The Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN) has decried the paucity of professional veterinarians in the country.
Acting Registrar of VCN, Dr Oladotun Fadipe, made this known in an interview with reporters on Friday in Vom, near Jos.
Fadipe’s concern came a day after he inducted 164 graduates of the Federal College of Animal Health and Production, Vom.
He stressed that Nigeria currently has fewer than 10,000 qualified veterinarians.
He explained that the shortage has affected the growth and development of the veterinary sub-sector, describing the induction of the graduates as a “significant move” toward improving the animal health delivery system.
“The induction held yesterday is very significant in the sense that the country has been suffering from gaps in the last-mile animal health delivery system.
“As it is today, we have fewer than 10,000 veterinarians in Nigeria. This is grossly inadequate to handle the animal population.
“Currently, one veterinarian is handling over 200,000 animals, and you can imagine how tedious that can be.
“So, to meet the agenda of President Bola Tinubu on food security, we need to train more veterinarians in Nigeria,” he said.
Fadipe, however, called on Nigerians—particularly those engaged in animal farming—to properly utilize the available veterinarians to ensure food security.
