Stories by Helen Oji
with agencies
The Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed has said that the federal government committed to conservation issues, assuring that her ministry will not relent its efforts to understand that the task is truly a collective responsibility.
She said, the role of government in the sector is mainly catalytic, adding that programmes in the Ministry constitute the framework for a dynamic, evolving process for co-operation among stakeholders.
She said this during a memorial lecture of Chief S. L. Edu, which was titled ‘Last Nigeria Vulture: The Consequences for Human Health and the Economy,’ that vultures play a very crucial role in maintaining a healthy environment and the wellbeing of humans, adding that they do not hunt live prey, but act as scavengers, feeding on the carcasses of dead animals.
She explained that the ecosystems are essential to human life, adding that survival as humans depends on sustainable ecosystems, which provide food, water and clean air.
“The acid in their stomachs is corrosive, facilitating the digestion of decomposing carcasses infected with diseases such as anthrax, cholera, botelinum toxin and rabies that would be lethal to other scavengers and people. Vultures are important indicators of poached activity as they are attracted to large carcasses such as those of poached elephants and rhinos; hence they are victims of poachers.” she said
Continuing, she: “I would like to appreciate the existing collaboration between Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) and my Ministry and emphasized our resolve intention to strengthen our collaboration as we forge ahead to pursue the conservation of our nation’s natural resources with the aim of improving the quality of human life both in the present and the future,” she explained.
