Cattle rearing is a big business in Akwa Ibom State. In Uyo, the state capital, it portends danger to the teeming populace, states Dr. Edem Eniang, a natural conservation expert. What is the government doing to check the menace posed by the business? A native of Itu local government area, Akwa Ibom State, Edem as an Associate Professor, Department of Forestry and Natural Environmental Management, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Uyo, Uyo, looks at the menace and other related issues and proffers solutions to such. In this interview, Straightnews publishes excerpts of his views.
Do You Have Passion for Wildlife?
Yes, I have because of my background. I grew up in a village that was in the midst of the continuous rain forest of West Africa (Guinean Forest of West Africa) – Itu Wetlands. As a child, Itu was a beautiful community with a rich and pristine forest. My mother used to take me to the swamp forest. In the farm, I learnt how to catch insects for food, catch rhinoceros and eat beetles. I saw red-capped mangabey, sclater monkeys and even albino monkeys, etc. Over time, I became excited about going to the forest to mimic mona monkeys making the sound umme, umme, umme! My mother taught me about animals, conservation, names of animals, how to catch animals, animal trails, animal behaviours, plant names and types, etc. I usually attribute my success in nature conservation to her.
My exposure during those early days made me to understand the ecology of our ecosystem, species and value. I hunted to support our family and I was so good in catching animals. I caught the biggest python in my community. Today, I am a conservationist. I understand the plight of the local people concerning our natural resources. I understand the plight of endangered species, and the plight of the forest and I am passionate about conserving. That was what I did in the era of darkness when Nigeria did not even know about conservation.
Conservation is a new science as far as West Africa is concerned. We have been doing our own conservation in a different way from the global perspective that we are practicing today. So this is the reason I am totally against what is happening to the people who have lost access to their resources in terms of encroachment of designated protected areas, in terms of an expanding population and the urbanization monster that has destroyed the entire rain forest ecosystem of Akwa Ibom and many other states.
I would suggest that there are certain things that could be done to save our environment holistically. These things include: designation of protected areas, community management, population control, enforcement of regulations where Nigeria is signatory to. For example, we have the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) where Nigeria is a confirmed signatory to and yet we have here a situation where government has not been applying what the convention stipulates. This is what influences my decision to preach the gospel of conservation, to reach out to the people of Akwa Ibom State, the teeming youths and children by creating a Conservation Education Centre in Uyo, so much so that at the end of the day we do not kill our future in the soup pots. Such steps will make the ecology of this system to function because every natural life cycle involves every organic species.
What Is Your Opinion On The Influx Of Northern Herdsmen In Akwa Ibom State?
The “Abokis” have come to stay in Akwa Ibom State because of one cultural inadequacy in our lives – the culture of not considering the depth of actions we embark upon. We have adopted a culture of boasting about how many cattle we have slaughtered during our loved ones burial. Slaughtering 10 cows has a damaging impact on our environment. If the government of the day knows the impact of these actions, it will ban the sale of cattle in Akwa Ibom State.
There are more cattle on the land space of Akwa Ibom state than in Kaduna State today. Of course you won’t see any cattle on the highways of Kaduna State but in Uyo. If you go to Itu Local Government this evening, you will see troops of cattle rearers moving with huge number of cattle into Uyo town. There is no street within Uyo that you won’t see cattle moving, they have no restraint and they are not just moving, they are destroying the environment.
They are here because Uyo is one of the biggest cattle consumption centres, so cattle rearers ship their cattle down from the North where they don’t have any market. A cow in the North is not up to N50,000 but when they come here, they sell that same cow for N200,000. So as it is why won’t they come to Uyo in the South?
So the consequences of it is that we don’t even have control of what they are doing, they eat our farm produce, our grasses and destroy our environment.
What Are the Effects of Cattle Dung on Human Health?
When cattle drop their dung on the road, they bring diseases to us, which is why alien diseases that were not very common here are now prevalent, for example, tetanus. The case of tetanus is everywhere in Uyo. Some cases in our hospitals are caused by cattle dung.
In cow dung, tetanus grows. I foresee more problems with these cattle because when they move around our forest, whatever is left of it is levelled by these incessant cattle rearing activities. So, whatever we do as a people, whoever is in charge of the environment in the State must all wake up to our responsibilities. Protecting our environment is not all about planting of flowers and alien trees that are of no use to our ecosystem. Most of our roads are already having problems. For example, the trees on the centre of the median of Idoro Road, Idoro, in 15 years from now, will begin to pose enormous traffic safety issues. Those are certainly not the trees the government should have planted on that median; so, we are absolutely destroying the fabric of our ecosystem by bringing in things that ought not to be here. Same with cattle: if cattle were to be consumed here, let the rearers grow them in their own part of the country, where their tradition condones and supports that and where also the eco-system and the prevalent landscape is genial for cattle rearing.
When cattle rearers bring them in trailers to the market, they should drive into the market and stay at a spot and sell their cattle and not be incessantly moving the cattle around. Our local people should start growing grass for cattle and sell it to them in that cattle market. Unfortunately that is not the case here. Our local chiefs and villagers allow the cattle people to squat and there is gradually a great influx of these cattle rearers because our market is so rich, so they don’t stay back.
Take Itu for instance, the vegetation there has been absolutely levelled. Where the forest was once rich and pristine but as of now it has become another Sokoto – barren and stripped of green flora. I am betting you we are in a real mess and when that level of reckless consumption of these bio- resources continues unabated, we are surely destroying the safety net of the natural environment. This destruction is possible because the ecosystem works in a cycle.
Interview was conducted By Victoria Orok
