By Dele Ogbodo/Felix Shammah/Hillary Asemota
The Interim Provost, College of Veterinary Surgeons of Nigeria (CVSN), Prof. Joseph Akinrinmade, on Friday 14, August, 2026 conferred the College’s ‘Transformation Award’ to both the pioneer Minister of Livestock Development, Mr. Idi Mukhtar Maiha and his Permanent Secretary, Dr. Chinyere Ijeoma Akujobi.
The College acknowledged that the Ministry established in 2024 by President Bola Tinubu in 2024 has positively transformed the sector.
Speaking at the award ceremony, at the Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN), in Abuja, the Provost who led his colleagues referred to the Minister as a round peg in a round hole, adding: “I, m overwhelmed seeing you dressed like a veterinarian.
“This is the first Minister that I will say that he is a round peg in a round hole.”
On how the College finds the Minister and his Permanent Secretary, worthy of the award, he added: “We have been monitoring him closely and listening to him today, the meaning of ‘transformation’ came alive.
“Many people do not understand the word transformation. You give birth to a child, after two, three years, you experience that it’s stunted.
“Suddenly, you want your child to become as tall as you, and you want it to happen overnight. It doesn’t happen. Even the chicken that lives here, there is a process.
“My Minister, I love the way you are handling this Ministry – You are a transformational minister indeed, this has never happened in Nigeria.”
The College asserted that the ongoing transformation at the young Ministry activities cannot go unnoticed, adding: “Everybody is aware of the beautiful, and excellent work you and your Permanent Secretary are doing.”
At the College of Veterinary Surgeons of Nigeria, we are happy to have you as our Minister and the Permanent Secretary who is one of our own, he said.
According to Akinrinmade, the Council dimmed it fit that every programme of the Ministry should be, we should be part of it. Every support that you need, we are going to provide for the Ministry through you, adding that the process of transformation involves training of specialists, and that is our key role in this exercise.
“So, sir, on behalf of the College of Veterinary Surgeons Nigeria, we want to present this award in recognition of your commitment, your dedication to the college, to the Council, and the veterinary profession.
“Again, you can see the beauty in livestock development.
“To the Permanent Secretary, We are lucky in our union. Madam, you have been so supportive.
“Behind every successful Minister, there must be a competent, not just an ordinary woman, a competent woman, a mother to the core.
“So we can see that when you have a vet ministering unto a willing Minister, what do you expect? Transformation beyond human understanding.
“So we recognize all the work you have been doing behind the scenes. I don’t want to leak the secret that she’s a veterinarian.
“I’m sure she must have advised the minister the way to appear this morning. Once a vet, she’s always a vet. The profession is very, very proud of you.
“We pray for you that that destination will be realized. On behalf of the College of Veterinary Surgeons of Nigeria, we present to you this special award. In recognition of your commitment and dedication to the college, to the Veterinary Council, and the profession at large.”