One central abattoir in Ibadan inadequate, butchers tell Makinde

Some butchers in Ibadan, on Wednesday, called on the state government to consider the establishment of another abattoir to complement the central abattoir at Amosun area in Akinyele local government area of the state.

It would be recalled that the immediate past Governor Abiola Ajimobi-led administration had in 2018 directed butchers in all 11 local government areas of Ibadan to relocate to the central abattoir located at Amosun.

The butchers who made the call when Governor Seyi Makinde visited the central abattoir, decried that the huge costs they expended on transportation and slaughtering cows continued to make the business less profitable.

Mr Taofeek Ahmed who spoke on behalf of a faction of the butchers’ union, noted the challenges they faced in getting to the central Amosun site and delay in transporting slaughtered cow to different parts of Ibadan markets every day.

Particularly, Ahmed bemoaned that the three mass transit buses promised them by the immediate past government were not functional anymore.

In addition, he pointed to increased costs of slaughtering cows raised from N1,000 to N3,000 and another cost increased from N7,000 to N15,000 as factors that have made some butchers struggle to continue the business while others had left.

In his own remarks, Mr Buliaminu Elesinmeta, who is the coordinator of another faction, pointed to challenges faced in continuing business at Amosun, urging the state government to provide vehicles that can be used to convey their slaughtered cows to the market.

Elesinmeta also prayed the state government grant butchers loans for them to revitalise their businesses.

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He decried the factionalisation of the butchers’ union and crisis that greeted the order of the immediate past government compelling them to relocate to the Amosun central abattoir.

Speaking, Chairman, Central Abattoir, Mr Amodu Kehinde said the idea of having more than one central abattoir was not out of place, while each local government area could have meat outlets.

Though he argued that majority of butchers had relocated to Amosun, Amodu said there were still leakages, hence he was keen on knowing the stance of the state government on centralisation or decentralisation of the slaughtering of cows.

While praying for the state government’s full support, he noted that at the current rate of N5,000 per butcher, it will take fifty years to recoup the cost of building the central abattoir.

Responding, Governor Seyi Makinde gave a one-week mandate to a committee of officials of the state ministry of agriculture, representatives of the butchers and the central abattoir management to advice on decentralisation of the abattoir in Ibadan.

He described as unacceptable the fact that meat gets late to the market as a result of centralization of cow slaughtering.

To this end, he said the decision of the state government on centralisation or decentralisation of abattoir will be informed by the need to offer residents of the state the best deal.