By Dare Akogun
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele has revealed that the bank is committed boosting production in the country by introducing various Intervention Schemes that is creating decent jobs and fostering innovation in the country’s poultry sub sector.
The CBN governor made this known at the commissioning of the Unilorin GGMAX Intergrated Commercial Poultry Farm, at Amoyo, Ifelodun local government area of the state, established through the CBN Tertiary Institutions Poultry Revival Scheme in partnership with Zenith Bank PLC.
Represented by Edwin Nzelu, a Deputy Director and Secretary to the Agricultural credit guarantees scheme fund, he said despite being the largest producer of eggs and the second largest producer of chicken meat in
Africa, the demand gap for eggs and Meat in Nigeria outstrips the current supply by 1.2Million Metric Tonnes and 140,000Metric Tonnes for meat and eggs respectively.
He said the Tertiary Institutions Poultry Revival Scheme was conceptualised specifically for tertiary institutions to design and implement viable poultry projects that will culminate into sustainable development of the Nigerian Poultry industry.
He encouraged other similar institutions across the country to follow the University of Ilorin example which no doubt will create jobs, practical experience for agriculture students and additional income layer for institutions.
“The Nigerian Poultry sub-sector is a trillion naira industry with huge potentials for individuals and national socio-economic development. With over 180million chickens under intensive, semi-intensive and extensive production systems, it provides affordable and broadly acceptable meat and eggs to meet our national protein needs.
“Today we witness the commissioning of the first project to be funded and completed throught the Scheme. It is certain that the laudable objectives of the Scheme including improving revenue of tertiary institutions, employment creation and enhancing research into poultry by tertiary institutions are already being realised.
“The 0.6billion funding provided through Zenith Bank at a single digit interest rate of 5% has led to the construction of broiler and layers pen and cages; procurement of over 50,000.00 birds, feed milling equipment, processing machinery and other ancillary poultry amenities..
“Presently, over 40 tertiary institutions have expressed interest in the Scheme through different commercial banks to implement various projects.
“I enjoined other tertiary institutions to key into the scheme in order for the broad-based benefits are realised for all,” he said.
In his remarks the Vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin Professor Sulyman Abdulkareem, commended the CBN Governor for the vision that birthed the project and for supporting the University all the way.
He said the farm is expected to contribute to food security in Nigeria by bridging the gap between the demand for poultry product the supply brought on largely by the ban on importation of frozen chicken.
Professor Abdulkareem added that the University will also see a huge leap in its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), making money available for critical aspects of the University operations, especially in the areas of research, and physical development.
“Our Research efforts will also be boosted by the farm as it represents a veritable laboratory for the students and the staff, ” he said.
He pointed maintained that the students are also made to see first-hand the entrepreneurial side of what they are taught in the classroom, re orientating them to a mindset of creators of employment in the agrobusiness sector (as agripreneur), as against that of white-collar jobs-seeking graduates.
“This project has reverberating effect as part of the backward integration, the University is developing a 2,000-hectare land for Maize and Soya beans cultivation for exclusive use on the poultry farm.
“Another backward integration planned is the establishment of its own hatchery. As a forward integration, we are planning to establish an egg-powder production facility.
“In all that we have done so far and what we plan to do, we have kept faith with our Total Land Use (TLU) policy that has been our abiding principle from Day One of this University administration”, he said.
ABOUT UNILORIN GGMAX FARM
Unilorin GGMAX Farm is an Integrated Commercial Poultry Farm established in February 2022, as a subsidiary of Unilorin Bizface synergy limited, which is a Limited Liability Company registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
The farm was established through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Tertiary Institutions Poultry Revival Scheme (TIPRES) in partnership with Zenith Bank PLC.
The farm has 6 fully built Broilers’ pens with a capacity for 5,000 birds each and another 2 of similar capacity, under construction, to raise the total installed capacity to 40,000 Broilers; 4 fully built Layers’ pens currently housing 17,000 layers though with an installed capacity of 33,000; a Feed mill with an installed capacity of 5tons/hour; a semi-automated Broiler Processing Unit (BPU) with a capacity to process 1,000 birds/day; a Cold room with a capacity of 10tons; a blast chiller with a capacity of 500 birds every 4-to-6 hours; and a Manure Processing Unit.
The farm produces fresh eggs, whole broilers (live and dressed), chicken parts, poultry feeds and manure. With the establishment of its own hatchery, the farm will also be a producer of Day-old chicks.
The farm received its first birds on the 13th of May 2022 with the arrival of 17,000 Point-of-cage Layers. These are now 21 weeks old and are expected to start laying from the middle of July 2022.
The first set of 5,000 broilers came on the 23″ of May 2022. These have all been processed and sold to distributors.
Currently, the farm has provided direct employment to 60 staff with indirect employment of about 300 others.
