The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in partnership with the University of Ilorin has commissioned an integrated commercial poultry farm with a N600 million loan.
Speaking during the official commissioning of the project at Amoyo community in the Ifelodun local government area of Kwara state, the CBN governor, Dr. Godwin Emefiele, said that despite the fact that Nigeria is the largest producer of eggs and the second largest producer of chicken meat in Africa, demand gap for eggs and meat stood at and outstripped current supply by 1.2million metric tonnes and 140,000metric tonnes for meat and eggs respectively.
Represented by the CBN Director, Development Finance, Mr Ayila Yusuf, the CBN boss said that the demand gap had driven the smuggling of unhealthy frozen chicken into the country.
“Over the years, this demand gap has driven the smuggling of unhealthy frozen chicken into the country. To close this gap, the Central Bank of Nigeria has introduced various Intervention Schemes focused on boosting poultry production, creating decent jobs, and fostering innovation in the poultry sub-sector. One of such schemes is the Tertiary Institutions Poultry Revival Scheme which was conceptualised specifically for Tertiary Institutions to design and implement viable poultry projects
“Presently, over 40 tertiary institutions have expressed interest in the scheme through different commercial banks to implement various projects.
“Such deep and broad interest by Nigerian Tertiary Institutions will definitely culminate in the sustainable development of the Nigerian poultry industry”.
Also speaking, the vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Professor Age Sulyman, said that the poultry farm is expected to contribute to food security in Nigeria.
The vice chancellor also said that the project would help to bridge the wide gap between the demand for poultry products and the supply brought on largely by the ban on the importation of poultry products.
He said that the poultry farm would make the University of Ilorin see a huge leap in its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), “making money available for critical aspects of the university’s operations, especially in the areas of research and physical development.
“Our research efforts will also be boosted by the farm as it represents a veritable laboratory for the students and the staff. The students are also made to see first-hand the entrepreneurial side of what they are taught in the classroom, re-orientating them to a mindset of creators of employment in the agribusiness sector (as agripreneur), as against that of white-collar jobs-seeking graduates”.
“The journey has been long and hard for us as a university. The university took a N600 million loan from the CBN at a concessionary interest rate of nine per cent (5 five per cent for the first year) and a repayment period of six years, with a moratorium on the repayment of the principal for one year. Zenith Bank PLC is the Participating Financial Institution (PFI) in this project. Accessing the loan required the university to set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the project. The SPV is Unilorin Bizface synergy Limited a Limited Liability Company registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
“At the height of construction, the site had over 200 artisans earning their daily sustenance from it. Today, the farm has 55 full-time employees and has created space for our students to work on a part-time basis as they study. The
university has also set aside the sum of N5 million for an Out-grower programme for the students of Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine, and allied courses in the Faculty of Education. To date, these have been our modest contributions to generating employment and lightening up the local economy.
“This project has reverberating effects. As part of the backward integration, the University is developing a 2,000-hectare land for maize and soya beans cultivation for exclusive use on the poultry farm. Another backward
integration planned is the establishment of its own hatchery. As a forward integration, we are planning to establish an egg-powder production facility. In all that we have done so far and what we plan to do, we have kept faith
with our Total Land Use (TLU) policy that has been our abiding principle from day one of my administration”.
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The PDP spokesman recalled how the opposition party had on various occasions alerted that the APC government had ceded sovereignty over a large portion of our country to terrorists, “many of whom were imported into our country by the APC.”
He further stated: “From the video, in a brazen manner, terrorists as non-state actors boldly showed their faces, boasting, admitting and confirming their participation in the Kuje Prison break, some of whom were former prison inmates who were either jailed or awaiting trial for their previous terrorism act against our country.
“Nigerians can equally recall the confession by the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai that the APC government knows the plans and whereabouts of the terrorists but failed to act.
According to Ologunagba, about 18,000 Nigerians have been killed by terrorists between 2020 and 2022 “as the criminals continue to be emboldened by the failures and obvious complicity of the APC and to which the PDP had always drawn attention.”
“This is not politics; this is about humanity and leadership, which leadership sadly and unfortunately is missing in our country at this time,” he said.
The PDP added that it is appalled by “the lame response by the apparently helpless, clueless and deflated Buhari Presidency, wherein it told an agonizing nation that President Buhari “has done all and even more than what was expected of him as Commander in Chief by way of morale, material and equipment support to the military…”
“This is a direct admission of incapacity and failure by the Buhari Presidency and the APC. At such a time, in other climes, the President directly leads the charge and takes drastic measures to rescue and protect his citizens.
“In time of adversity, the President transmutes into Consoler-in-Chief to give hope and succour to the citizens. Painfully, Nigeria does not have a President who cares and can stand as Consoler-in-Chief to the citizens.
“It has now become very imperative for Nigerians to take note and realize that the only solution to this unfortunate situation is to hold the APC government accountable. We must come together as a people, irrespective of our political, ethnic and religious affiliations to resist the fascist-leaning tendencies of the APC administration.
Ologunagba called for an urgent meeting of the National Council of State to advise on the way to go over the nation’s worsening insecurity.
“Our nation must not fall. The resilient Nigerian spirit and ‘can-do- attitude’ must be rekindled by all to prevail on the President to immediately and without further delay, accede to the demand by the PDP and other well-meaning Nigerians to convene a special session of the National Council of State to find a lasting solution since the President has, in his own admission, come to his wit’s end,” the PDP spokesman declared.
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