Nigeria should be looking to cash in on the tragedy in Australia by providing sanctuary for some of the rare animals now facing extinction there

By Ayo Akinfe

[1] With the recent Australian wildfires, about 1m animals are thought to have died. Over the next few weeks, there will be many more unfortunately

[2] Animals under threat include kangaroos, koala bears, camels, can toads, the cassowary, cockatoos, the echidna, emus, the goanna monitor lizard, frill necked lizards and the numbat. Their habitats have been totally destroyed by this fire and many of them face extinction even when the fires have been put out

[3] Australians brought this problem on themselves by electing the irresponsible Scott Morrison as their prime minister in 2018. Like Donald Trump, Prime Minister Morrison believes all this talk of climate change is just hype and has thus made no plans whatsoever to address global warming

[4] These Australian fires have been caused by the intense heat of the summer. A responsible government would have acted to reduce carbon emissions and seek to find greener forms of energy. However, the populist Mr Morrison has been promising to open more coal mines and has no time for renewable or clean energy

[5] Over the last week, Prime Minister Morrison has nearly been lynched in several parts of rural Australia. I dare him to walk down the streets of smoke-filed Sydney. He will be torn apart by an irate mob if he tries it. Today, a great smog covers the whole city and you simply cannot see the sky

[6] I am looking for an innovative Nigerian governor to step into the breach here and offer a home to all these threatened animals. For instance, what stops Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State from offering to open a dedicated kangaroo colony in Sambisa Forest, offering to take 1,000 of these animals from Australia. Just imagine the number of jobs that will create and how it will end the Boko Haram menace. Offer people jobs and hope ans they have no reason to take up arms

[7] Koala bears appears to be the animals most endangered. I want to see Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State to immediately open a koala colony in the state and employ all those youths who are certain to become bandits as park rangers to protect them

[8] Nothing I have suggested here is revolutionary. After World War Two, the US, Australia, Argentina, Israel, etc all poached the finest German brains and put them to work. America's space programme was designed by Wernher von Braun, Hitler's most brilliant engineer

[9] Indeed Bukola Saraki actually tried this during the Zimbabwe land crisis. When he was Kwara State governor, he offered land to Zimbabwean tobacco and maize farmers

[10] I take the view that President Buhari should lead a delegation of 12 governors to visit Australia and reach an animal exchange deal. This should mark the genesis of the Nigerian tourism industry.