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The Gombe State Government has commenced a three-week statewide vaccination campaign against major livestock diseases, targeting cattle, sheep and goats across the 11 local government areas (LGAs) and local council development areas (LCDAs) in the state.
The campaign, which was flagged off on Wednesday at Tumfure Bashar in Gombe metropolis, is aimed at preventing and controlling priority animal diseases, strengthening veterinary services and protecting livestock production, food security and livelihoods.
Representing Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya at the event, Deputy Governor Manassah Daniel Jatau said the exercise was part of the administration’s commitment to improving animal health and protecting human health and the environment.
Jatau said livestock remained an important source of livelihood, employment, nutrition and economic activity, contributing through meat and dairy production, animal traction, manure, leather and leather products, as well as socio-cultural and religious activities.
He listed government interventions in the sector to include the establishment of the Ministry of Livestock Development, renovation and equipping of veterinary clinics, construction of a veterinary diagnostic laboratory and solar-powered cold-chain facility, and establishment of livestock training centres.
The deputy governor also disclosed that work had commenced on a 184-hectare Special Livestock Development Zone, comprising an ultra-modern abattoir, tannery, international livestock market, veterinary hospital, poultry production unit and inland dry port.
According to him, the project would reduce the need to transport live animals to other parts of the country while creating better opportunities for livestock owners and traders.
Jatau said the government had also constituted a farmers-herders resolution committee and was re-demarcating and monumenting cattle routes and grazing reserves to facilitate livestock movement and reduce conflicts.
He urged livestock owners, farmers, traditional rulers, local government authorities and livestock associations to support the vaccination campaign and cooperate with veterinary personnel.
The Commissioner for Livestock Development, Salisu Baba Alkali, said the exercise would target Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia, Foot-and-Mouth Disease in cattle and Peste des Petits Ruminants in sheep and goats.
He said the vaccination teams would operate across the state for three weeks, urging livestock owners and pastoralists to make their animals available for vaccination.
The Federal Ministry of Livestock Development State Coordinator, Dr Abdulhamid Shauti Garba, described livestock production as a critical component of Nigeria’s agricultural economy, saying disease outbreaks threaten food security and the livelihoods of millions of Nigerians.
The Gombe State Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Rearers, Modibbo Yaya, commended the government’s livestock interventions but appealed for action over an allegedly encroached cattle route and grazing area in Dukku.
The ceremony featured symbolic vaccination of animals and presentation of livestock-related items, with commissioners, local government chairmen, permanent secretaries, traditional rulers, security agencies and other stakeholders in attendance.
