Cow |
TO PROVIDE
FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL LIVESTOCK IDENTIFICATION, TRACEABILITY,
REGISTRATION, AND FOR OTHER RELATED PURPOSES.
The Animal
Science Association of Nigeria (ASAN) is the umbrella Professional body of all
certified Professional Animal Scientists in Nigeria.
The attention of the Animal Science
Association of Nigeria ( ASAN ) has been drawn to the privately sponsored Bill
for an act to provide for the Establishment of the National Livestock
Identification and Management Bureau for the purpose of Animal Identification ,
Traceability , Registration and for other related purposes (SB373). See
annexure 1 attached.
As critical stake holders in the Livestock
sector, the Association is greatly concerned with the contents of the bill and
the grave implications that the likelihood of its passage into law portends for
Animal Science / Animal Husbandry and Animal agriculture in Nigeria in general.
For the
avoidance of doubts, the Association will want to state unequivocally that
Animal Identification, traceability and registration has always been a core
Animal Husbandry practices.
By way of Legal definition, it is instructive
to draw the attention of the Senate, House of Representatives and the Executive
Arm of Government to the Nigerian Institute of Animal Science Act (Amendment)
Act, 2015 which defines Animal Science thus:
“Animal
Science means the technology involved in the production of food animals which
include the Science of Animal nutrition, science of feed ingredients, the
science of feed-milling, the science of Animal breeding and genetics, the
science of animal Husbandry and engaging in teaching or passing instructions in
the technology of any discipline or segment of animal Husbandry and this
excludes traditional rearing of livestock. see annexure 2 as attached .
The above legal provision becomes instructive
in the face of the apparent attempt by this bill to create an entirely new
Bureau of equal status with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC)
for the purpose of carrying into effect an otherwise Professional Practice of
Animal Scientists which is already vested on the Nigerian Institute of Animal
Science (NIAS) by Act of the same National Assembly and accented to by the
President Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ,and
gazetted thereby creating duplication
capable of financial wastages , chaos due to undue rivalry among the two bodies
if allowed to scale through .
It is
therefore the candid opinion of the Association that if the bill is allowed to
become law will breed confusion, anarchy and chaos in the livestock industry a
luxury this great Nation cannot afford.
The position
of Animal Science Association (ASAN) therefore is that all meaning Nigerians
should team up and ensure that the entire bill is rejected in the interest of
Nigeria.
OBSERVATION ON THE BILL
The Animal
Science Association of Nigeria (ASAN) having gone through the bill is in total
agreement with the position of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the
Department of Animal Husbandry Services at the public hearing which found the
it blinking with the far reaching consequences for constituted authorities,
extant laws and acts of the same National Assembly.
The following observations highlighted some of
the consequences and aberrations in the bill.
1.1 The two Departments: Animal Production and Husbandry
Services and Livestock Departments mentioned in part II item 4 of the bill no
longer exists in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The
existing Departments as at 2017 are Animal Husbandry Services( DAHS ) ,
Veterinary and Pest Control Services ( DVPCS) ,and Nigerian Agricultural
Quarantine Services (NAQS) see annexure 3 functions of the Departments .
1.2 The proposal in part ll item 4 that the Bureau shall
comprise Animal Production and Husbandry Services and Livestock Departments of
the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development did not take into
cognizance the statutory mandate of the Department of Animal Husbandry Services
which includes Livestock Identification, traceability, registration and
livestock population census as just one of its mandates ( please refer to the
function no XX11 of DAHS ) . It also presupposes that the functions contained
in the bill are only the function of the two Departments. The statutory
mandates of these two Departments go beyond Identification, Management,
traceability , registration and livestock census .
1.3 The functions , duties and powers of the Bureau
proposed in part III of the bill will amount to duplication of efforts with
existing structures of government and will conflict considerably with the
provision of the Federal Civil Service Commission and other regulatory agencies
.
1.4 The definition of Minister and Ministry in part I
items 31 and 32 gives the impression that there is a Minister of Livestock and
Federal Ministry of Livestock considering also that the Bill in part II item
21c proposes that one person representing the Federal Ministry of Agriculture
shall be a member of the Bureau .
