Gov. Otti Gives Preliminary Approval For The Establishment Of Dairy Farm In Abia

Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has given preliminary approval to a proposal to establish an ultramodern dairy farm in the state.

Governor Otti gave the berthed nod when he met with the management of Blue Ribbon Limited, led by Sir Idris Wabara, who paid him a visit on Friday.

According to Kazie Uko, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, establishing a dairy farm in the state makes sense because it will boost economic development, but the idea of having people move around the streets with cows is outdated and illegal in most countries.

The Governor assured the company that his government would investigate the proposal’s details in order to determine whether it could be implemented.

Wabara, a native of Ohambele in Ukwa-East, Abia State, explained the company’s proposal, saying it intends to establish the cutting-edge dairy farm in collaboration with Afimilk, an Israeli company well-known for its agricultural expertise.

Wabara emphasised the project’s importance in strengthening Abia State’s economic landscape and its potential impact on its citizens’ lives, noting that it presents an opportunity to increase agricultural productivity and reduce reliance on imported dairy products.

He went on to say that the proposed dairy farm could benefit the state by increasing revenue, creating jobs, boosting economic activity, and leveraging Abia’s agricultural potential to ensure food security and generate foreign exchange for the state.

“You know the state of the Nigerian economy right now; we either produce or perish. A political leader we all admire stated that Nigeria must shift from consumption to production, and I believe agriculture is one of our core competencies.

“We are aware of what his Excellency the Governor has been doing in Abia. We are looking to collaborate with an Israeli company with extensive experience in this sector, and we are confident that Abia State will benefit from their expertise.

“What we want to do is feed the local market with milk while conserving foreign currency and training our people. The Israelis are interested in training our people in local expertise, so we plan to train people here and send some of them to Israel for training, which I believe is a win-win situation for the country.

“The government will have more revenue, people will be employed, and we are not just setting up; we are attracting larger milk processors and increasing economic activity. We will train Abians and people with dairy expertise, so this is essentially dairy, producing milk and related products for the local market and possibly for export,” he said.

Wabara expressed confidence in the Israeli partners’ commitment to passing on knowledge and skills to local workers, thereby contributing to capacity building and technological advancement in agriculture.

He clarified that the initiative is unrelated to RUGA or cattle rearing and aims to produce high-quality milk to meet local demand.

“We are requesting that the government support the project, leverage it, and, most importantly, make land available for the project, and I must emphasise that this is not RUGA. This is a dairy farm, not a cattle ranch or a national livestock reserve. “We bring in world-class cattle and produce world-class milk,” he stated.

Wabara emphasised the importance of nutritional security for Abia’s people and advocated for the production and consumption of fresh milk instead of imported powdered alternatives.

He went on to say that states like Kaduna, Ekiti, and Oyo had successfully implemented dairy farming projects, and he emphasised the importance of Abia State capitalising on the opportunity to develop and grow its agricultural sector.