The National Veterinary Research Institute of Nigeria (NVRI) has stated that the body has180 million birds, which can meet the poultry needs and has no need for imported poultry or poultry products.

This information was made public on Sunday by the NVRI Executive Director, Ahmed Mohammed, in Vom, Plateau State, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria. Mr Mohammed said that 120 million of the birds were rural poultry in backyards, while 50 million birds were commercial poultry in formal poultry outfits.

He challenged poultry producers to see the ban as an opportunity to promote self-sufficiency, more local wealth and employment. “They can improve on their capacities by accessing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) agricultural loans being shared to farmers by all commercial banks.

Furthermore, he urged the state and federal governments to encourage home-grown poultry by helping farmers to access vaccines for NDVI 2 disease. According to him NDVI 2, was the main disease that killed rural poultry, stating that it is preventable. “The vaccine’s major advantage is that it does not need to be preserved in a refrigerator; it is durable and can survive any situation or weather,” he explained.

He said that the diseases that killed commercial poultry were also preventable and advised farmers to get the vaccines and ensured they were well administered. He advised commercial poultry farmers to avoid cluster farming, to minimise the wide and wild spread of avian flu whenever it hit one farm. Mr Mohammed also advised Nigerians against consuming poultry and poultry products smuggled into the country, stressing that such items had proved to be unhealthy and should be avoided.