DDA Nigeria appeals for revision of proposed ban on donkey slaughtering

The Donkey Dealers’ Association, (DDA) is appealing for the revision of the proposed ban on donkey slaughtering in Nigeria.

All Progressives Congress, APC, Niger South, National Chairman of the association, Ifeanyi Dike explained that the outright ban on slaughtering of donkey was not a solution to the envisaged extinction of donkeys in Nigeria. Dike urged the Senate to consider the plight of over three million Nigerians that would be out of jobs and businesses if the bill was allowed to pass.

“We should know that outright blanket ban as proposed by this bill will create some powerful smuggling syndicates who are bent on getting the donkey derivatives for export to China thereby sabotaging the economy. The blanket ban on donkey killing and export of its derivatives as a result of morbid fear of its extinction has failed to realise that regulation, ranching and breeding is the solution.

Breeding and production

“Cows which we slaughter more than 50,000 on daily basis as meat has not gone into extinction, so how can a donkey with the same gestation period as cow go into extinction. We should encourage breeding and ranching,” said Dike.

According to Ifeanyi, the dealers had invested heavily over the years and have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) for the breeding and production of five million donkeys within a space of 10 years.

“We took this action to increase the local population of donkeys in Nigeria to avoid its extinction. Donkey regulation, breeding and ranching policy would create millions of job opportunities starting from donkey farmers, traders, slaughter house, logistics and export. Each of these segments is very important in revenue generation into our economy by way of taxation and levy collections right from the Local Governments to the states and to the Federal Government. It is projected that donkey businesses if properly regulated, is capable of injecting N10 bllion annually to our economy,” said the chairman.

The Donkey Slaughter Regulation and Export Certification Bill, 2020 was sponsored by Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi. It had passed second reading on July 6, 2021 aimed at mitigating the extinction of donkeys given their aesthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational and scientific value to the Nigerian nation.

It also sought to declare donkeys as an endangered specie which as a result of indiscriminate slaughtering for the purpose of harvesting its skin, has greatly depleted the national herd of the animal.