VALEDICTORY SPEECH BY THE OUT GOING PRESIDENT OF THE VETERINARY COUNCIL OF NIGERIA (VCN), AIG AISHATU ABUBAKAR BAJU, DVM, Ph.D. NPOM, OON, mni ON MONDAY 3RD OF MARCH, 2025

Protocol,

Distinguished members of the Veterinary Council of Nigeria, esteemed colleagues, and honored guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.

I feel very honoured, delighted and privileged to address you today as I come to the end of my tenure as the 12th President of the VCN. Today, I am filled with a sense of pride, gratitude, accomplishment and an absolute privilege to serve as the President of the Veterinary Council of Nigeria. I am honored to have had the opportunity to lead this esteemed organization and profession as the first female President of VCN. It was indeed a great journey in the last 5 years full of beautiful memories with great achievements but of course not without challenges. I want to thank you most sincerely for the trust and confidence you had in me to move our noble profession to this point.

You will recall that we were elected as members of the Board by the Veterinary community, and I was subsequently elected as the President by my fellow Board members. Our inauguration by the Honorable Minister of Agriculture on March 5, 2020, marked the beginning of a new era for the VCN and indeed the profession.

At the time of our inauguration, the VCN had been without a Board for over four years, and integrating with the staff was a significant challenge. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic posed an unprecedented threat to global health, and we were inaugurated just as the pandemic was beginning to spread.

In the face of these challenges, the VCN rose to the occasion, actively contributing to the global fight against the pandemic. We ensured that the Veterinary profession was recognized as an essential service, and veterinarians were included in some state committees for COVID-19 control including the FCT. We also worked to ensure the free movement of animals, animal products, and animal feeds, thereby preventing the collapse of the livestock industry.

In collaboration with the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA), the office of the CVON and other stakeholders, we mobilized the veterinary community to decontaminate livestock markets, abattoirs, and other high-risk areas to control the spread of the pandemic.

As the pandemic subsided, we refocused on our core mandate of regulating the training and practice of veterinary medicine in Nigeria.

You recall that on assumption of duty of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, GCFR, he launched the renewed hope agenda on livestock reform to enhance food safety in Nigeria. To key into Mr. President’s reform, the VCN launched four cutting-edge technological solutions to enhance the efficiency of veterinary profession. These include:

- Veterinary App: to enhance communication and service delivery
- Veterinary Seal: Ensuring authenticity and integrity
- Digitized Veterinary License: Streamlining licensing processes
- Geo-mapping of Veterinary Practice Premises: Improving regulation and monitoring

These innovations have significantly enhanced the efficiency of the Council and are helping in combating quackery in the profession. I am proud to say that our digitization program has received international recognition, with the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) and the FAO commending our efforts and adopting it as a model for Africa. This demonstrates our leadership and commitment to excellence in veterinary regulation. Similarly, our digitization program has been a game-changer, enabling us to conduct the most transparent, free, and fair election in the history of the VCN.

During this tenure, we also undertook a comprehensive accreditation of veterinary medicine faculties and colleges in Nigeria. We granted full accreditation to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Jos admitting them as the eleventh accredited Veterinary School in Nigeria, and withdrew accreditation from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Benin. Additionally, we are in the process of accrediting three more faculties of veterinary medicine in the country.

In the area of Continuing Education (CE), the council under our watch revolutionized our CE programs to world-class standards. We deregulated CE, making it more flexible for veterinarians to develop themselves in their areas of specialization. We also introduced accredited CE service providers, enabling veterinarians to earn points and stay up-to-date while the VCN focused on educating veterinarians on government policies, regional and global issues related to the profession.

Similarly, we strengthened our Veterinary Practice Premises (VPP) Committee in most states, personally flagging up a national campaign and enforcement.

Beyond our national borders, we have built strong collaborations with veterinary councils and organizations across the ECOWAS sub-region, the African continent, and globally. We have initiated the process of African regional integration and harmonization of veterinary practice and training regulation, which has received the endorsement of WOAH and FAO. Furthermore, we have commenced the process of reciprocity with the South African Veterinary Council (SAVC) and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), UK. These initiatives, when concluded, will provide opportunities for our young veterinarians to practice in these countries without having to sit for qualifying examinations.

Similarly, we believe in the unity of all professionals in the animal sector, which is in line with WOAH recommendation, and we are working towards onboarding the Veterinary Para Professionals onto our digital platforms to ensure effective regulation and collaboration. This was further strengthened by admitting the President of the NAAHT of Nigeria into the Board on Saturday, 1ST of March, 2025. This bold step has received huge accolade globally.

Due to time constraints, it is not possible to present all our achievements during this valedictory session, but we are putting up a compendium of our achievements and challenges which will soon be presented to the veterinary community.

As I conclude my tenure as President of the Veterinary Council of Nigeria, I am proud of the progress we have made. I want to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues and my fellow Board members who gave me the opportunity to lead them, being the only female in the board at that time. I commend their commitment, resilience, dedication, passion, sacrifice and above all their love for this profession. I also most sincerely appreciate the unique support from my Vice President, Prof Mathew Adamu, who is also there to share from his wealth of experience. I wouldn’t ask for a better team to work with. I want to thank particularly Dr. Femi Kayode, the youngest Board member who brought in his technical expertise to make our dream of digitization a reality. I also want to thank the Ag. Registrar Dr. Oladotun Fadipe, who was able to stabilize the council after a very turbulent time, thank you, Fadipe. I appreciate the dedication and commitment of the entire staff of the council. Thank you to the entire veterinary community for your unwavering support, encouragement and especially your constructive criticism that sometimes made us look at issues differently.  To our stakeholders, we wouldn’t have succeeded without you, thank you so much for your support and collaboration.

Finally, as I exit as the president, I urge my successor to build on the foundations we have laid, continuing to innovate, regulate, and promote the veterinary profession in Nigeria, while strengthening our collaborations and partnerships across the continent and globally.

Thank you.

God Bless the Veterinary Profession

God Bless the VCN