Meat processing: 'Nigerian abattoirs are worrisome'

MEAT consumption is an integral part of Nigerians' daily food. But, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, it has been “traditionally viewed as the culprit for a significant proportion of human food-borne disease.” The FAO concluded that “although the spectrum of meat-borne diseases of public health importance has changed with changing production and processing systems, in recent years human surveillance studies of specific meat-borne pathogens, such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp. and Yersinia enterocolitica, have shown that the problem continues. In addition to existing biological, chemical and physical hazards, new hazards are also appearing, for example, the agent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).”

To this end, it issued a publication on the Good Practices for the Meat Industry.  These good practices, veterinary doctors in Nigeria have said are currently failing in a great proportion in the country. While they gave reasons for these failures from lack of government's intervention, failure of some veterinary practitioners in executing their duties and the inherent dangers associated with discharging their duties, lack of proper education and awareness to the consumers and the retailers, to the Nigerians' socio-cultural belief systems.

Thomas Adekunle's recent admission to the hospital underscores the inherent dangers associated with ineffective meat industry in the country was. A resident of Ogbomoso, in Oyo State, Adekunle was admitted to a very popular hospital in the South West. On diagnosis, it was discovered that Adekunle had been infected with a disease from his meal. The doctors confirmed that he contracted the disease while eating the cooked intestine of a cow. With this development, stakeholders in the meat industry in Nigeria have expressed concern over meat processing at abattoirs in the country, from the clearance of cows at the slaughter slabs to the sellers' tray, there are health worries over who does what at a particular time.

But the Acting Head, Department of Veterinary, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria and Senior Lecturer and Consultant Epizootiologist (Veterinary Epidemiologist), Dr Olutayo Babalobi, in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, cautioned that health inspection of meat consumed in the Nigerian market should have begun from meat production. Meat production he said included the environmental, sanitary and physical health of the animals. He emphasised the need of healthy meat production in the country because, much of meat diseases consumed come from either meat poisoning or contamination. He described meat poisoning as the diseases directly from inside the animals, live or dead, while contamination occurred when diseases were imported into the animals through various forms.

Dr Babalobi, who is also the Founder/Executive Secretary, Community Animal and Human Health Development Initiative (CAHDI), said microbiological contamination is a major issue facing the meat industry in Nigeria. He said pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella are concerns on ready-to-eat meat products in the market. The microbiological contamination, he said, usually occurs at the abattoirs through the use of unclean waters, knives and other objects used in meat processing; during the meat transportation and at the markets.

“Nigerian abattoirs are worrisome. The state of the abattoirs in the south west, the north and some other parts of the country are deplorable. The way Nigerians transport the meat is another major concern. The meat is handled in a careless manner and when you get to the markets, you see flies buzzing around the meat,” Babalobi said.

But one other cause of the seeming increase in meat poisoning is that butchers and cow sellers have perfected ways of hiding their sickly cows from the prying eyes of veterinary doctors posted to abattoirs to  monitor meat processing.  

According to Dr Aminu Husman, a private veterinary practitioner in Kano State, in a telephone conversation with Nigerian Tribune, meat inspection process should normally start with the live animal, he, however, noted that that was not the case in Nigeria as most inspections were done post-mortem. He said one of the reasons for this “is because the compensation the government is giving to people with ailing animals is still in pounds and shillings. Take for instance if you have an animal that would normally cost you N1,000 and the government is giving you 10 kobo for it because it is sick, would you allow a government official to inspect your animals another time? This is why we are calling on the government to review some of these dated policies and come up with something better for these people.”

Earlier in the year, the Nigeria Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) warned of imminent outbreak of diseases in the country abattoirs and slaughter slabs nationwide if nothing was done to bring sanity into their operations. The call validated most people's concern about the state of abattoirs nationwide, though some of the operators are pretending that all is well. Nigerian Tribune reliably gathered that government at all levels had stylishly abandoned their duties and allowed things to get to an abnormal level. However, the little per cent being done by the governments had become what the operators termed as government's activities in ensuring a safe environment. 

The NVMA, in its statement urged that if the government failed to carry out a complete overhaul of the whole system, the nation would be in danger of health epidemic. The statement was signed by the National President of NVMA, Dr Gani Enahoro, who noted that “in stimulating the various state governments to the responsibility of sanitising their operations in order to ensure desired public health for the population who are made to consume unwholesome meat daily from these sources.

“In an attempt to passionately canvass good hygiene and prevent a group of wicked butchers who were in the habit of selling meat from animals dead in transit to Akwa Ibom State, one of our members, Dr James Etukudo, was brutally attacked recently at Uyo in the course of duty as he led a team to the illegal slaughter slab located along Abak road.” 

Aside health concern, the NVMA's statement has revealed the risk the administrators go through in carrying out their duties. But the poser is, if the veterinary officers voice their concern on problems they encounter in the course of duty, then, it means some unchecked meat is finding its way to the market at the expense of the public's health.

