The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has said the closure of Nigeria’s borders by the Federal Government has reduced smuggling of chicken into the country and will further cut this down by one million tonnes annually, if sustained.
The PAN and Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria also urged the Federal Government not to open the borders, especially to the importation of food items that can be produced in Nigeria.
The Director-General, PAN, Onallo Akpa, said that the closure had not only created market for locally-produced poultry, but had also created jobs in the last one month when the borders were closed.
When asked to quantify the impact which the exercise had recorded in the sector, Akpa replied that, “Although this cannot be quantified now, I will say if one million tonnes of chicken are smuggled into Nigeria and the border is closed, the impact will be massive.
“By this I mean that if one million tonnes of chicken is being produced locally, you can end up generating over 100,000 jobs.”
Asked whether there was the possibility of smuggling one million tonnes of chicken into Nigeria, he said, “Yes, in a year, the volume of chicken being smuggled into Nigeria is about one million metric tonnes.”
Akpa said the government should not be discouraged but should tighten its grip on the exercise.
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