BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
President of Karu Butchers’ Association, Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Magaji Kata has attributed meat/ beef shortage in the Territory to persistent government neglect of the largest abattoir in the Territory.
Kata told The Point in an exclusive interview that the present FCT administration has abandoned the project initiated by the former administration to make the Karu abattoir productive thereby forcing butchers to relocate to other states which has drastically reduced the production.
He said, “We are suffering. Look at the largest abattoir in the FCT. You can see that there is no government presence here. But go to Lagos and see how the abattoir should be. An abattoir must be neat, hygienic because we produce meat people eat. But that is not the case. We have taken our matter to the ministry. All they said is when there is money in the budget they will rehabilitate the abattoir but up till now nothing has been done.
“When you come to this place during the rainy season, you will not want to come here again and this is the reason why our members are relocating. There is no business but this is the only abattoir butchers that don’t sell stolen cows. Before we kill any cow, we must be sure the seller is the owner but the problem is that we can hardly sell the meat because people are not patronising our market.”
Kata said what has kept them going despite the government neglect is their resolve to work as a body and carry out some projects.
He claimed that the insincerity of the government is a huge setback as their desire to go beyond killing and selling meat to Abuja residents has seriously been hindered by the government that should have encouraged them.
“We are suffering. Look at the largest abattoir in the FCT. You can see that there is no government presence here. But go to Lagos and see how the abattoir should be”
“We want to export beef from here to other countries but it is not possible because our meat is not hygienic. We are not asking the government to give us money. Let them come and build a good house for us, do interlock so that muds will not take over the whole environment. Abattoir is supposed to be a very clean environment where if meat drops you pick it with confidence that the place is neat. But I tell you, if meat drops here and you pick it and sell it, the customer will come back with quarrels.
“Look at that building, it has been there uncompleted for many years but the government has claimed that they have built a befitting abattoir for us. I’m sure they have embezzled the money and the minister has not bothered to come and know what is happening here. Without a good environment how can we be productive, that is why meat is very costly here in the FCT.”
He said the government neglect is the reason why the price of a kilo of meat in Abuja is different from the price of the same kilo at Suleja.
“We need a lairage where we will keep the cows and pass them through to the slaughter table without slaughtering cows on bare grounds and by the time we finish, the meat will be full of sand and we will sell to customers. It’s not good. FCT residents should eat healthy meat.
“Several visitors from Germany and some European countries have come here to find out how we operate our abattoir. Some go back with the very wrong impression that Nigerian meat is not healthy, hygienic and good for consumption. I don’t blame them. To an extent they are right. We have done much to keep the environment neat but until a good structure is built, the place will continue to be filthy, I work with DFID.”
Kata also claimed that besides the government’s attitude towards the butchers, the exodus of Fulani herders to the neighbouring countries has led to shortage of beef. He said they are fleeing because of cattle rustling.
“The cow we used to buy N250, 000 during Goodluck Jonathan we now buy it N600, 000. We buy cows on credit and even sell cows on credit. After buying a cow, we also buy the food. Before a bag of the food was N1, 500.00 but now the same quantity costs N10, 000.00. So why will meat not be costly?” he queried.
