must ensure that the environment is safe for the animals the animals must ensure that the environment is safe for the environment human depends on animal and human depends on the environment”
“If the environment is stable that means the humans would be stable so it is inter connected, the public health is interconnected”
“
You know, the theme for this year says Veterinarian Guidance of Food and Health” he summited.
The International is celebrated every April 25, April every year but was marked in Nasarawa State this week.
