CVA Country Councillor Profile – Dr Ibrahim Ado Shehu of Nigeria

Q1. Tell us about you, your family and where you live?

My name is Dr Ibrahim Ado Shehu. I am from pretty large family i.e. 10 brothers and 10 sisters. I am the 10th overall in the house. I live in Kano State, Nigeria.

Q2. What is your favourite food?

Chips, Plantain and eggs.

Q3. Do you have any favourite music?

Anything that sounds nice.

Q4. What is your favourite sport?

Football

Q5. Tell up in a paragraph what your current veterinary position is.

I am an area Veterinary officer. I am stationed in zonal veterinary clinic in Ringim. I am in charge of the day to day activities of the clinic. The clinic is state owned and we provide veterinary services to the community at a discounted rate.

Q6. What influenced you to become a veterinarian?

I actually never heard of veterinary medicine until I was admitted into the university to study veterinary medicine. I applied to the university to study human medicine but I was admitted into veterinary medicine instead. Due to the fact that I have always loved animals growing up I saw it as an opportunity to help treat sick animals. So the more I learnt about veterinary medicine, the more I fell in love with it and given another chance to go back to start from the beginning, I would choose veterinary medicine a million times over human medicine.

Q7. What do you enjoy most about being a veterinarian?

The fact that I can prevent a wide range of animals from contacting disease and also be able to treat already infected animals. Also, the fact that I can help prevent the spread of zoonosis.

Q8. What are some of the main challenges for you and your national veterinary association?

Some of the main challenges includes:
– Lack of awareness of the general public to the activities of the association.
– Some members of the association are not willing to participate in the activities of the association.
– Most of the veterinary laws are obsolete which makes practicing more difficult.

Q9. How do you communicate to your organisation about the CVA and its activities?

Communication is mainly via the yahoo email group of the association.

Q10. How do you think the CVA can assist you in your councillor role?

The CVA has done a great job so far. But it can be improved through provision of modern diagnostic tools, scholarship opportunities which the country members can benefit, research support for postgraduate students etc.