By Omotayo Edubi
To ensure animals are healthy and more productive for production of meat and milk as well as ensuring food security, Kano State Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has officially commenced the vaccination of about two million animals against any infectious disease in all the 44 local governments, just as the Fulani herdsmen and farmers are advised on ensuring peaceful coexistence.
Governor Ganduje said this on Sunday at the official vaccination of cattle in company of his Deputy, Dr. Yusuf Sule Gawuna at the Kadawa Insemination Centre (KIC), Kano state.
He pointed that the state government has upgraded the KIC with the state of art equipment for proper animal insemination towards higher productivity of meat and milk as about 220 trained young men and women would also be inaugurated to serve as private consultant to cattle rearers in all the 44 local government at a token for service charges maintenance, adding that both farmers and herdsmen should ensure peaceful coexistence together.
He commended the adherent of both herdsmen and farmers to the peace accord they had sworn into, saying the intervention of the government through the committee set up for the purpose had been very effective as stiff penalty of life imprisonment is in place to checkmate cattle rustlers’ activities which according to the Governor has made the state to be experiencing peace for sometimes now.
The Governor expressed happiness about the turnout of herdsmen to ensuring that their animals are vaccinated against all kinds of diseases so as to increase productivity in meat and milk production, saying this would assist the Federal Government in her economy diversification as agricultural sector is being used as tool for foods and economic development.
Ganduje enjoined all the herdsmen across the local government to take the advantages of the programme to immunized their cattle and other animals like sheep and goat against any infectious disease, saying the state government had improved upon the socio economic status of the herdsmen through ruga settlement where food and water are given free of charge to the animals on the account of Government.
Speaking also the Deputy Governor of the state, Dr. Gawuna thanked his boss for being very magnanimous to the development of animal production in the state through genuine support to the sector, and herdsmen towards food security with improvement on their living standard, just as he thanked all the herdsmen that brought their animals for vaccination against several diseases.