Our ordeal during insurgency says Provost, Fed College of Fresh Water Fisheries Technology, Baga, Maiduguri.

Mrs (Dr) Roselyn Obande

The Provost, Federal College of Freshwater Fisheries Technology, Mrs (Dr) Roselyn Obande has expressed the need for more peace in the North East of Nigeria pleading with government to come to the aid of the farmers and farming activities in the region as many lives and properties have been lost to insurgency in the last five years which did not spare her College. In her interview with Food Farm News at Maiduguri she advised that youths should harness opportunity in fisheries to create job forthemselves. Read the excerpts of her chat with us.

Can you introduce yourself?

I am Dr. (Mrs) Roselyn A. Obande the Provost , Federal College of Fresh Water Fisheries Technology, Baga, Maiduguri from the University of Agriculture,Markurdi. I was nominated by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Good luck Ebele Jonathan in 2011 to the post of Provost in the college. Fish is a kind of agricultural produce that has shortage production volume in this country thereby leading to importation.

 What can we do to reduce this?

The Lake Chad Basin is endowed with so many species of fish in the sixties, 70s and 80s, but the present weather condition occasioned by the climate change challenges has made the lake lost its natural boundary water level and by so doing the fish species have also reduced drastically.   

The influx of the people into the city due to insurgency has increased population thereby making demand for the fish higher.  And this is the essence why the Federal Government is clamoring on production through aquaculture which is the growing of fishes in pondment to make up the shortfall demand intake from all the rivers- Niger, Benue and Lake Chad Basin which are already being sapped by the vagaries of the climate change as the sea level is filled up with sand thereby causing habitats reduction of these fishes that we are trying to argument through culture thereby reducing the catching from the wild so as to preserve many of these species for future purposes and need. 

As a result of regular fishing with the net by fishermen, it has reduced the numbers of the juvenile and adults fishes that can reproduce for replacement. And this has called for artificial production in ponds and cages in other to argument the shortfall demand. Nigerians by our orientation, we are too much import dependent including fish, but with renewed mandate given to all the Universities of Agriculture to intensify on aquaculture training so as to mobilize more youths into taking employment opportunity at all the value chains of the produce.

 It is hoped that more youths will be attracted already workshops training's  are going on towards empowerment in aquaculture. We had one here last year, and we are going to have another one between June-July because of its ability to engage and economically empower people thereby increasing revenue base of the country. We have the hatchery production in aquaculture and a grown out pond and processing points where the fishes are smoked. In hatchery, if you cross a fish that has a million eggs and got 10 million fingerlings which is possible within a week at the rate of ten million in a month as this aspect of the fish value chain is very lucrative with high potential of creating employment for the youths in Nigeria. 

Most youths that ventured into this aspect never go back asking for white collar jobs. Secondly you can get the fingerlings and nurtured them to maturity for selling as edible through smoking and packaging for the international market. This is what we called smoked fish that is being consumed all over the world. Let me say that fish is a better source of protein as it contains good edible fats with low carbon hydrate but has protein and fat.

How do we address the extinction of fish varieties through registration?

You know fish mostly cannot genetically grow in a pond; they can only exist in natural habitats like a species popularly known as lady fish.  Generally the process of varieties release of the fish is a bit not as easy as crop varieties that have got character specifications while work is still going on livestock and fish to ensure varieties registration .

How are the youths responding to this college admission?

The response is encouraging before the insurgency, we have about 1,500 students, and the college facilities are in order as we do National diploma in fisheries and we have even been granted power to start running higher diploma  but we could not take off because of the Boko haram insurgency. Otherwise the youth response is very encouraging.

How would you describe the future of the youth in fishery?

Actually the mentality of Nigerians about agriculture is like no go so also for the youths. But with the reality on ground, they cannot just do away with agriculture. In the universities, very few students apply for fisheries as first course of choice. Majority are compulsorily sent to fisheries department not by personal wish because they don’t know the potential in the sub sector. Even myself never choose fishery as a course, but today I am not regretting anything because I presently have a home sell fish at the back yard of my house and all my children are already making a living on the business as they breed, catch fish, smoked and sell. So there is great prospect in it.

How did the college cope with the insurgency?

The college copes very well through the protection of the multinational joint task force until January 3, 2013 when they left that the governing board of the school ordered that we relocate to the zonal headquarters of Nigerian Institute of Fresh Water Fisheries Research, New Bussau compound of the Lake Chad Institute and this is where we are till present day. This has affected our in-take because many of the college facilities like the international standard internet service, library, two blocks of flats, quest house, vehicles, tractor, generators and many personal things of our staff workers have been destroyed. I really commend the effort of President Mohammadu Buhari in fighting this insurgency as peace is gradually returning back and there is need for government’s support to assist farmers and farming activities to quickly get back to normal for the purpose of food security to checkmate import bill in the country.