The Federal Government has inaugurated a 40-million-dose veterinary vaccine cold storage facility in Agege, Lagos, to strengthen the livestock sector, improve food security and expand economic opportunities in the South-West.
The solar-powered facility, delivered under the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES), will serve as a strategic regional hub for the storage and distribution of veterinary vaccines.
Inaugurating the facility, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, Minister of Livestock Development, said the project aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to improve livelihoods and promote economic prosperity.
‘We are commissioning much more than a physical structure. We are strengthening Nigeria’s animal health security architecture and investing in the protection of the livelihoods of millions of Nigerians who depend on livestock’, he said.
He noted that pests and diseases remain major challenges to livestock production, causing significant losses for farmers, reducing productivity and, in some cases, affecting the quality and safety of animal products.
Maiha said the facility would help the country shift from mainly responding to disease outbreaks to a more proactive system of prevention and that its solar-powered design would make operations more cost-effective and sustainable.
According to him, the investment forms part of the Federal Government’s broader livestock transformation agenda, implemented by the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development through L-PRES with support from the World Bank.
‘This state-of-the-art, solar-powered facility, with capacity for storing about forty million doses of veterinary vaccines, will serve as a strategic regional hub for the South-West.
‘It will preserve vaccine potency, reduce wastage, improve vaccine availability and accessibility, strengthen disease-control campaigns and ultimately contribute to healthier animals and more prosperous livestock farmers,’ he said.
Maiha noted that similar strategic vaccine storage facilities had been established in Abuja, Sokoto, Yola, Edo and Imo states, creating a growing national network for efficient vaccine storage and distribution.
He further said that the facilities had been complemented by a major upgrade of the National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, which is expected to increase Nigeria’s vaccine production capacity from about 120 million doses to more than 850 million doses annually.
‘Our ambition is clear: Nigeria must progressively attain veterinary vaccinees self-sufficiency and position itself as a major vaccine production and supply hub for West Africa and the African continent,’he said.
‘This is what livestock transformation looks like ;stronger institutions, modern infrastructure, healthier animals, empowered producers, improved food security and increased economic opportunities’, he said.
Tasiu Olawale Raji, Cairman, House of Representatives’ Committee on Livestock Development, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for establishing the Ministry of Livestock Development and expressed optimism that the Ministry would continue to contribute to addressing the country’s economic challenges.
Sanusi Abubakar, National Project Coordinator of L-PRES, said the facility would help address longstanding challenges in the storage and distribution of veterinary vaccines.
He explained that it would serve the Federal Government, Lagos State Government and private-sector operators across the South-West.
Emmanuel Fatai Audu, Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems, appreciated the Federal Government for the intervention and appealed for more support for the State’s agricultural sector.