The Director General, Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS), Dr Vincent Isegbe has said the country will commence exportation of ornamental fish as a way of shoring up the country’s economy.
Isegbe, who spoke at the 2nd Director General’s Summit and Management Retreat, entitled ‘ NAQS on the Part of Innovation’, yesterday in Lagos, noted that on a daily basis, export of ornamental fish has continued to grow around the world.
“We are aggressively developing export of ornamental fish. It’s a new frontier in aesthetic agriculture. Nigerians are discovering the potential of the ornamental fish export. And the quantity of exported ornamental fish is rising exponentially by the day.
“I am pleased to let you that we are upscaling our laboratories. The Lagos and Ibadan labs are nearing completion. Work on the Abuja lab is underway: the structure is now at lintel level,” he said.
The pioneer head of NAQS, also disclosed that Nigeria signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China to pave a way for the export of forage sorghum.
His words: “We have paved the way for the export of Nigerian forage sorghum to China through the signing of a protocol on phytosanitary requirements with the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China.
“This framework has granted Nigerians access to the largest sorghum market. In addition, the deal will lead to the establishment of five sorghum plantations in different zones of the country by the Chinese.”
He further announced that NAQS “has migrated to CONRAISS, a relatively more generous salary structure. Our officers began to take home bigger wage in January.”
He said for officers to be respected, they should never look beggarly by demanding money from importers and exporters of agricultural produce money, insisting that they must be on their best behaviours at all time.
In his presentation, Senior Manager, Pricewater House Cooper (PwC), Gabriel Okwuofu, tasked NAQS personnel to accelerate sufficient digital and technology impact, create unique customers experience and build relationship.