Gombe Targets over 3m Large, Small Ruminants
Segun Awofadeji in Gombe
Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Muhammadu Yahaya, has flagged off the 2024 annual vaccination campaign against Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in cattle, Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) in sheep and goats, and anthrax in livestock across the state.
The event held yesterday in the Tumfure-Bashar area of Akko Local Government Area, marked the fourth time the current state government has carried out this initiative aimed at controlling animal diseases to enhance public health in the state.
Speaking at the ceremony yesterday, Governor Yahaya restated the importance of the vaccination exercise in protecting livestock from preventable diseases that have historically ravaged the agriculture sector, threatening the livelihood of farmers and pastoralists.
He said: “The primary goal of this annual vaccination campaign is to control the spread of these diseases, which have long hindered the growth of the livestock industry in our
state.
Diseases like CBPP and PPR cause severe economic losses due to high mortality rates among livestock, while anthrax presents a grave risk to human health as it is zoonotic, meaning it can be transmitted from animals to humans.”
He emphasised the critical role livestock plays in the state economy, noting that Gombe State is home to thousands of herders and livestock farmers whose contributions to food security and income generation are vital to the state socio-economic development.
Yahaya said: “I would like to reiterate that the livestock sub-sector holds immense potential for growth. To unlock this potential, Gombe State has embraced the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) and the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES) Project. These initiatives are designed to enhance livestock production. Furthermore, under the Gombe State Development Plan 2021-2030, we have outlined interventions in the agriculture sector to ensure self-sufficiency, sustainable food security, and to support animal husbandry and livestock products, thereby creating wealth and job opportunities for our people.”
He further reiterated his administration’s commitment to enhancing veterinary services through the provision of necessary resources, including vaccines, personnel, and transportation, to ensure the success of the vaccination campaign. He called on herders and livestock farmers to take full advantage of the programme to present their animals for vaccination.
Governor Yahaya further announced plans to execute new projects that would transform the agricultural landscape of the state across all segments of the agri-business value chain.
He outlined projects such as the construction of a standard modern abattoir in the state; establishment of an international cattle market; construction and rehabilitation of slaughterhouses and veterinary clinics across the LGAs; reactivation of the Poultry Production Unit in Gombe State aimed at boosting poultry production and creating employment for our youths as well as re-demarcation of seven grazing reserves and 37 international and national cattle routes, along with the establishment of control posts at the borders to regulate livestock movement in and out of the state.
On the farmers-herders clash, the governor stated that as parts broader efforts to address the long-standing problem, he reconstituted the Farmers/Herders Prevention and Settlement of Disputes Committee, an initiative he launched at the beginning of his administration in 2019 aimed at finding lasting solutions to the clashes between farmers and herders.
He further stated that the government has also established a task force with the mandate on reclaiming encroached game reserves, grazing reserves, forest reserves, and cattle corridors, warning that whoever is found in this illegal act of encroachment will be made to face stringent punishment in accordance with the provisions of the law.
Speaking earlier, the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperatives, Dr. Barnabas Malle, explained that the administration of Governor Yahaya in collaboration with the Livestock Productivity Resilience Support Project (L-PRES) has made available sufficient vaccine doses to cover an estimated population of 3.6 million livestock in the state.
The commissioner described the consistent vaccination exercise conducted by the present administration for the past five years as a departure from previous experiences to a new one that facilitates production of healthy animals and assists in the control of animal diseases and diseases of public health importance which can be transmitted from animals to humans.
Also speaking, the state Coordinator of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Ibrahim Bomoi, noted that the vaccination of animals such as cows, sheep and goats would lead to an economic surge in animal production and processing, commending the government for viewing the consistent vaccination of livestock in the state from the prism of strategic leadership.
