Bird flu: Affected farmers yet to get compensation

Speaking to newsmen in Kano, the Chairman of Kano State Poultry Farmers Association Dr. Muhammad Auwal Haruna said that in February 2015 the federal ministry of agriculture approved the payment of N100 million as compensation to farmers affected by the avian influenza in the state in January. According to him, compensation was paid to those […]

Speaking to newsmen in Kano, the Chairman of Kano State Poultry Farmers Association Dr. Muhammad Auwal Haruna said that in February 2015 the federal ministry of agriculture approved the payment of N100 million as compensation to farmers affected by the avian influenza in the state in January.
According to him, compensation was paid to those farmers affected by the first outbreak of the avian influenza while others affected by the subsequent outbreak, who were more in number, were yet to be compensated.
The chairman said that the non-payment of compensation to the affected farmers has forced some farmers to abandon poultry for some things else.
According to him, the affected farms were the most productive poultry farms in the state, providing employment to people, describing the lack of compensation as a huge setback to the sector.
Haruna said: “It is indeed disheartening to notice that some of our members are running out of business because they were being badly affected by the flu. Imagine a single farm where over 184,000 birds are depopulated without a single
penny as compensation. We really felt threatened and most of our members are in a state of panic because it could be any body. Let me use this medium and appeal to the federal government to wade in and save the situation before it gets out of hand as many of such affected farms have started down-sizing their workers.”
He said that there were evidences that the federal government has received $5 million donation from the World Bank as part of the international firm’s assistance to the victims of the bird flu outbreak in Nigeria, adding that the sooner the compensation was given to the victims, the better it would be to the sector.
It could be recalled that in February 2015 the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Mr. Akinwumi Adesina, leading the ministry’s delegation to Kano State’s Government House confirmed that 299.883 birds out of 417,041 depopulated nationwide as a result of the outbreak of the Avian Influenza were from Kano.
 He also revealed that the government has approved the payment of N140 million as compensation to farmers affected by the outbreak in the 16 affected states in the nation, adding that Kano State has the highest share of the approved amount with N100 million allocated to it.
The director of veterinary services, Kano State Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Shehu Bawa, supported the farmer’s claims, saying that out of over 170 farms affected, only 21 received payment.
He said: “It is indeed very sad that in Kano State, affected by the flu, only 21 affected farmers out of over 170 got something from the FG’s intervention. As a stakeholder, I urge the federal government to look into this issue and avoid a total collapse of the sector.