As part of measures to further stimulate the University’s mandate of teaching, research and community service, the University of Ilorin management has disclosed that it has concluded arrangements to spend a huge sum of money to develop its poultry farming.
The management, however, assured that the institution would soon become a commercial hub of poultry business in Nigeria.
Mikhail Buhari, professor of pathology and deputy vice-chancellor (research, technology, and innovation), of the institution, made the disclosure recently at the research and teaching farm of the institution.
“We are at an advanced stage of discussion with a partner bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the matter. We are looking at the multi-billion naira business that will be unraveled in a very short while,” he said.
Buhari revealed that conscientious efforts have been made by the vice-chancellor, Sulyman Age Abdulkareem-led administration to properly key into the Federal Government’s poultry revival programme.
“The opportunity provided by the CBN and, by extension, the Federal Government, is going to be beyond our wildest dream. We want to go beyond just talking in academic terms, but to now show the practical and commercial aspects of what we teach our students,” he further said.
“We hope that the University of Ilorin will be the commercial hub of poultry business in Kwara State and some of the neighbouring states in Nigeria,” he added.
On a tour with the deputy vice-chancellor round the institution’s research farm, Job Atteh a Professor of poultry production and monogastric nutrition said that the faculty of agriculture was handling production of 5,000 broilers through a partnership arrangement with Amo Farms Sanders Nigeria Limited.
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The faculty, according to him had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the company to handle the growth of 5,000 broilers while the group provided the structure, birds, and feeds.
“We have research units but they are not commercial. Commercialization has not been possible because we lack the capital to do it. Suddenly we were able to have an interaction with an outsider group, Amo Farms, which promised to give us the structure, birds and feeds while our experts in the faculty will handle how the birds grow, “he said.
Atteh stated further that the broilers were already five weeks old with an average weight of 1.5 kilograms, adding that Amo Farms will package them for sale by the following week when they will attain six weeks.
Explaining that the agreement with the group, was for the faculty to get paid based on percentage of the profit made from the sale of the birds.
He described the partnership as an eye-opener for the students of the faculty as the massive production of broilers serves as a good practice that will enrich their understanding of poultry farming.
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