Abuja modern abattoir worries over unhealthy meat in markets

Alhaji Tafida Isa Mafindi, Yeriman Muri, is a livestock developer, CEO of the modern abattoir in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Halal Abattoirs. In this interview he explains how insurgency is slowing down operations at the abattoir and his concern over unhealthy handling of meat at local abattoirs. Can you give us an insight […]

Alhaji Tafida Isa Mafindi, Yeriman Muri, is a livestock developer, CEO of the modern abattoir in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Halal Abattoirs. In this interview he explains how insurgency is slowing down operations at the abattoir and his concern over unhealthy handling of meat at local abattoirs.

Can you give us an insight into this abattoir investment and what really motivated you to go into it?
What motivated me to go into this business is the level of neglect that agriculture is getting in Nigeria particularly in processing and handling of meat in the FCT. My attention was drawn to it more seriously by a programme ran by Aljazeera Television which showed abattoir operations in Kano, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Enugu. These four abattoirs were captured in the Aljazeera report as producing and handling meat in the worst way ever. We are not better than any country out of the 199 nations of the world. Nigeria despite being the giant of Africa and a country that has over 29 million cows within it and another 30 million coming in annually from other countries like Cameroun, Chad, Sudan and Niger republics, is till today producing the meat that we eat under the most unhygienic condition, it is unfortunate. That economic aspect of our agriculture is being handled with what I will call an ‘unhygienic method’, without necessary input or value addition.
We consume a lot of meat in this country – at our homes, during ceremonies like burials, marriages, festivals and so on. Both Muslims and Christians use meat during their festivals and yet the meat that we consume is handled under very unhygienic condition that is not acceptable anywhere in the world except here. Majority of the households in this country get their daily meat requirement from consignments coming from those abattoirs. When I saw that programme on an international television showing how the meat we consume in this country is mishandled, I said no, this is not acceptable. I must do something about it. That was how I established this modern facility hoping that all local government areas, state governments and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture will feel challenged and establish such facilities all over the country to change that unacceptable culture in our abattoirs.
I am amazed that we are still not bordered. We are only active in corruption over which everybody is laughing at us.
What are you doing to sensitise others to also establish such facility?
Last week there was a meeting of all the heads of butchers associations of Nigeria that took place in Abuja. They took their time to visit this abattoir and I told them if government can be kind enough to use part of the agricultural budget in the country to improve on our abattoirs, things will improve.
The petroleum excess fund that we are spending on unknown projects and others that are of no value can be used to establish one abattoir in each local government area to sanitise the source of our meat. We can then develop a value chain where cows brought to the abattoir must have record of their history: where it is coming from, how healthy it is and its weight before it is slaughtered. That way we will not only ensure that only healthy animals are slaughtered but we could trace stolen livestock – animal unlawfully carted away from the owners. If thieves can go and steal cows and take to them to local and unregulated abattoirs, slaughter them and sell the meat to unsuspecting members of the public, cattle rustling will never stop in this country.
I can see very large grass farm and feed processing mill here, do you buy the cows you slaughter or you rear them yourself?
We do both. You can also see the range where we keep our cows in large numbers when the condition was good. Then we use to rear them in the factory here. But with the ongoing insurgency and cattle theft all over the place, we dare not do that. The cattle rustling is not a joke. In the last one month alone, they carted away over 600 cows from some farms in our neighbourhood. So, we can no longer keep our cows here.
Where are the cows now and how do you bring them here to slaughter?
We have moved our cows to Gaundare in Cameroun. We are bringing them in batches. We use trucks to bring them. But that is not the best. That system also has its challenges. The numerous checkpoints on the way and the massive corruption at those checkpoints is not easy; we pay at least N500 at each of the over 200 checkpoints on our way from the Cameroun border to Abuja.
We spend not less than N130,000 on checkpoints per truck. It is unfortunate that because of the insurgency, some people wrongly advised government to set up these checkpoints that are now killing and frustrating the economy. The irony of it is when you give N500 at those checkpoints nobody cares to check what you are carrying. So, the checkpoints are only frustrating businesses and encouraging corruption.
What is the capacity of this abattoir?
The abattoir is capable of slaughtering 300 cows and 1,200 goats a day.
How has the insurgency affected its operations?
The highest we slaughter now is 30. We cannot bring more than a truck load of cows at a time. If the truck is not blocked on the way or its driver killed, the cows may be carted away if we bring them here in large quantity. There is no proactive insurance. The agricultural insurance is as bad as the agricultural sector itself. Everything bad in agriculture is found in the agric insurance. There is no way something will happen and they will come within 24 hours and inspect it and mitigate your lost. Even the claims you raise can last one year before you are paid. So, it is as good as moribund.
Have you received any form of assistance or support from the federal government since you started this business?
Yes, the federal government has done a lot for me. First of all, they provided the power (electricity) we are using here. They constructed a very fantastic access road to the abattoir. Some ministers have visited the abattoir and we are in good terms with all the ministries concerned. But they have low budgetary allocation which is affecting whatever they want to do. But we have done a lot with the federal government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
How do you market your products? Do you sell direct to consumers or only to bulk buyers?
We prepare our meat for picking. We deliver to hotels, companies, residents within Abuja and at occasions. What we are looking for now is a dedicated market for meat. We want a market with cold chain system where the meat will move from here in our cold van and be delivered to their cold room under a very hygienic condition without a single fly touching it. We want to stop the unhygienic culture in our local markets.
What impact has this business in the area of youth employment?
I am telling you in the area of employment we have about 1,600 workers now. If government can encourage livestock, meat processing and give market the attention it should give, the value chain can serve as a major revenue earner for government. When the farmer harvests his crops, the bi-product can be used as animal feed. The farmers will have direct business link with the cattle breeder thereby addressing the ongoing farmer/herder crises by making them business partners. If the government can establish cattle feeding lots and be taxing herders per cattle head it will earn a lot of income for the government. If there will be well equipped feeding lots with enough feed, water and medication for livestock, we shall succeed in breeding healthy cows for our consumption. Cattle that camp at such lots can be charged as much as N5,000 per cow and that is much revenue taking into account the large number of livestock that will be grazing there. This way Nigeria will be raising well fed cows that can be exported anywhere in the world.
Our livestock are mainly fed on grass and plant bi-products which make them easy and cheap to breed. We are a ready meat market for the world but mismanagement is drawing us backward and denying us that opportunity. The cattle are not well fed, the abattoirs are dirty without equipment and the meat poorly handled. You will see a cow weighing less than 200 kilogrammes being taken to an abattoir. You cannot get healthy meat there. We do not slaughter any cow weighing below 400 kilogrammes here. If it is below 400 kilogrammes, we must feed it well to appreciate before taking it to slaughter.
What has the weight of a cow got to do with the quality of its meat?
A lot! When a cow is not healthy and not well fed the meat will not have quality. When you go to most of these local abattoirs you discover that 60 percent of the cows they slaughter are take in wheelbarrows because they cannot even walk. While we use cold vans to distribute our meat most of the local abattoirs use pick-up vans used in conveying corpses to cemeteries in conveying meat to markets. Some carry them on their head while others convey the meat on motorcycles and in the bootsof cars. Till date, they use motor tyres to burn cow heads, tails and the skin (kpomo) for consumption. That is unhealthy!