The Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN) on Monday raised an alarm over the dearth of veterinarians in the country.
The council, which decried the development, said that it is dangerous for the healthcare delivery system in the country.
Speaking at the fourth induction and oath-taking for the 2020/2021 graduating class of the University of Ilorin, in Ilorin, the president of VCN, Dr Aisha Baju, also lamented that VCN was one of the least funded federal agencies in Nigeria, urging the Federal Government to make further
budgetary allocation to the council.
He said: “There are dearth of veterinary doctors in most states in Nigeria. Because of this shortage, veterinary doctors cannot function in the cities themselves. I don’t know the statistics of veterinarians in Kwara State but in most of the states I have been to, I discover that there is shortage of vet medical practitioners.
“We receive a lot of complaints about this menace that we have to mobilize and set up a pressure group to talk to the state governments. This is because many state governments do not know the importance of veterinarians when it comes to health.
“Apart from the above, VCN is one of the least financed agencies by the federal government”.
Earlier, the keynote Speaker, who is the President Commonwealth Veterinary Association (CVA), Dr Olatunji Nasir, said human activities like encroachment into natural habitats of wildlife were responsible for some of the diseases ravaging the globe.
“I appeal to government and professional associations like the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and VCN to sit up. There should be constant communication with communities that it is not easy to get information from veterinarians who are doing the gatekeeping about the danger inherent in consuming unwholesome meat”.
He recommended the increased use of technology to let members of the public know the potential dangers that abound, adding that “the increasing population of the world poses a danger to land use; monitoring of the activities of herders and cattle dealers to check contamination of rivers and streams in the country. Curtailment of consumption of wildlife.
“Others are government’s improvement of vaccination strategies to prevent vaccine-preventable diseases and ministries of agriculture at both state and federal levels should improve surveillance activities and this should be done with development partners as well as increased budgetary allocations for health and veterinary related interventions”.
Earlier in his welcome address, Professor Raji Mashood, the Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, congratulated the graduands and advised them to be professional in the discharge of their duties.
He said the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic showed the importance of the profession in helping to promote the health of humans as well as animals.
Mashood urged veterinarians to collaborate with other health personnel in the improvement of the health of the citizenry.
Miss Fatima Jiddah was awarded the best-graduating student in the faculty.
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