Mr Emmanuel Iregbeyen, the Chief Executive Officer of Emiraz farms, has raised alarm over smuggling of imported frozen poultry into the country in spite of border closure.
Iregbeyen made the observation in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
The farmer said there had been relatively no increase in the demand of local poultry following the border closure as a result of saboteurs at the land borders.
“To the best of my knowledge, since the land border closure, we are not really experiencing any pressure as regards increase in demand of locally processed poultry,’’ he said.
Iregbeyen said the patronage for locally processed chicken had not changed from what it used to be before the border closure.
“Imported frozen poultry are still in the market and the price of our locally processed poultry has not changed at all. People still have alternatives.
“Nigerians still have a way of getting access to these smuggled frozen poultry. If they do not have access to these smuggled goods at least by now we expect demand of our local poultry to be on the increase,’’ he said.
He said that some Nigerians were sabotaging the efforts of the government as regards the land border closure.
“The system is still porous, the border is leaking and not effective and by the time people will have no access to these smuggled product, they have no choice but to make do with what is available.
“By now, if the system is really working, we would have seen the difference in prices and demand of our local poultry,” he said.
Iregbeyen said that although there had been slight changes in demand for local poultry, the government needed to enlighten Nigerians on patronising home grown agriculture produce.
“Well, to an extent the closure of the border has positively affected sales of our local poultry but I believe they still smuggle imported frozen foods into the country despite the borders closure,’’ he said.
He said that most consumers were not used to locally processed chicken which mainly comprise broilers, except the old layers.
“You hear people complaining that the locally processed chicken is too tender, but they are classes of meat and the broiler is for those who prefer soft meat.
“A lot of Nigerians want imported hard chicken that is injected with all sorts for preservation but in essence is not good for our health.
“The government needs to do a lot on awareness so that people will know the implication of what they are consuming and appreciate the locally processed poultry,’’ he said.
Iregbeyen urged the government to enlighten people on reasons why they must patronise home grown agricultural produce.
“What I am saying in essence is that as poultry farmers and processors of local poultry, we are still not feeling the closure of the border positively as we ought to,’’ he said. (NAN)