A member of the House of
Representatives, Garba Muhammad, said his sponsorship of a bill to protect
donkeys and ban the exportation of their body parts was to protect the animals
from extinction and preserve their socio-economic roles.
The bill was passed by the lower
chamber of the National Assembly on Thursday.
Speaking at an event on the
impact of donkey trade on West Africa, the lawmaker said the aggressive donkey
export has social and economic implications his bill sought to address.
Mr Muhammad (APC, Kaduna) said he
first picked interest in sponsoring the legislation after observing the cruel
treatment meted to the animals in the process of getting their skins for export
mainly to China.
Another reason, he said, was the
disenfranchisement of poor villages who for ages rely on donkeys for human and
goods transportation.
The event, organised by The
Donkey Sanctuary, a UK-based animal rights group, and Nigeria Now magazine,
brought together experts to discuss the threat to the existence of donkeys and
ways out of it.
“Donkey skin needs for China are
4.8 million annually and the population of donkeys worldwide is less than 40
million. With this, in the next five years you will find that the donkey
population could have been decimated,” he said.
Mr Muhammad said the lifestyle of
people living in rural areas is being altered as a result of the increasing
incursion on the donkeys.
“Even at the United Nations, it
has been recognised that donkeys are the most important and enduring means of
transport to the world’s marginalised populations; the poorest of the poor.
“Their means of livelihood is
independent on these donkeys.”
Mr Muhammad recalled that when he
first tabled the idea of the bill before the lawmaking body last year, some of
his colleagues laughed off the bill.
“Even in my constituency, some
people were laughing, they said I am now a lawmaker for the donkeys,” he said.
Mr Mohammed expressed optimism
that the Senate will expedite consideration of the bill for subsequent
transmission to the president for assent.
“We have spoken to the Senate
President and the Minister of Agriculture. The two of them appreciated [the
bill]. Hopefully by next week he Bill will be presented to the Senate, after
concurrence it will now be taken to Mr President for assent to make it a law.”
Ways Out
Experts at the event proposed
measures to curtail the dangers posed to the donkey population by the
international donkey trade.
They advocate for a combination
of actions to stop the exports of donkey parts.
Legislations and enforcement,
they say, will make those engaged in such activities to have a rethink.
The CEO of The Donkey Sanctuary,
Mike Baker, said the group will engage more with local communities and enhance
communication to let villagers understand the implication of parting with their
donkeys.
Preservation, he said, becomes a
major solution to saving donkeys as it is almost impossible to breed donkeys in
large numbers.
“It can take over three years to
have a single donkey. Donkeys don’t get pregnant easily and when it did, it
takes some 12 months for gestation”.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com