Lagos Abattoirs: ‘Cancelling Mechanical Line Will Be Backward, Unhealthy’

Former Commissioner for Agriculture in Lagos State and the proprietor of Kith and Kin Group of Schools, Ikorodu, Kaoli Olusanya, in this interview with WALE OYEBADE advocates more investments in agriculture and youth development, saying both are critical to building a healthy economy. <em

WHEN you were Commissioner for Agriculture, you established farm settlements and encouraged Lagosians to go back to the farm. Is that still happening?

What assisted me in my assignment was the fact that I had earlier served as an Agricultural Officer in the civil service before finding myself back in the ministry. I was therefore familiar to all the production centres. I remember that Ikorodu used to be a centre for the production of palm oil estates and foodstuffs and poultry. Every Friday, members of the community came to the School of Agriculture there to buy farm produce and we also shipped a lot of these to Alausa.

We also had other production centres at Ajara, Epe, Ejirin and Araga. So, when I came in as Commissioner of Agriculture, because I knew how we used to produce foods then, I said if there is any rundown, we have to bring them back. So, I presented a proposal to the government at one of our early Executive Council meetings and money was set aside to renovate all old farm settlements. I did not start building new ones, I renovated Ajara, Ikorodu, Araga – the buildings, pens, battery cages and roads were all renovated.

During our second term, I presented another memo to the Executive Council again for the building of additional farms settlement and two were approved, somewhere at Odomola, in Epe and Badagry. I now created fish farm estate at Odogiyan and oil palm estate.

The concept was that government did not run these settlements. We invited interested school leavers and graduates to Araga training institute where they did a three months crash programme in agriculture and when they graduated, the government empowered them and allocated these settlements to them. Regularly, the government allocated to them agricultural extension officers, to monitor and train them on a regular basis on the modern trends in the business of agriculture. I was on the field to see how these people were performing and the result was overwhelming.

When we came in, the abattoir was a badly run centre; the whole place was run down and government was not benefiting enough rent on its facility there. The mechanical facility was abandoned and instead of rectifying the fault, butchers were slaughtering animals on open dirty slabs. I invited the governor to the place and he too was shocked at what he saw; that the meat residents were eating was coming from such a very dirty environment.

He came back to the Executive Council and gave an order that something had to be done. Upon the expiration of the tenancy of the then management team, the government re-awarded the contract for the management of the abattoir to another firm and insisted that the mechanical slaughter lines must be functional. Government invested huge sums of money in the renovation. We improved on the sewage system and the benefit was almost immediate such that you don’t have to bring your animals to your homesteads to be killed anymore, because you can do the killing at the abattoir and transport the meat home. That saves you the trouble of looking for where to dump the wastes.

Secondly, the meat supplies to all retail outlets became faster; and thirdly, the government started benefiting having revenue increase that was 10 times more than it used to.

But between the time I left and now, there has been some ugly write-ups. I have been seeing in the newspapers some things that give room for concern. Nothing whatsoever should make us to lose the service of the mechanical lines. Despite its attraction to some people who might be feeling that their job is under threat, government should prevent the temptation of going back to open slaughtering of animals.

The government must also continue to invest in the abattoir. The equipment might have become rusty or aged; they may need to be changed. Governor Otedola built the abattoirs in 1992, so if it is the same old equipment we are relying upon today, they may be no more reliable. There are innovations globally and Lagos should not shy away from giving the best to the people. So, I canvass a total overhaul of the abattoir and to replicate it in more senatorial zones. The population when Governor Otedola constructed them and now has more than quadrupled so it might not be sufficient for the massive population that the present government may be contending with.

What would you say are the main challenges besetting the youths in such environment?

The youths of today are combating a number of threats that may affect their ability to manifest their full potentials and limit their opportunity of playing a larger role in the future. One major problem is the environmental factor. The environment can be likened to planting a seed. A farmer who plants a tree in a rocky soil and does not nurture the seed would reap an emaciated plant. But if the same seed is planted on a fertile soil, it grows into beautiful plant. So, in what kind of soil are we planting our youths?

If we want to build the Nigeria of our dream, government has a lot of responsibility to train these children in the path that would make them imbibe positive values that would make them patriotic to the level that can make them say: ‘I can die for Nigeria’. But before anyone can say that mentally, he must have enumerated what he has gained from such a system.

Secondly, it is important for our leaders to empower the youths. What are we giving them that would make them available for that future when it eventually comes? What environment are we laying down for them? Not an environment where 20 or more undergraduates squat in one room in the university; not a situation where there is no toilet, no water, no electricity and where the classrooms are choked up. That kind of environment would be teaching the wrong values.

Also, our leaders must begin to show that they are good role models; they must show that they are not selfish and that they are not greedy. They must show that the policies and programmes of government are geared toward creating a positive life for all.

However, the youth must also learn that there is no easy way to success. At times you fail but failure is not the end of the road; it is just a bus stop from where you can still enter another bus to your destination. It offers an opportunity for you to do things better. Our youths must learn to work hard and work smart and must be consistent and disciplined.

Recently the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu singled you out for praise, describing you as a leader worthy of emulation by the youth. What defines your personality?

I was as surprised at such confidence boosting commendation like everyone because it came unsolicited. I never knew such a great leader was keenly monitoring me.

I grew up in the city of Lagos; right on Lagos Island. I was born opposite the Iga Iduganran, the Oba’s palace. I grew up learning about street wisdom; I grew up freely mixing with all categories of people.

My mother taught me basic moral values. My mother was my first teacher; she taught me the values of hard work. She taught me to mix freely and not hold anything against anybody and at the same time, she taught me the value of focus.

She taught me how to set goals and work towards achieving them. She taught me to value education.

What spoke to my life was, first, the moral lesson my mum taught me; the wisdom I picked up from the street. With the education I had, I was able to form my own vision of who I would want to be.

More than all these, the fear of abject poverty also played a major role in firing me to move out of that vicious cycle. I don’t want to be poor, so if I don’t want to be poor, what should I do? I decided to pursue education with vigour. I hooked on to the advice of my mum who at any point would usually say: “Remember the son of whom you are”. So,

I decided to mix with people who will add value to my life.
What was Lagos like in those days when you were growing up compared to Lagos of today?

A lot has changed between that time and now. Lagos of the 60s was a very quiet and peaceful place, a place where everybody was their brother’s keeper. There was good neighbourliness; there was no thuggery and no robbery or kidnapping. We almost knew ourselves. Even as primary school pupils, you could not afford to misbehave because the news would have gotten home ahead of you. Members of the community, not necessarily your parents, enforced discipline.

Today, the population has ballooned. The idea of being brothers’ keeper is no more there. Even when you see someone’s children misbehaving outside you no longer care, because of the dilemma of who you can report to. In many homes, children are forced to have foster parents in the nannies and maids. Lagos of today is breeding familiar strangers, who are living so close, yet, are very far away from each other. There is no bonding, and where they are it is too superficial. That is what is happening in Lagos today.