COVID-19: Oke-Aro pig farmers seek govt’s assistance to bounce back to business

PIG farmers in Oke- Aro area of Lagos State have called on the government to assist them with grants in order for them to bounce back to business.

The farmers who lost over 90 percent of their animals running to billions of naira to Avian Swine Fever, a pandemic which happen all over the world few months ago said they are hoping to come back to business.

Pastor Adewale Oluwalana, President, Lagos State Old Pig Farm Oke- Aro in an interview with journalists, said that the farm generate about 10,000 employment.

“The activities at the farm now is very low, the place is like a ghost of itself. The pigs we have now cannot be more than one percent of what we used to have. We lost so many; before now we have well over 250,000 pigs, we lost about 225,000 pigs. What we have now is so small, we need to restock. We don’t have animals again.

“For instance someone who used to have like 500 pigs now have less than five, it is so devastating, can someone trade or live on that,” he said.

Oluwalana appreciated the State government for donating chemicals, motorised machine to enable them fumigate the farm and prepare the farm again for new era.

“We have to fumigate the place, to put the Avian Swine Fever in a permanent rest, when we fumigate the farm it will clear the remnants off from the farm.

We need assistance in so many areas so that people can get back to business”.

Speaking further, he said if not for the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, it would not have been severe.

We know how to manage ourselves, immediately we see a sick animal we separate it from joining the others, so it would not affect the others but because of the Covid-19 we don’t have access to the farm.

“The sick ones affected the good ones, that is why we have huge loss.

We pray COVID-19 will not come again and we will not have anything that will not allow farmers to go to farm,” he added.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM _{NIGERIAN TRIBUNE}