Dennis Udoma
The Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association has decried the challenges facing the association in recent times, calling on the practitioners to join hands and uplift the profession.
National President of the association, Dr. Godwin Abonji said this during the just concluded mandatory seminar for members from southern Nigeria tagged, ‘‘2018 Professional Continuing Education Seminar’’ held in Uyo at the weekend.
Dr Aboni, who listed the problems plaguing the veterinary profession to include; the emerging diseases, climate change, world health, anti-microbial resistance and sustainable development also described the development as a global phenomenon.
He noted that, the seminar was held in fulfilment of its obligations in training and re-training members, in readiness to reform the livestock industry for national security and economic development.
The Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) Boss however, expressed optimism that, ‘‘despite the challenges facing the profession, the future still looks bright for veterinarians especially, now that the country is forced to look beyond oil and turn to agriculture’’.
Similarly, the Chairman, Veterinary Council of Nigeria Ad-Hoc Committee on Continuing Education, Prof. Gabriel Ogundipe in his keynote address said, this year’s continuing education programme was one in the series organized by the council to update members on the development in the livestock industry, having held one in Kaduna for council members from the North hence, the one in Uyo was for the southern veterinarians.
Prof. Ogundipe however maintained that, the seminar at the end of the day would proffer solutions to the many challenges confronting livestock production especially, the issue of self-medication, unregulated cases in anti-biotics which, has hindered their products from getting into the international market.
According to him, ‘‘these diseases come from nowhere than livestock which at times create fear amongst the people like in the case of Ebola outbreak’’.