1.5 The composition of the Bureau and structure in part
viii items 32-58 of the Bill already exist within the Federal Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Developments (DAHS,
DVPCS& NAQS) and what these structures just require is adequate
funding to carry out their statutory mandates within the FMA&RD .
1.6 The Bill in part (viii) item 25-33 is proposing
cessation of Services , bodies or organizations of Federal Government currently
mandated to carry out functions of the bureau proposes to undertake . Most
importantly, the bill is proposing to repeal and replace all extant laws and
acts of the National Assembly already enacted to carry out the functions the
bill proposes to undertake. Thus the bill clearly undermines the National
Assembly and proposes that these extant laws and acts become null and void
without due process.
Similarly, the Association is in total agreement with the
Nigerian Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) aired at the same public hearing of
14th November, 2017 which stated as viz:
2.1 The sum of the provision of sections 7,8 and 9 is that
the Bureau shall be exclusively saddled with the responsibility of Animal
Identification ,traceability ,and registration in addition to other related
responsibilities . It is instructive to not that Animal Identification,
traceability, and registration are core Animal Husbandry practices . By the
combined effect of section 2(f),(g) and (h) of NIAS Act no 26 of 2007,The
Nigerian Institute of Animal Science is the only parastatal of the FMA&RD
vested with the above function . Very instructive is section 2(h) regarding the
functions of the Institute which provides thus:
“ to promote the production of high quality proteins through
scientific methods and to regulate all issues pertaining to Animal Husbandry in
Nigeria “
Any attempt to confer the above responsibility on another
agency will amount to duplicity of roles which inevitably will breed chaos in
the livestock industry.
Indeed by the combined effect of section 19(7) and 25 of the
NIAS (Amendment) Act 2015, it will be unlawful for any person who is not an
animal scientist to embark on the practice of Animal Scientist to embark on the
practice of Animal Identification, traceability, registration, of Livestock.
Section 25 clearly defines Animal Science and this was earlier written in the
introductory section of this submission.
2.2 Section (1),(2)&(3) . The intent of
the provision of these section is to say the least ambiguous This is because it
appears to suggest that the services of all staff of the relevant Departments
of the Ministry will be transferred to the Bureau within 180 days from the date
on which the Bureau comes into effect . By the provision of section 4 of the
Bill, the relevant Department as envisaged by the above section is the
Department of Animal Husbandry Services. This an attempt to rubbish the efforts
of the present and past Ministers of Agriculture and past and present Head of
Service of the Federation who wisdom in splitting the defunct Federal
Department of Livestock and Pest Control Services into the present Federal
Department of Animal Husbandry Services and the Department of Veterinary and
Pest Control Services as is the practice globally aimed at enhancing
productivity and good governance.
Therefore these
provisions in the minimum, can only be described as confusion when viewed
alongside the provision relating to appointments, confirmation , transfers etc
in the public service of Nigeria
2.3 Section 26.Just like with the
preceding section, the provisions of section 26 of the Bill are almost
ambiguous. This section seeks to suggest a feeding of all property moveable and
immovable held by the Department of Animal Husbandry Services to the proposed
Bureau when it comes to effect .This undoubtedly is impracticable as the
existence of a Department of a Federal Government Ministry responsible for
policy initiation and implementation cannot be extinguished by a mere
legislation that deals with only an aspect of the Principal mandates of that
Department.
2.4 Section
27. By the provision of this section, the National Livestock bill seeks to
surreptitiously repeal the relevant provision of NIAS Act which confers on the
Institute the functions of regulating Animal Husbandry as it relates to Animal
Identification, traceability and registration. This move is most unfortunate.
It is to be stated categorically that removing an aspect of the practice of
Animal Science from the purview of an Existing Agency under whose mandate lies
professionally will be counterproductive and can only render the goals sought
to be achieved by the establishment of the Bureau unattainable. The Animal
Husbandry sector is already governed by well-established statutes.
PUBLIC
HEARING HELD ON 14th Nov; 2017
Public
hearing was held on the 14th of November, 2017.
