‘Endangered species’

The donkey still functions in a few locations, used to pull carts carrying farm produce and also serves as a reliable ambulance in the dead of night, when necessary, as Weekly Trust gathered  at  Zangon Tama and contiguous communities in Kaduna State. Where there are very bad roads, the donkey is an efficient taxi, as well, with a sense of geography that is a great plus at such moments. On the other hand, many forces would seem to be moving against the beast, as it is much sought-after as a delicacy in many parts of Nigeria’s South-East and the South-West.

Only few persons raise questions about the donkey in research institutions. During festivals, people look towards the horse, rather than the donkey. But an animal that was once so preponderant, has graduated to the status of an endangered species. Interestingly, the Nigeria Police does not have an Endangered Species Desk, as obtains in other countries. For instance, the South African Police Service has an endangered species desk which has played an impressive role in checking the illegal sale of Rhino parts in that country. Olushola Amore, police spokesperson, confirmed over the phone that the force has no endangered species desk, and added that they are only concerned with human beings.  There is also no nationwide law that prohibits the slaughter of donkeys.

Weekly Trust was able to confirm that there is no law prohibiting the slaughter of donkeys in both Enugu and Ebonyi states, as told by Dr. Gambo Danjuma, a veterinary doctor and CEO of Novat Animal Care, Enugu. He continued: “The old Sokoto State had Edict No. 2 of 1985 titled ‘An edict for the preservation of Beasts of Burden and for matters concerned therewith’. This edict aims at the preservation of donkeys, but it is not enforced.”

On the prohibition of consumption, Professor Voh, the Executive Director, National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Shika, Zaria said the matter goes beyond promulgating edicts. “You will be encroaching on somebody else’s right on what he wants to eat,” he said. “The effort really should be on the multiplication of the donkey, rather than on prohibiting consumption.”

Many thousands of donkeys killed

As at 1992 there were 936,838 Donkeys in the country, according to a report provided by NAPRI, Zaria. This figure inspired the Federal Ministry of Agriculture at that time to ask NAPRI to undertake research on donkey improvement. Up till now, though NAPRI in 2009 secured some thirty donkeys for pilot on-station donkey research, funds for the project have not been released.

Dr. Danjuma said the killing of donkeys in the South-East is indiscriminate. Young, highly reproductive animals are chosen for slaughter, rather than the older ones which are no longer productive. His words: “We need a regulatory body that would look at the way the animals are slaughtered, especially the donkey and horse. No wonder the population has dropped, because those that will reproduce are being eaten.”

The donkey also suffers a high exit rate on a daily basis in the parts of the country where it is eaten. A report by Onyezebeh (1989) indicates that 150 -300 donkeys are received in Eha-Amufu, Enugu State, daily from major donkey markets in the North  at 3,000 a month,  or 360,000 donkeys in  a year. Another report, from NAPRI, sheds light on the history of the drop in the animal’s numbers. According to the report the population of the donkey in Nigeria steadily declined from over 2 million in the early 80’s to about 939,107 in 1991. The appetite for donkey meat has risen over time. Today, it may be at an all-time high, as the fan base for the meat is huge. Added to this is the fact that the donkey has a slow birth rate.

Weekly Trust visited a number of donkey markets deep in the South-East to investigate the story.  Alhaji Danladi is a prominent middle-man at the Ezzangbo Donkey Market in Ebonyi State. He comes from a family that has been involved in the trade in Ebonyi for well over a century, and speaks of his grandfather who was a famous trader. “We receive up to two trucks loaded with donkeys every week from the North. Each truck would contain some 140 donkeys.” Danladi makes a clarification, as there are only a few donkeys within the market on the day Weekly Trust visited. “Today, the supply is not much. On a normal day, we receive ten trucks.  Each truck would contain some 140 donkeys. It’s declined because of the problems in Jos and Maiduguri,” he explained.

Danladi told Weekly Trust that most traders from the North supply Ezzangbo Market, and calls it ‘the biggest Donkey market in the South-East’. The donkey trade is big business, he stresses. Innocent Brazil, whom this reporter met at Illela, said he has been in the trade since 1983, and that he normally conveys one hundred and fifty Donkeys to Ezzangbo every week. He added that there are many other persons like him who convey a similar number on a weekly basis.

