By Adetokunbo FAKEYE
Nigeria – The Federal Ministry of Environment with the support of the Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI) African Fund, the US Embassy, United Nation Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Wild African Fund, on Tuesday 9th January, 2024 destroyed total of about 2.5 tonnes of ivories and elephant tusks specimen.
Speaking at the occasion, the Hon. Minister of State Environment Dr Iziaq Salako said, Nigeria remains fully committed in the fight against wildlife crime and will continue to honour all international obligations to protect our biodiversity. It is therefore with utmost sense of responsibility that I am witnessing and flagging off this very symbolic disposal exercise.
Below is the full speech of the Hon. Minister of State Environment Dr Iziaq Salako.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF STATE FOR ENVIRONMENT, DR. IZIAQ ADEKUNLE SALAKO, ON THE OFFICIAL PUBLIC DISPOSAL OF ACCUMULATED CONFISCATED WILDLIFE STOCKPILE IN NIGERIA HELD AT JULIUS BERGER ONEX YARD, KUBWA EXPRESS WAY, ABUJA, NIGERIA ON TUESDAY 9th JANUARY, 2024.
PROTOCOL:
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, it is with great joy that I welcome you all to this important event of the public disposal of confiscated wildlife stockpiles under the custody of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA).
As you may be aware, NESREA is a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Environment that is charged with the mandate for the enforcement of all environmental laws, policies, guidelines, standards and regulations. It is also empowered to enforce compliance with the provisions of multilateral environmental Agreements, Protocols, Conventions and Treaties to which Nigeria is a signatory.
2. The Agency since its’ establishment in 2007 has continued to be pragmatic in its efforts towards ensuring the protection of Nigeria’s biodiversity and fulfilling its obligations in enforcing the provision of conservation related multilateral environmental Conventions such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) amongst others.
3. You may wish to recall that sometimes back, Nigeria was suspended from CITES trade because of increase in illegal wildlife trade and lack of adequate enforcement. This suspension was later lifted by CITES Secretariat in 2011 through a well-coordinated effort of the then Nine (9) member Inter-Agency Committee on CITES enforcement in Nigeria that was chaired by NESREA.
4. Ladies and Gentlemen, despite all these efforts and years of continuous public outreach and engagements to combat Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT), demand for wild animal’s parts and derivatives persists with a surge in black markets for sale of illegally acquired wildlife parts. The impact of such demand has been aggravated by the globalization of the world economy. Unfortunately, Nigeria has been identified as a major transit hub for this illegal wildlife trafficking due to the porous nature of its international borders.
5. Research has also revealed that there are four poaching hubs which are: Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Burkina-Faso and Ghana, with Nigeria having several unconfirmed transportation routes, where buses, trucks and canoes are being used to transport these illegally acquired wildlife specimen to other parts of the world.
6. NESREA has continued in its’ collaborative efforts with other relevant stakeholders in combating IWT in Nigeria. This effort has continued to yield positive results through the seizures, confiscations and prosecution of wildlife offenders in the country. Over the years, a large quantity of seized and confiscated ivory and non-ivory products of wildlife have been achieved through collaboration with government and non-governmental bodies. This accumulated confiscated wildlife specimen has been safely stored and documented by NESREA in its Temporary Holding Facilities (THF) for some time now. While there is the need to create more space in the Holding Facilities for safe keep of future seizures, many of these specimens have long been in the storerooms and their viability can no longer be ascertained, thus the need to also avoid contracting and spreading of zoonotic diseases by the managers of the storerooms. It is also imperative that as a country, we continue to send out strong and unambiguous signal of non-tolerance to illegal wildlife trade.
7. Ladies and gentlemen, you may be aware that in compliance with CITES Resolution Conf. 9.10 (Rev. CoP15) and Conf, 10.7 (Rev. Cop 15) on disposal of seized and confiscated live and dead wildlife specimen, Nigeria has opted for the outright destruction of these stockpiles through pulverisation of elephant tusks and ivories, while pangolin scales and other skin products were earlier incinerated on 16th October 2023. The option of outright destruction is aimed at showing the entire world that Nigeria is zero tolerant to illegal wildlife trade at any level and to serve as a deterrent to the illicit wildlife traffickers who use Nigeria as their transit route.
8. Further to the method of destruction being adopted today, Nigeria is a party to many international environmental agreements to reduce the impact of Climate change on man’s health and environment. The Country has domesticated most of these agreements through enactment and promulgation of environmental laws and regulations. Therefore, NESREA as an environmental Agency, has opted for pulverization method to dispose of the elephant tusk.
9. Today, a total of about 2.5 tonnes of ivories and elephant tusks specimen will be destroyed under the watch of the Federal Ministry of Environment and with the support of the Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI) African Fund, the US Embassy, United Nation Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Wild African Fund.
10. Before I end this address, let me express our unreserved appreciations to our partners who have made today’s exercise a success. Let me re-assure you that in line with the overarching vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR to sustainably deploy and utilise Nigeria resources for development, Nigeria remains fully committed in the fight against wildlife crime and will continue to honour all international obligations to protect our biodiversity. It is therefore with utmost sense of responsibility that I am witnessing and flagging off this very symbolic disposal exercise.
11. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria and thank you all for your attention.
