Campus News

We are what we eat, Elelu counsels Nigerians on quality of meat intake

By Abubakar Imam

A Professor at the Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ilorin, Nusirat Elelu, has said that what an individual eats reflects profoundly in the quality of his/her life.

               Prof. Elelu stated this last Thursday (June 5, 2025) while delivering the University’s 283rd Inaugural Lecture, entitled “The Public Health Veterinarian through Ticks, Snails and Community Service” at the University Auditorium.   

The Inaugural Lecturer explained that research has confirmed that animal diseases often affect human beings, pointing out that more than 70% of the emerging and re-emerging diseases that have affected humans over the past two decades came from animals.

Prof. Elelu advised Nigerians to give greater consideration to the quality of meat they consume to safeguard their health, saying that safeguarding the health of the population must be the watchword of all.

The Inaugural Lecturer, who is a former Head of the Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, said that every effort must be made to prevent disease in animals to ensure that the health of human beings is not negatively impacted by what they consume from animals.

As a result of the relationship between human and animal health, Prof. Elelu said that health professionals must adopt multi-disciplinary health strategies to ensure effective and sustainable improvement in service delivery.

She explained that the suggestion is even more plausible among resource-poor countries as she noted that the multidisciplinary approach such as exemplified by one health strategy would serve the intended purpose.

The Inaugural Lecturer pointed out that public health, unlike other fields of medicine, is not about doctors treating individual patients but about an entire population.

               Prof. Elelu, who is also the Executive Secretary of the Kwara State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, recalled that the success recorded in the control of the avian influenza epidemics in Nigeria between 2006 and 2010 was largely due to the coordinated efforts of the human and veterinary medicine professionals.

               She explained that some diseases such as Zoonotic TB cannot be checked by the human health sector alone, saying that veterinarians and other stakeholders in the public health sector must work together by carrying out joint nomadic vaccination, targeting both their livestock and children.

               Prof. Elelu, who has won several awards and recognitions, also canvassed integrated human and animal health surveillance through a sustainable programme involving veterinary and medical experts both nationally and internationally for a successful disease control programme.

               For food safety and to address the role of animals in maintaining and transmitting the disease and in view of the absence of effective preventive vaccinations or chemotherapy, Prof. Elelu called for strengthened joint human and animal health surveillance at the hospitals and meat inspection in the abattoirs.

               Prof. Elelu, who is also the first female Professor of Veterinary Medicine from Kwara State, also called on stakeholders in animal husbandry to ensure that farmers are duly educated on good farm management practices such as biosecurity, vector control, animal vaccination, and waste management. She explained that this would reduce animal disease burden and translate to improved food security, poverty reduction as well as prevent human zoonotic disease infection.

                The Inaugural Lecturer also called for an improved health information and communication, saying that it is important to strengthen and sustain prompt health communication between human health and animal health sectors in a joint public health strategy, as the timely sharing of information will allow prompt identification of geographical areas or patient groups with a high risk of zoonotic disease exposure. This, according to her, will facilitate a targeted response for prevention and control.

               Prof. Elelu, whose Inaugural Lecture was the first from her Department and the third from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, also called for massive awareness campaigns on animal diseases. She said that awareness campaigns, fortified with content- specific messages to target audiences, especially amongst those most at risk of contracting infections, would be of great assistance in reducing the spread of the diseases.

               She noted that public enlightenment campaigns against the consumption of pasteurised dairy products should be intensified. This, she said, should be complemented with continuous engagement of the people with individually tailored messages. She said that would also be more beneficial.

               Prof. Elelu also suggested that the dissemination of health information must be regulated, especially on social media platforms, limiting health-related postings to only qualified medical professionals. She recalled that during the 2020 pandemic, everyone became a doctor with a lot of misguided viral social media health messages.

 Speaking on veterinary medicine, Prof. Elelu described the discipline as a unique career that benefits both animals and humans.

               She urged students to give whatever course of studies they are pursuing all seriousness, pointing out that greatness awaits those who are determined and industrious in whatever legitimate cause they pursue.

               The Inaugural Lecture, which was presided-over by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor(Management Services), Prof. Adegboyega Adisa Fawole, was also attended by several dignitaries including the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji (Dr) Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari,CFR, who was represented by the Balogun Alanamu of Ilorin, Dr Usman Abubakar Akanbi-Jos; a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Saliu Modibbo Alfa Belgore, GCON; the Grand Khadi of Kwara State, Justice Abdulateef Kamaldeen; the Chairman of National Health Insurance Authority, Senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe; the National President of Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU), Alhaji Abdulmumini Ayo Abdulmalik; a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, OON; and the Kwara State Commissioner for Tertiary Education,Mrs Saadat Modibbo Kawu, among several others from far and near.