Some of those who roast donkey meat at Ezzangbo, tell this reporter that between 50-100 are slaughtered at the market each day. There are many women involved, too, at the market which is made up of many sections. There is a section where fresh meat is sold and another where the hooves are sold. In another section of the market, there are Hausa youths, and a few middle-aged people. Also, there is a long row of donkeys, as well as women from the local communities who have come to make a purchase.

The Maigatari Border Market sheds light on the donkey trade at Agbor in Delta State. Ijeoma  Emeh, who was on a mission to buy donkeys told Weekly Trust that 4 to 5 vehicles arrive  every day, containing at least 80 donkeys. She adds that Agbor is a major centre with patrons travelling from Warri, Onitsha, Sapele and Abia to buy the meat.

At Dayi, in Katsina State, Weekly Trust came across Haliru Harisu who is the Sarkin Jakuna or leader of the Donkey sellers. He  can also be described as a baron of the donkey trade, having  been involved in conveying them from Sudan and Chad through Gamboru  Ngala, down  to Nigeria’s South-East for many years.

The consumption of donkey meat is widespread in the South-East, as well as parts of the South-South. One respondent, whom Weekly Trust encountered at Abakaliki, says he is in his 40s and has been eating donkey meat, as well as horse meat throughout his life. His words: “I grew up seeing people eating donkey meat here in Abakaliki, and I soon joined them. It is a delicacy that is commonly consumed here.” He says that the meat is cheaper than beef, and is readily available. He added that he has seen donkey meat being served at hotels in Onitsha and Port Harcourt to unsuspecting patrons, who thought they were being served beef.

Burden of the beast

On the drop in the population of Donkeys, Kashim Giwa, Secretary of the Giwa Market, Kaduna, told Weekly Trust: “Surely, there is a drop in their numbers. This is because people are conveying them from the North to the South-East, where they are eaten. In the North, we don’t eat Donkey meat.”

Maharazu Abubakar Giwa, an assistant to the Sarkin Kasuwa at Giwa, agrees that the population of donkeys has shrunk, but added: “Allah created the donkey, so it can never go extinct. It will survive.”

At Sheme in Katsina State, Ibrahim Maigadi Sheme, Wakilin Sarkin Jakuna, who has spent sixty years in the trade, said the beast’s decline is due to modern development. “If one has a donkey, he may like to sell it and buy a motorcycle, a car or whatever.” But Abdulkadir Ibrahim, a broker in the trade at Sheme, says that the population of donkeys is increasing, rather than declining. His words: “Donkeys mean money, so people are rearing them to sell.” Contradicting this, another trader at Sheme added: “In the past, if one sees a cow in a house, he will soon see a donkey but this is not the case today.”

Ibrahim Maijaki also makes a point at Sheme. “The beast’s population is declining because every donkey taken from the North to the South is eaten as meat, and people in the North are not ready to rear them en masse. This is largely because of the arrival of new technologies of transport.”

At Maigatari Market, Weekly Trust met Lawalli Kwale, a 50-year-old trader from Niger Republic who has been in the trade for 30 years, bringing donkeys every week from Damagaram and Kazawai to the Maigatari Border Market. He said dealers like him coming from Niger are under pressure to produce more donkeys. His words: “We are under pressure to bring more donkeys into Nigeria.” He agrees that the population of donkeys has reduced. Earlier, Harisu had declared with special reference to Agbor in Delta State that “there, no business surpasses the donkey trade.”

Escape clause

Professor Voh says that the donkey population has shrunk. Worried by this trend the Federal Ministry of Agriculture directed NAPRI to undertake research into the donkey. “But for the directive that was given by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to this institute, there wasn’t anything as a matter of policy regarding these animals. But after that directive, it wasn’t really followed up with funding. If we have a problem of breeding donkeys, the obvious thing to do is to carry out a research, in order to improve it. We can say that they have become an endangered species now.”

Voh argues that both donkey producing and consuming states can explore the possibility of producing legislation to arrest the depleting numbers. “This is where you make sure that this is the number of animals that I have, and which I want to breed at this time, so that they will deliver at a particular time on a continuous basis by the owner. He added that it takes the Donkey 4-5 years to attain the age at which it can breed for the first time. “As if that isn’t bad enough, if the donkey delivers, before it can become pregnant again and deliver another one, it can take 3 or even 4 years.

“At a point, the donkey was not of particular interest to us, as it was really not a food animal as such. But having become obvious that it is now a food animal, and also being threatened, the onus is on us to do something about that,” Voh said.