In relation to the dangers the veterinary practitioners face during the course of their duty, one veterinary doctor in Osun State was once attacked at the abattoirs by some meat sellers. But for the intervention of the village head, he would have been lynched. His offence was that he had confiscated an animal due to health risks its consumption posed to the consumers.

The NVMA also decried some of the policies guiding the operation of abattoirs in the country, which do not stimulate a perfect hygienic condition in slaughter slabs and abattoirs in Nigeria.

S.L. Ezeohaa and B.O. Ugwuishiwu of the Department of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria(UNN) in their work “Status of abattoir wastes research in Nigeria” posited that “the surroundings of most abattoirs in Nigeria give offensive odours and breed mosquitoes due to the pile-up of solid wastes, faeces, carcass, horns, scraps of tissue, etc. After rainstorm, the pile effluent ?ows and spreads to some other parts of the market. It is common to see pigs swim in the effluent and roam the market with their bodies covered with the putrefying waste materials. In this process, consumables in the market could be polluted or contaminated. Also, where abattoir effluent-polluted waters are used to grow salad crops and vegetables, transmission of infections are bound to occur because animal wastes are known to contain pathogenic organisms, causing salmonellosis, leptospirosis, tularemia, foot and mouth disease, hog cholera, etc.”

According to Ezeohaa and Ugwuishiwu, one notable feature of abattoirs in Nigeria is the waste dunghill they habour. These dunghills of animal faeces have become permanent features in the abattoirs because hardly could one see any abattoir in Nigeria without a dunghill. They highlighted further that abattoir wastes possess pollution potential. “They are capable of polluting surface waters, underground waters, abattoirs and the general market environments and consumables.”

Accordingly, the Nigerian Tribune's investigation revealed that governments at all level only prioritised the provision of water at abattoirs, thus leaving other major environmental checks at peril. A visit to the abattoir at Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State, is a testament to this. At the abattoir, the only notable feature around was the availability of the water. It was gathered that the water was really helpful in cleaning the environment. But apart from this, no other facility is available.

However, veterinary doctors were around to examine the cows before and after they were slaughtered. It was also gathered that cows were examined before they were brought to the slaughter slab and after they were slaughtered. 

The vice- chairman of the Nigeria Butchers' Association, Oyo State chapter, Alhaji Ganiyu Olobo said “the cows are checked before they are slaughtered and any one found not suitable would be stopped from further process while after being slaughtered, various tests are carried out on the intestines. The veterinary experts carry out tuberculosis test on the liver and the intestines; we can't stop them because we know why they're doing it. It is for everybody's good. Immediately, they discover any disease in any of the cows, they pour their chemicals on it and throw them into waste cans.”

In a paper titled “Environmental and Public Health Issues of Animal Food Products Delivery System in Imo State Nigeria” in the Journal of Health and Allied Sciences by Okoli CG, Okoli IC, Okorondu UV and Opara MN, the writers stated that most governments in the country were only interested in the revenue that could be realized from operating abattoirs and not in making them functional. 

In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, one of the butchers who pleaded anonymity joked that “though government, especially, the local government is trying its best, I know that if the abattoir were to be a place used by the alakowes (learned people), the government would take the provision of amenities more seriously than this. And if we strive to push for more, they may threaten to close down this place since it doesn't affect their own people,” he said.

Corroborating his claim, Okoli and his colleagues stated that “the state-regulating agency was mainly interested in the revenues accruable from abattoir operations in the state and therefore approves veterinary personnel specifically for areas where revenue to government could meet up monthly salaries. Thus, a veterinary doctor and probably an auxiliary officer may be approved for a major slaughter point, while auxiliary officers are approved for miniature slabs. It was observed that veterinary personnel were hardly regular in reporting for duty.”

Though, Nigerian Tribune discovered that in most abattoirs, the veterinary personnel were always around for their routine checks, the task they had to carry out was overwhelming, hence infractions to standard practice went undetected.

According to Okoli et al, “In Nigeria, illiterates and school dropouts dominate butchery. Because of divergent goals and clear misconception of the aims of meat inspection by these operators, stiff and sometimes violent resistance to meat or carcass condemnation is common. Cases of pre-selection of ill-looking animals for slaughtering at unofficial points by butchers have been reported. Meat inspectors are usually under pressure from butchers and may trim affected tissues or glands and then pass the carcass for human consumption. Although, the law provides that meat or parts thereof condemned should be compensated for, perpetual scarcity of funds hinders the carrying out of this obligation. The butchers thus view condemnation as a source of serious economic loss and therefore avoid possible means by which their stock may be condemned.”

Dr Babalobi canvassed for education and awareness for the consumers as well as the retailers. He said that systems should be put in place that would collect, collate and make available information on hazards and conditions that may be present in animal populations and that may affect the safety and suitability of the meat to be consumed, while also emphasising that the role of the government should be to ensure that primary production was managed in a way that “reduces the likelihood of introduction of hazards and appropriately contributes to meat being safe and suitable for human consumption.”