Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah has lauded the establishment of first Veterinary hospital in the state, saying the proposed Veterinary hospital was coming at a time the state was focused on scaling up meat and dairy production that would serve the state and beyond.
The Governor added that the move would boost the economy, scale up the capacity of farmers in animal husbandry, and strengthen value chain across the spectrum of agricultural sector in the state.
He made that known when he received in audience a delegation from the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES) led by the National Project Coordinator, Sanusi Abubakar, who were in Enugu for the flag-off of the first Regional Enugu Model Veterinary Hospital in Enugu on Monday.
Pix: Gov Mbah in audience with the guests
Governor Mbah disclosed that the State Government targets N100bn livestock production, and processing , calling on
.investors to seize the opportunities in the new ranch law, the veterinary hospital and the robust partnership between the state and the L-PRES to invest in the state, assuring sustained security of lives, property and investments
He said the recent Enugu State Ranch Management Agency Law was conceived to unlock economic opportunities for the state, create employment opportunities in the livestock space and contribute to the growth of the Gross Domestic Product from $4.4 billion to $30 billion.
Pix: Gov Mbah
“We saw that we needed to start putting in a robust policy or a legal framework that can support these policies. We are aware that Enugu has a market size of over ₦100 billion, and we are quite ambitious in the growth projection of our GDP,” he noted.
Pix: Gov Mbah (L) Abubakar (L)
While underscoring all the frameworks that the administration had put in place to unlock the economic potential in the sector, the Governor maintained that the state had enough capacity to produce enough “meat and dairy products for export, which would require skills in processing and packaging.”
Earlier, the L-PRES Coordinator, Sanusi Abubakar, informed the Governor that they were in Enugu to inspect the site for the construction of the Veterinary hospital and flag off the construction of the hospital.
Pix: Abubakar at the courtesy visit.
He said the hospital, on completion, would, carry out disease surveillance, maintain a healthy animal husbandry, conduct disease eradication services, vaccination of animals among others.
Author: Maureen Ikpeama