The federal government has lauded Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya for his visionary strides in livestock development, noting that his initiatives were in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Livestock transformation agenda under the Renewed Hope Initiative.
The commendation was delivered by the minister of livestock development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, during the groundbreaking ceremony for the 184-hectare Agro-Livestock Development Zone in Gombe yesterday.
The project, a cornerstone of Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s vision for agro-industrial transformation, features an ultramodern abattoir, an international cattle market, a tannery, leather processing facilities and a dry inland port designed to connect processed livestock and grain products to local and international markets.
Governor Inuwa Yahaya used the occasion to announce an ambitious N50 billion water canalisation project from River Gongola to the Wawa-Zange Grazing Reserve which is expected to benefit over one million pastoralists directly and over five million people indirectly.
The minister noted that establishment of the Afro-Livestock Development Zone was a strategic step to enhance animal processing capacity not only for the North East but Nigeria at large.
“I am delighted to witness this historic milestone in Gombe State. It is indeed another indelible footprint of the administration of Governor Inuwa Yahaya. This feat is in total alignment with the actualisation of the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu and a strategic step towards improving our animal processing for local and international consumption.
This massive investment will process 500 bulls, 1,000 small ruminants and 3,000 poultry birth daily, translating into 182,500 bulls, 365 goats and sheep, 1,095,000 poultry in a year. This is a game-changer in the Northeast and indeed in Nigeria”, the minister added.
While applauding the governor, Alhaji Maiha said, “Your Excellency, you have shown how it is going to be done. Other governors can only emulate you. You deserve an accolade for achieving this great feat.”
In his address, Governor Inuwa Yahaya described the initiative as a historic turning point for the agro-livestock economy.
“Today’s ceremony demonstrates our firm commitment to transform Gombe State’s agricultural and livestock sectors, thus unlocking new levels of productivity, prosperity, and opportunity for our people. Today’s ground-breaking event is a bold step towards building a prosperous and sustainable future in our livestock development,” the governor.
Governor Inuwa Yahaya noted that over 80% of the population of Gombe was engaged in agriculture and livestock, and that the project aimed to reverse the decline of the state’s historical prominence as a regional hub for grains and livestock trading, once led by visionary figures such as Sarki Haruna in the 1920s.
He added that the Agro-Livestock Zone is the culmination of years of strategic investment and reform, including mass livestock vaccination programmes, establishment of milk cooperatives, drilling of over 70 solar-powered boreholes, re-demarcation of grazing reserves under the Livestock Productivity and Resilience (L-PRES) project, and improved veterinary infrastructure.
