Fresh goat milk, known as Goat Dough, has been recommended as the best milk for human consumption because it contains certain properties that milk from other sources do not have and could also be used to cure human ailments. This vital information was given by Professor Bukola Aina of the Department of Animal Production and Health (APH), College of Animal Science and Livestock Production (COLANIM) of the University.
While calling for the return to the old way of producing fresh milk for the consumption of internal and external members of the University community, Professor Aina advised the University to invest money into the milk business, saying “everybody on this campus will like to take fresh milk. If the University can invest money, people will be ready to buy it’’. Professor Aina said there were evidences that goats possess some human residual intellect, which make them behave as humans. Debunking the claim that the goat is a stubborn animal; Professor Aina said goat was not. "People misunderstood goat. The general impression about goat is that it is a stubborn animal. It is not a stubborn animal’’, he stated.
The Animal Science researcher urged all to treat goats very well because there were other benefits that human beings could derive from the goat such as using its faeces as fertilizers on a crop farm and eating the white meat because it is nutritious, delicious and affordable. “Animals supply animal protein. Animal protein is very important because it contains the proteins that human beings also need. We are not taking enough as recommended by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), in this country. We need a minimum of 70 grams of animal protein per day’’, as he decried the practice of importing meat from neighbouring countries and Europe, saying that by adopting the right approach and policy, there was nothing stopping Nigeria from producing more than enough meat and then exporting to other parts of the world.
The University Don opined that honesty and trust should play critical roles in the economic development of the country because stakeholders and industry players do not seem to trust Nigerians with money. “Majority of Nigerians are not honest enough for people to trust us with what we are doing. People will be looking for opportunities to cheat and to manipulate. Trusting one another is a factor’’, as he advised the University Management to go into large scale production of all animal species that are good for human consumption, assuring that there was good market for such. He added that with what the University was presently doing, people still preferred coming from town to buy their meat for consumption in FUNAAB because it is cheaper and of good quality.
The Professor of Animal Production and Health disclosed further that finance remained the only limitation to good and result-oriented research in the country, urging governments and other stakeholders not to pay lip-service to research funding because it holds the key to the agricultural and technological development of the country. Professor Aina also believed that vast production of meat by government should be embarked upon as against the current practice of importation, saying it was ridiculous for Nigeria; the largest economy in Africa, to still be importing meat.
