The Federal Government has unveiled a newly constructed 40 million-dose capacity solar-powered strategic vaccine storage facility in Sheda, along the Abuja-Lokoja Road in the Federal Capital Territory.
The facility, built through the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project with support from the World Bank, was inaugurated on Wednesday by the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Maiha, alongside Prof Attahiru Jega, co-chair of the Presidential Livestock Reforms Committee.
The minister disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.
Speaking at the event, Maiha described the unveiling of the 40 million-dose capacity solar-powered national strategic vaccine cold room storage as a strategic step toward strengthening the national animal health infrastructure and service delivery.
“Today, we are bridging the critical storage gap with a world-class facility that will ensure efficient and effective storage and distribution of vaccines across the country. This facility is designed with a cutting-edge solar-powered system ensuring resilience against power supply challenges and attendant sustainability.
“With a capacity of 40 million doses, we are now better equipped to respond to emerging zoonotic outbreaks of transboundary animal diseases, and major zoonotic threats, thereby subverting both animal and human health,” the minister said.
Speaking on behalf of the Presidential Livestock Reforms Implementation Committee, Jega highlighted the significance of the facility in advancing the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring the health, productivity, and resilience of Nigeria’s livestock sector.
“As we all know, animal diseases, particularly transboundary and zoonotic diseases, pose a serious threat to food and nutrition security, public health, and overall economic stability in our country.
“The establishment of this facility is therefore a crucial milestone in the fight against these challenges and in the repositioning of the livestock sector in our country. This initiative aligns perfectly with Mr. President’s broader objectives for a reformed and well-developed livestock sector,” Jega stated.
Maiha further noted that the administration aims “to ensure the full commercialisation of the National Veterinary Institute in Jos so that we can build up the institutional capacity to supply annually about 1.2 billion vaccines across the range”, adding that “this monumental achievement we are witnessing today would not have been possible without the support and resilience itself of LPRES, a World Bank-supported project.”
The National Project Coordinator, L-PRES, Sanusi Abubakar, stated that the project was “a well-thought-out needs assessment between the L-PRES and the Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer of Nigeria.”
He recalled that during the recent anthrax outbreak, the L-PRES project, in collaboration with the Department of Veterinary Services, successfully delivered 13 million doses to veterinary offices across 36 states and the FCT.
Abubakar added that the facility will serve as a central strategic storage hub for large vaccine supplies, whether locally produced or imported, ensuring ease of dispatch, quality control, cold chain maintenance, tracking, and a repository for emergency risk-based vaccination.