From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Donkey Dealers Association of Nigeria, has appealed to the Federal Government to rescind the recent ban on donkey, as the decision has plunged thousands of investors into hardship.
The government, through the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), had in January, slammed a ban on export and consumption of donkey because it was going into extinction.
But National Chairman of Donkey Breeders, Dike Ifeanyi, at a press briefing yesterday in Abuja, stated that the government should rather lift the ban and regulate the sector.
Chief Ifeanyi further implored members to join forces with the government to arrest and prosecute illegal merchants who connive with expatriates to pollute the sector.
“We were at the National Assembly where the bill on donkey came up on the floor for public hearing.
“We solicited that instead of outright and blanket ban, the Federal Government should regulate the sector to create jobs, food surplus and increase foreign exchange.
“We have country like Pakistan who has donkey farms worth billions of dollars.
“But when we ban it in Nigeria we are creating room for smugglers who are ready to go to any length to do the business.
“The Chinese are the major problems in the sector. We have had a member of our association who built a factory and a farm and he has given out donkeys to local breeders so that when these donkeys deliver he can harvest the mother and allow the child to grow.
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“But immediately the Chinese invaded this country in 2015, all those were poached, some were stolen and some people were no longer interested in the business.
”So, we are calling on our members to come together so that we can join the federal government on their regulation, breeding and ranching policy because that is the best option we are going to benefit.
“We grow cows everyday and they have not gone into extinction. Cows and donkeys have the same production system.
“So, if cows have not gone into extinction why are we having this public fear that donkey would go into extinction?
“We need to support the programme of the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Nigeria Animal Production and Research Institute, on breeding because when we breed we create and when we create it becomes surplus at the end,” he explained.
On his part, the Association Vice Chairman, Bishir Bello, assured Nigerians that the members would abide by the stipulated laws.
Bello disclosed that the market value appears to be dwindling because of the ban.