World Fisheries Day: Kwara Gov launches fish hatchery

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has said his administration will continue to provide the fish farmers in the state with the right equipment and other forms of incentives to thrive, as the state marks World Fisheries Day.

The Governor said Kwara is one of the largest producers of catfish in Nigeria, saying the government will not relent in its efforts to sustain the pace.

According to a release signed by Afolabi Temple Olushola Olaide, Assistant Press Secretary Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Governor was speaking in Ilorin at an event to commemorate World Fisheries Day, as organized by the state Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

This year’s celebration is themed: “The Economic Significance of Fishery to the Development of Kwara State”.

AbdulRazaq, who was represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mrs Oloruntoyosi Thomas, said his administration is committed to addressing the challenges facing the agricultural sector including fishery segments as a way of ensuring food sufficiency in the state.

“As a state, the fish sub-sector is important to us. Apart from creating jobs for teeming youth, its nutritional benefits are very important to us. So, we are focusing on not just improving our productivity in quantity but also in quality. We want to be known as a state that is paying attention to nutrition and taking the right steps in the right direction”, the governor said on Thursday.

AbdulRazaq said the government is currently working on how to spur the fish farmers in formulating their feed on their own, adding the cost of feed is on the high side.

He also advised the youth to take full advantage of value chains in the fish sector by engaging themselves productively.

“We have engaged various stakeholders and our partners at the University of Ilorin and Kwara State University and other private sectors to come up with our own feed that is cheaper and of high quality in the state, using some substitute that can complement the expensive components of the feed formulation especially the protein aspect,” he said.

The event was well attended by some government officials including the Chairman Kwara House of Assembly Committee on Agriculture Hon Saba Yisa Gideon; Hon Yinusa Bello Onibokl; Permanent Secretary Ministry of Agriculture Mrs Funke Sokoya and other principal officers of the Ministry; Senior Special Assistant to Kwara State Governor on Agriculture Hon. Musa Baba Muhammad; Special Assistant on Small-holder Farmers Intervention, Hon. Suleiman Abdullah Belle; and General Manager Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP) Dr Abdulwasiu Olayinka Tejidini.

Others were Managing Director, Kwara Agric Development Project ADP, Dr Mrs Khadijat Ayinke Ahmed; Head of the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries, University of Ilorin, Prof Wasiu Adeyemi Jimoh; Vice Chairman Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON) and a lecturer in Kwara State University, Malete, Dr Bamidele Folorunsho; Alhaji Kamaldeen Alasinrin from Kwara State Fish Breeders Association (KWAFIBA); Chairman, Association of Fish Farmers in the state, Bridge General Olusupo; and Chairman Fisheries Society of Nigeria, Kwara State branch, Pastor Steven Dele Ogunrinola; among others.

Hon. Gideon, for his part, said high cost of fish production is driving many fish farmers away from the business, adding that the ongoing training of the farmers by the state government on how to formulate their feed is commendable.

Mrs Sokoya highlighted some of the challenges facing fish farming, including aquatic ecosystem and climatic change, and said the government is leaving no stone unturned to address them in the state.

Sustainable fisheries are critical to food security, poverty alleviation, and equitable development, the Permanent Secretary said.