The President, Nigerian Institute of Animal Science(NIAS), Professor Placid Njoku, has said that Nigeria imports over 95 per cent of its milk.
Speaking at the 3rd Induction Ceremony of the institute in Enugu recently, Njoku noted that livestock sector has been led by the wrong people.
He said: “Livestock industry has not benefitted from the solid support of government in research.Most disgusting is the fact that federal livestock department has for over 40 years been headed by veterinarians to the total exclusion of animal scientists. The implication of this is that most successful of all animal scientists who have had to join that department have ended their careers as deputy directors, this is indeed unbelievable, but true.”
In order to address the critical issue of research, Njoku said the Institute has requested the federal government to implement the strong recommendation of vision 20-2020 to establish five species mandated research institutes for poultry, beef and dairy cattle.
To this end, the institute inducted 362 new animal scientists, with the new batch, it now has a total number of 1,013 registered animal scientists.
He noted that in the last three years, the institute has come as a ‘breath of fresh air’ to transform animal husbandry through ensuring conscious development of right principles and deployment of the right practices.
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