Animal Science Association’s urgent call to save the livestock industry from imminent chaos posed by a member’s private bill being sponsored by Senator Habbu Ibrahim

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 14^th 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 14^th Nov; 2017 

Public hearing was held on the 14^th 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)