Nigeria’s anti-coronavirus measures are meaningless unless they are backed up with new laws against bushmeat hunting

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) I for one take the view that the Nigerian government is right to introduce measures to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. For once, we are actually trying to keep abreast with the rest of the world on health matters

(2) It is right to suspend mass gatherings such as religious crusades and vigils until the pandemic clears up and it is also in order to ask visitors from abroad to go into two weeks of isolation until they are certified as virus-free

(3) Top marks to the National Assembly on this matter. They are trying to ensure Nigeria follows World Health Organisation guidelines like the rest of the international community. I believe lawmakers have also asked President Buhari to address the nation on this issue

(4) For all its good work, however, the National Assembly appears to have missed the fact that coronavirus was transmitted to humans from bats. It was China’s poor bushmeat laws that got us into this mess in the first place

(5) Like China, Nigeria has very archaic bush meat laws. At the moment, it is perfectly legal for a hunter to go into the bush and kill whatever animal he wants to across Nigeria. Such animals end up on dinner plates all over the country

(6) As far as I am aware, there are no laws in Nigeria that protect wild animals like bats, armadillos, pangolins, civets, raccoons, monkeys, baboons, etc. If any of these species is carrying a virus, we will all get it

(7) Some of our bushmeat species like grass cutters are actually great delicacies. However, they must be raised under healthy conditions in controlled and supervised environments to ensure there is no threat to public health

(8) I am hoping that this week, the National Assembly passes a Nigerian Bushmeat Bill 2020 to address the matter. Offer bushmeat hunters single-digit loans to open grasscutter farms where they can raise their animals like any other livestock

(9) Given our lack of healthcare facilities, Nigeria’s health policy simply needs to be centred on prevention. I would like to see our tropical rainforests declared hunt-free zones as part of a major health programme

(10) In 2020, does man really need to hunt anymore? We can raise every single animal we need through livestock farming. Like nomadism, hunting is just another archaic practise that has no business in the 21st century