The president of the association, Ezekiel Mann, at the end of its National Executive Council meeting in Abuja, pointed out that poultry was providing more than 20 million employment opportunities for Nigerians, hence the need for the government to support the industry.

Mam disclosed that the poultry business is worth N1 trillion and there are about 45-60 million laying birds in the country, adding that with increased investments in the sector, the number of birds might increase by 20 to 30 per cent, thereby creating more employment opportunities.

He also called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend loan facilities to medium and small-scale poultry farmers.

Mam further called on the Nigerian Customs Service to intensify efforts in curtailing smuggling of frozen foods into the country, saying the PAN was willing to provide them with information on smugglers of the product.

He insisted that the poultry farmers had enough capacity to close the demand gap. And if the custom service is able to completely clamp down on smuggling activities, PAN would be able to generate additional 15 to 20 million job opportunities in the poultry sector.

“We implore the custom service to put in more efforts, and we are ready to give them intelligence report of some Nigerians and those from the neighboring countries that are involved in the smuggling activities to help them do their jobs more effectively,” he said.