GOVERNOR AIYEDATIWA FLAGS OFF FREE ANTHRAX VACCINATION

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GOVERNOR AIYEDATIWA FLAGS OFF FREE ANTHRAX VACCINATION

… Assures modern technology will be used for sufficient food protection

The Governor of Ondo State, Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa has flagged off free anthrax vaccination campaign in Akure, the Ondo State capital to protect public health.

The governor added that the state is committed to using modern technology to boost food production and assist farmers in the state with improved inputs.

Governor Aiyedatiwa who spoke through the Head of Service, Mr Bayo Phillips, said the government, under his leadership, would encourage the use of modern-day techniques and tools by the farmers in carrying out their farming activities to boost their yields on farms so as to have food sufficiency in the state.

The governor stated this at the flag off ceremony of free anthrax vaccination campaign organised by L-PRES project in collaboration with the state government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

According to him, the administration recognises the importance of addressing the challenges of food insecurity and boosting productivity in the state, and “our administration places premium on the agricultural sector.”

His words, “The 2025 Appropriation Law is unique in the sense that it is chronicled ‘Budget of Recovery for the state. It is going to mark a significant step towards fulfilling the promises made to the good people of Ondo State during the electioneering process.

“The 2025 budget is a tool for achieving our goal, and we will ensure it is implemented with utmost responsibility, efficiency, and transparency. Let me say here emphatically that agriculture received a significant allocation in the 2025 budget because of its importance and value in driving growth and development. I want to assure our good people that we remain focused on our goals of achieving sustainable food security and economic development.

“The need for strengthening national and sub-national capacities for disease prevention, preparedness, and response is increasingly becoming urgent, critical,, and expedient in our efforts to curb outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases of priority in our country.”

The governor noted that the recurrence of anthrax outbreaks in the country and other parts of the world had necessitated the need for heightened awareness and effective control measures to prevent infection in animals and limit its transmission to humans.

“Vaccination as a preventive measure becomes indispensable, and Ondo State is not going to be left out. The state veterinary services, in collaboration with L-PRES, incorporated annual vaccination against anthrax into the 2025 budget, and this will surely become an annual programme.

“It is my expectation that at the end of this free anthrax vaccination exercise, Ondo State would have complied with the Federal Government of Nigeria policy on the prevention and eradication of anthrax and improve livestock health, with our livestock industry in Ondo State fully secured against anthrax outbreaks,” he said.

In her welcome address, the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, ( Agriculture sector) Mrs. Foluke Tunde-Daramola, said the ministry had been rendering required support to activities of the L-PRES Project, to ensure that the state maximally benefits from its laudable programmes, explaining that anthrax was an infectious disease of public health importance caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis and ranked as one of the first five priority zoonoses in Nigeria.

Her words: “There are sporadic confirmed outbreaks in recent times with a farm in Zamfara State being the latest. The outbreaks serve as a warning for improved prevention, control, and heightened awareness. The disease can affect both animals and man, although it is more common among livestock and wild ruminants, precipitating high socioeconomic problems.

“The organism is susceptible to some antibiotics but vaccination is the economical and highly protective measure to prevent anthrax deaths among livestock and other susceptible animals, and the consequent transmission to humans who come into contact with infected animals, their products, or contaminated environments,” she said.

Mrs Foluke Tunde-Daramola urged livestock farmers and owners to make use of the opportunity of the two-week free vaccination exercise to ensure that their susceptible animals like goats, sheep, and cattle are vaccinated, free of charge.

Speaking with newsmen, the director of Veterinary Services, Dr Adebayo Ehinmowo, said his department is ready to deploy veterinary practitioners in the public and private to carry out the vaccination in all the 18 local government areas of the state.

Dr Ehinmowo added that over 140,000 animals are expected to be vaccinated in the 2 weeks programme across the state.

According to a statement signed by the Head of Media and Publicity of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Sola Omoboyowa, the event attracted goodwill messages from the Ministries of Health, Environment, and Veterinarians, among others.