The Poultry Association of Nigerian (PAN) has lauded the Federal Government for approving to pay compensation to farmers affected by bird flu in 2015 and 2016.
The chairman of the association in Plateau, Mr John Dasar, gave the commendation, in an interview, on Monday, in Jos.
Acting President Yemi Osibanjo, after meeting with the national officials of PAN in February, approved the release of N1.7 billion as compensation for the affected farmers.
Similarly, at the weekend, the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Audu Ogbeh, reiterated government’s commitment to adequately compensate farmers whose farms were affected during the 2015/2016 period.
The minister said that the names of the affected farmers across the nation were being computed, so as to avoid omission when the payment starts.
Dasar described the move by the government to pay the compensation as “a right step in the right direction”.
He said that the gesture would make most farmers to bounce back to business, thereby, increasing their personal incomes and that of the government.
“I am happy that the government is now giving us attention; we now know that it means well for the agriculture sector as it is now matching its words with actions.
“’This gesture will go a long way to improve the individual’s income and the IGR of government, because farmers who had been out of business will now bounce back.
“In Plateau for example, over 100 poultry farms were closed down in 2015 and 2016; and this means that a lot of farm attendants were out of job, increasing the unemployment rate in the society.
“’So, for us in PAN, we are delighted with the way things are unfolding. Our members can now repose confidence in us their representatives as well as in the government,” said Dasar.
The PAN boss also said that the payment would drastically reduce the fast spread of bird flu in the country.
“This is because farmers will naturally wait on government to cull their sick birds rather than sell to desperate marketers,” he said. (NAN)