The Donkey Dealers Association of Nigeria (DDAN) has warned that the outright ban as proposed in a bill seeking to regulate the slaughtering of donkeys for commercial activities in Nigeria would result in the loss of business and investment for four million Nigerians.
The National Chairman of DDAN, Mr. Ifeanyi Dike, revealed this at the National Assembly during a one-day public hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, over a bill which seeks to ban the killing of donkeys.
The bill on Donkey Slaughter, Regulation and Export Certification Bill, sponsored by Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi, seeks to regulate the slaughter of donkeys because of the fear of the animal going into extinction.
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It also seeks to establish the breeding and ranching of donkeys through the export certification value chain, to mitigate the extinction of donkeys given their aesthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational and scientific value to the nation.
Ifeanyi suggested that the government should make regulations that will preserve the animal and also allow the dealers to do business with the animal, instead of putting millions of people out of business by banning the trading and killing of the animal.
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“Today was a public hearing of the bill that was being proposed for the ban on the killing of donkeys in Nigeria, and we, the Donkey Dealers Association of Nigeria, who are the real investors in the donkey industry, are calling upon the Federal Government today to say no to a blanket ban on donkey killing. We are supporting a regulatory framework that will assist us in the ranching and breeding of donkeys.”
“Our members are abreast of the situation. They have been informed and all of us are ready for regulation. We are not ready for banning. Our members are not encouraging smugglers, our members are known, and their places of business are known” he noted.
