.planned 500-head-per-day abattoir to create 10,000 jobs…Minister

By Ike Uchechukwu, CALABAR

Cross River State has thrown its weight behind a federal push to turn the state into Nigeria’s livestock and export hub.

The development was made known when Governor Bassey Otu hosted the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Muktar Maha, for the commissioning of the country’s first Livestock Control Post and Guarantee Facility in Mfum, Ikom.

Represented by his deputy, Peter Odey, Governor Otu told the minister the state stood ready to partner with the federal ministry, disclosing that investors were already lining up for the Obudu Ranch project.

“We are happy to have you back. When you were here last, you promised to return and visit the ranch.

“I’m happy you’ve come, and in the next two hours I’ll be meeting investors who want to invest in the ranch.

“We are making the ranch a five-star resort where visitors from all over the world will be happy to visit,” he said.

The governor said the cargo airport near Obudu Ranch was 85 per cent complete, with the first aircraft expected in December 2026, ahead of flights linking Abuja to Bukalo and Lagos to Obudu by the first quarter of next year.

He said the state’s proximity to the Gulf of Guinea, via Calabar International Airport, would ease livestock exports “to anywhere in the world.”

On his part, Maha described the Mfum facility, one of 12 planned along Nigeria’s borders, as central to shielding the economy from diseased livestock entering from the Sahel.

“This is the first of its kind that we are building in the country. We are proud that Cross River is the first state where this is being formally commissioned.

“Each corridor will receive a large number of animals, and we are going to protect you,” he added.

The minister said a planned 500-head-per-day abattoir could generate 10,000 jobs across feed production, cold storage and logistics, positioning the state to tap into Nigeria’s $3.4 billion red meat export market.

“With Calabar’s access to the coast, we are just about 5 hours from Gulf markets,” he said.