The Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN) has identified paucity of funds, inadequate collaboration, shortage of manpower, and inadequate facilities and vaccines as major impediments to rabies eradication in the country.
The Acting Registrar of the Council, Dr Oladokun Fadipe, said this in an interview with reporters in Abuja on Sunday to mark World Rabies Day.
World Rabies Day is observed annually on 28 September to raise awareness about rabies prevention and highlight progress in defeating the disease. The theme for 2026 is “Stronger Together”.
Fadipe said the government must dedicate adequate resources to mobilise personnel for mass vaccination of dogs nationwide.
According to him, once the government achieves mass vaccination in one year, dog owners will subsequently have a duty to present their animals for routine vaccination, with sanctions for non-compliance.
“We need to get to that point where there are resources to mobilise people to go round and ensure that all dogs are vaccinated.
“We can then begin to impose sanctions or penalties on any dog owner who fails to comply,” he said.
The acting registrar decried inadequate manpower and facilities to attend to persons bitten by rabid dogs.
He disclosed that only 12,700 veterinarians are registered in the country, while registered para-veterinarians number below 10,000, against an estimated need of 50,000.
Fadipe said only a few veterinarians are in government service, while the majority are in the private sector and others outside the country. He described the number in public service as grossly inadequate for the 2030 eradication target.
“If government can recruit more, it will help us, because even when you declare free vaccination, where are the hands to do it?
“Although in the interim we can do a Public-Private Partnership where we involve private practitioners, if we depend only on government staff to carry out this assignment, we do not have enough manpower.
“Government should bring in more manpower to assist. Of course, facilities are not there too.
“We do not have enough vaccines. The National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), Vom, in charge of vaccine production, does not have the capacity to produce enough that can go round, hence we import vaccines,” he said.
He called for the recruitment of more personnel, upgrading of facilities and boosting the capacity of NVRI to produce adequate vaccines to meet national demand.
Fadipe further urged stakeholders to desist from working in silos and embrace collaboration.
He described the commemoration as a season of collaboration, not competition, in line with the 2026 theme.
“We have so many people whose hands are on deck, from the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, especially the Department of Veterinary and Pest Control Services, among others. This is a season of collaboration.
“Let there be responsible dog ownership.
“Let dog owners present their dogs for free vaccination when there is such opportunity, which is one way we can be sure of 100 per cent eradication, else it will elude us.
“Let us continue this media advocacy, sensitise people and see that in no distant time we can eradicate rabies and keep preventing it going forward,” he said.
