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From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
The Chief Executive Officer, (CEO), and Managing Director, Tito Group of Companies, Asiwaju Isaac Akinkunmi, has donated 5,000 doses of anthrax vaccines for the vaccination of livestock in Benue state.
The vaccines were received by the Edward Amali led taskforce on prevention and control of anthrax disease set up by the Governor Hyacinth Alia recently.
Making the donations at the premises of Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Makurdi, on Friday, Akinkunmi who was in company of top management staff of Tito group, commended Governor Alia for taking a proactive step in setting up a taskforce to ensure that anthrax disease does not invade the state.
He therefore said “Our visit this afternoon is to lend our humble support to the effort of the state government.”
While noting that Tito group, producers of Tito Yoghurt, is a milk processing and diary production company, he said they decided to set up ranching for backward integration to produce milk locally so as to reduced, to its bare minimum, the importation of milk.
“We therefore keep a lot of cattle on ranching basis because we have embraced ranching as a way of raising livestock and we are finding it very rewarding. On the arrival of anthrax in the country, we find that if we don’t move quickly and it evades our farm, it will be very devastating.
He said his company had, therefore approached the Veterinary Research Institute in Vom, Plateau state, and procured anthrax vaccines and vaccinated all their cattle.
“I have extended this gesture to the communities in our immediate surrounding and we thought it fit when we heard that the government has constituted a task force to prevent, to control anthrax and put it at bay from entering Benue state, we then thought it wise to procure vaccines against anthrax as part of our own humble donation to the work of the task force.
“We are therefore donating to the committee, the vaccine for the vaccination of 5,000 livestock in Benue state,” he said.
He restated the commitment of Tito group of company of sustain partnership with the state government to promote social and economic development of the state.
He appealed to the state government to create more public awareness and sensitize stakeholders to further prevent the disease from entering in the state.
Responding, chairman of the Taskforce on the prevention and control of anthrax disease in the state, Dr Edward Amali, appreciated the CEO of Tito group and his entire staff for their kind donation to the Benue state government and assured that the vaccines would be put to use.
He acknowledged that the donation of the vaccines would fast track vaccination of animals against anthrax disease in the state, saying that the taskforce has began sensitization of the public while the state government will also follow up with its vaccination beginning from next week.
Amali said Tito groups while contributing to milk and animal production in Benue state has also been growing the state economy.
He called on other stakeholders in the livestock industry and all concerned individuals to emulate Asiwaju Akinkunmi and his company in assisting the government by being part of the collective efforts to safeguard the state.
