 Donkey Dealers Association DDA has condemned the proposed ban on donkey slaughtering in Nigeria. The association said it would amount to the loss of businesses and investments for about three million Nigerians. The national chairman of the association, Ifai Ndike, during an interview with journalists at the National Assembly at a one-day public hearing on eight bills for the agriculture sector, said that an outright ban on slaughtering of donkey was not the solution to the emphasized extinction of donkeys in Nigeria. The public hearing was organized by the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, chaired by Senator Bhima Enagi. Dike said an outright ban as proposed by the bill would create some powerful smuggling syndicates who were best in getting donkey derivatives for export to China thereby sabotaging the economy. This bill, if not properly organized, will affect us negatively. So we are trying to let the honorable House to know and understand that we are the real investors into this industry. It is an industry of its own. It is a livestock of its own. It can be tapped, it can be bred, it can be ranched, and it can create jobs. We are talking about the diversification of the economy. We are talking about the diversification. Oh, it has failed. Donkey is available to be used as an alternative. If cow, which we are slaughtering about 50,000 cows in a day does not go into extinction, how are we having the morbid fear that donkey is going to go into extinction? The only reason for that is that the government has failed to encourage the investors, the people that are doing this business. And let me tell you that we have more than two to three million people that are getting from this business. They started this business more than 150 years ago, and most of them are born into it. So we are trying to let the House Committee on Agriculture to understand our plight that they should make this law because the essence of them being there is to make law for we. They should make this law that is going to have a human face that will protect our business against smugglers. So if our government can do what can help us to generate this international economic money that is coming to Nigeria, we are talking about to a way where we can process these tournaments, do with the packaging, even the meat and the skin can be exported and generate money through the NSP. And the money will go directly to the CBN. And we are praying for the government to do what to grant this donkey the last session. Donkey and my brothers, give us grant by the Ministry of Agriculture, give us loan to start bringing this animal, help us to establish this animal farm in Nigeria. Automatically it's going to exchange, it's going to grow our GDP in times to come. Notified about fresh news updates.