The authorities should do more to improve the health of abattoirs
Last week, the Lagos State government ordered the closure of the Oko-Oba Abattoir in order to prevent the outbreak of diseases. Similarly, the unhygienic state of abattoirs across the six area councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has been a source of worry to many residents. In many of these abattoirs, the vicinity is littered with heaps of waste materials. From Abaji to Kwali in the FCT, the abattoirs stink, with butchers slaughtering cows on the dirty floor while others roast the cows with vehicle tyres. The health of citizens should concern every responsible and responsive government, especially when it comes to what the people consume on a regular basis. Unfortunately, this is not the case as many abattoirs are in unacceptable conditions.
On several occasions on this page, we have had course to express serious concerns over the manner of producing, handling, and transporting beef from abattoirs to the different points of sale across Nigeria. They leave much to be desired. Indeed, many Nigerians have continued to decry the unhygienic means of transporting meat from abattoirs to their markets. Using wheelbarrows, motorbikes and rickety vehicles speak to the increasing health hazards that consumers are subjected to daily. Besides, most of the abattoirs are in unacceptable condition, with the beef almost always left in open spaces which attract all kinds of contamination. Except in few cases, water is a scarce commodity.
In spite of this there appears to be no credible step by the authorities to arrest the problem in many states across the country. Except Lagos and few others, which have made some efforts towards ensuring a healthy and hygienic abattoir condition by upgrading some of their abattoirs over the years to suit their laws, such facilities stink in many of the states, where butchers are still killing cows and preparing their meat on wet, dirty, and sometime, muddy floors. As part of a clean-up exercise in Lagos last week, operatives of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps started the removal of illegal structures built on drainage inside the Oko Oba Abattoir.
The bad state of the abattoirs may explain why members of the Nigerian business and political elite often, according to reports, prefer imported, frozen poultry products, even when no one can also guarantee the safety of these imported products. After these animals are slaughtered, the fur is burnt off in the open, using firewood and tyres. Apart from the hazard they pose to the health of consumers, the practice also endangers and pollutes the environment.
We therefore reinstate our position that the manner in which animals are handled during slaughter, loading and transportation from the abattoir to various points of sale must change. Indeed, almost as a matter of routine, majority of the butchers convey their meat on bicycles, motorised tricycles and sometimes on some rickety meat vans, under very unhygienic conditions. The beef is simply packed and transported without regard to safety measures. This is unacceptable.
Increased awareness campaigns are likely to lead to a better handling and a decrease in these unhealthy practices. Besides, against the background that Nigerians consume over 300 million kilogrammes of beef a year, health authorities should encourage the establishment of modern abattoirs, through partnerships with the private sector.