From the
three bills under consideration, the proposed Livestock bill generated the
greatest controversy. And this portrayed by responses from the following stake
holders;
1.
Hon Minister of
Agriculture.
The Hon Minister of Agriculture Chief AuduOgbeh who was
unavoidably absent while on official trip abroad was ably represented. The
representative of the Minister read to the record of all present that of the
three bills presented for the public hearing, the FMA&RD is not in support
of the National Livestock Bill since the Ministry has all the policy and
statutory frame work to do the functions the Bureau proposes to achieve. And
that Ministry is having too much agencies that are grossly underfunded.
Therefore to create a Bureau of this magnitude just for the functions existing
structure can perform if properly funded is going to bring chaos to the
livestock industry. As such the Ministry totally reject this bill.
1.
Hon Minister of
Health
The Hon Minister of Health was ably represented at the public
hearing and is of the opinion that the Ministry of Agriculture should resist
all attempts to create this agency considering conflicts likely to arise among
Professional which can be chaotic for the system. They suggested that funding
be made available to existing bodies to discharge their mandate.
2.
Hon Minister of
Justice and Attorney General of the Federation.
Also represented at the public hearing, though was not
allowed to fully read the view of the Ministry by the chairman.
Etc
On the whole the public hearing was a mere jamboree because
the chairman of the occasion informed the gathering that public hearing is only
routine in legislative processes. That the three bill had second reading on the
floor of the senate and they will go ahead . In fact a warning was issued to
all attendees not to go out and proclaim that the Hon Minister of Agriculture
is not in support of the bill.
The essence
of legislation is to address a situation with a view to bringing into place, a
platform for the achievement of a desired position. Therefore ASAN wishes to
state that if the essence of setting up of a National Animal Identification and
Management Bureau is for the purposes of achieving the outlined in Sections 7,
8 and 9 of the Bill, then all the government of the day needed to do , is to
empower the Nigerian Institute of Animal Science and the relevant Departments
In the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to enable them improve and consolidate
upon current efforts with respect to their mandates of Animal Identification
and traceability other than a needless duplication of government bodies which
this bill seeks to do .
NOTE
From the
forgoing, you may wish to note as follows:
·
That
the functions of the proposed bureau falls within the ambit of the mandate of
the Nigerian Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) and as such delegating such
duty to the proposed National Livestock Identification and Management Bureau
would result to duplicity of function .
·
That the proposed
Bureau seeks to extinguish the existence and powers of the Department of Animal
Husbandry Services of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
which is the competent policy making
organ of the Ministry as it regards Animal Husbandry practices in Nigeria .
·
That the proposed
bureau portends an enthronement of illegality in the Animal Husbandry Industry
as it seeks to take away the profession of practice of Animal Science by those
recognized legally and professional to do so.
·
That ASAN wishes
to state that the Animal Husbandry Industry is already well regulated and
further attempts to bring about a National Livestock Bureau will at best, be
counterproductive and will contradict the policy of government of a trimmer and
more effective bureaucracy . This ultimately is key, in view of current
economic realities.
PRAYER
It is the
prayer of the Animal Science Association of Nigeria (ASAN) , that it is totally
unnecessary for the government to create another Organization that seeks to
address the same issues already being addressed by the Nigeria Institute of
Animal Science (NIAS) as it has currently
made remarkable progress in the area of Animal Identification and
traceability in Nigeria . This if allowed would lead to innumerable conflicts
of interest and undoubtedly more expenses on the part of government.
Therefore
the National Livestock bill should be rejected in its entirety. Pastor Taiwo
Adeoye RAS,FCASN, FNSAP, FNIAS ,MNIAS, MASAN, MNSAP
National
President (ASAN)
It is a shame that attempts are being made by some members of the legislature to scuttle the efforts of NIAS and the Department of Animal Husbandry services in bringing sanity to the livestock industry. This also brings to mind a similar bill on the Grazing reserves that sets to disown Nigerians of their legitimate land for the use of a few people and for selfish reasons. This must stop.
ReplyDeleteNIAS is definitely a work in progress. NIAS has to demonstrate a blue print of readiness to take on this responsibilities for it to be aknowledged.
ReplyDelete