The authorities of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) have established a N600 million integrated poultry farm which will be commissioned tomorrow.

The management of the institution had sourced N600million loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to establish the poultry farm. The farm is located at Amoyo in Ifelodun local government area of Kwara State.

The chairman of the farm project steering committee, Prof Mikhail Buhari, disclosed this during an interview with LEADERSHIP in Ilorin yesterday. Buhari said that the farm will be commissioned by the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele on Thursday.

Commending the university’s vice chancellor, Prof Sulaiman Age AbdulKareem, for his commitment to the project’s execution and the management of the CBN for providing the enabling funds to the university, Buhari described the farm project as “a game changer” in the annals of creativity in ivory towers leadership in the country.

He posited that the project would contribute to the country’s efforts towards attaining self-sufficiency in poultry production and boost employment opportunities for the Nigerian youths.

Buhari described the project as a success story, ” in view of the positive changes it has brought to the people of the host community and the transformation of an hitherto sleepy region into a busy and economically viable one”.

He said the farm has started with semi-automated production of chicks and its products.

Buhari, who said that the farm has in stock over 25,000 broilers and 17,000 layers, explained that its products would certainly bridge the gap between the demand and supply of protein-yielding food, adding that, apart from the insurance on the farm, well trained experts are also on the farm to perpetuate its successes.

He added that the university will make a lot of money from the farm as everything generated from it, including waste materials, would be sold towards earning more money, which would in turn boost the institution’s internally generated revenue (IGR).