FUNAAB moves to check cattle importation

Apparently disturbed by the whooping sum of foreign exchange Nigeria spends annually on importation of cattle, the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) is planning to check importation of cattle through productive effort of FUNAAB’s Cattle Production Venture Stakeholders.

According to the management, FUNAAB is strategising towards massive production of cattle through Cattle Production Venture Stakeholders in order to reduce unnecessary financial burden on the naira and the nation, as well as to improve on teaching and research activities of the university, especially as regards cattle production and animal husbandry.

Speaking in Abeokuta shortly after Olufiropo Awokola, deputy dean, Student Affairs and associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering of the University, was elected as chairman, Cattle Production Venture (CPV) Stakeholders, Olusola Oyewole, vice-chancellor, expressed the readiness of the university management to give full support to the project.

Oyewole, represented by Felix Salako, deputy vice-chancellor (development), acknowledged the efforts of the chairperson, Daisy Eruvbetine, in transforming the venture, saying it was high time the university gave full support to its cattle production project and reduce the financial burden caused by cattle importation on the nation.

Speaking earlier, Daisy Eruvbetine, a professor, appreciated the support so far given to the venture by the university management, just as she disclosed that the project was made up of 33 stakeholders comprising 19 members from FUNAAB and 14 others from outside the university system.

“Apart from providing investment opportunities for the stakeholders, other services rendered by the venture include popularising cattle production in the South-western states, students training and income generation for the university,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), under the competitive Agricultural Research Grant Scheme (CARGS) funded Tomato Transformation Project in the university, has fulfilled its part of a research agreement by presenting a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine to its collaborator in the project – the Biotechnology Advanced Laboratory, Abuja.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Akinola Popoola, principal investigator, disclosed that at the inception of the project, an agreement was reached that a PCR machine would be handed over to its collaborator (BAL), adding that the major objectives of the project include developing the protocols for efficient regeneration of the variants of farmers-preferred local varieties of tomato.

Popoola stated that by the development, the first three objectives of the initiative had been completed with the assistance of Italian collaborators. He appreciated ARCN for the level of work done under the CARGS-funded Tomato Transformation Project and solicited for the support of management in bringing the project to a successful conclusion.

Olusola Oyewole, vice-chancellor, who was represented at the occasion by the dean, College of Plant Science and Crop Production, Goke Bodunde commended BAL for the existing relationship, as he expressed the desire of the university to maintain collaborative relationship with the laboratory.

Reiterating the university’s commitment to fulfilling all agreements it entered into, Kolawole Adebayo, director of Grants Management, also said FUNAAB was engaging in a wide range of collaborative research activities without compromising accountability and transparency, as he encouraged the principal investigator to liaise with the Directorate of Grant Management for the necessary support.

“In that budget, our university annually has its own research grants other than what we get from outside, and this year, the university has increased its budget for research, from N12 million to N20 million,” according to Adebayo.

The representative of BAL, Charles Osuji, appreciated the university for fulfilling its side of the agreement, while assuring that on the part of BAL, it would ensure that the existing formal agreement between the two organisations was sustained.

RAZAQ AYINLA