By MATTHEW UKACHUNWA, Lagos
Butchers In Lagos State have expressed gratitude to the state government on its efforts to develop and upgrade their occupational worth in abattoir and lairage services.
Chairman of Lagos State Butchers Association, Alhaji Malomo Baki Yusuf, stated the feeling of his colleagues recently, and said that they appreciated a 2-day workshop organized for them by the Lagos State government.
Butchers in the state are willing and ready to give maximum support to the government in its policy implementation on matters relating to their occupation in particular and policies on general interest of the state in general, Yusuf assured.
Explaining the principal purpose of the workshop to the butchers, Dr. Olayiwola Onasanya, the Permanent Secretary in the state’s Ministry of Agriculture, highlighted the significance of ensuring a hygienic animal slaughtering environment in the markets.
“The government will not relent in its efforts in upgrading and regulating the activities of all slaughter houses in the state,” he stressed.
Onasanya said that the training was not the first of its kind, pointing out that many butchers in the state have benefitted from similar programmes in the past.
He disclosed that stakeholders in the red meat value chain had travelled abroad where they were exposed to and educated on the best practices in rendering abattoir services.
“Butchers,” Onasanya said, “have been sponsored to visit abattoirs in Kenya and Botswana to working standard abattoir,”
He charged the butchers to prove their benefit from the training by ensuring the success of the state government’s policy and strategy on abattoir management.
