Bush meat, regarded as a special delicacy in most parts of Nigeria, has been banned by the Federal Government from the dining table following the outbreak of monkey pox. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced late May that no Nigerian is expected to sell or consume bush meat, henceforth. In the opinion of the ministry, the consumption of any bush animal could compound the outbreak of the disease. At least 20 Nigerians are said to have come down with the disease this year, with one life already lost.
This has far-reaching consequences for the economy of hunters and those who sell the meat. Yet, in the face of the parlous state of the economy, it is difficult to easily switch from one means of livelihood to another, and the government is making no attempt to make special provisions for those thus displaced.
Government has a duty not only to provide for the citizens, but to consider the socio-cultural milieu in taking decisions, when unenforceable policies are made, they are disregarded by a defiant people and the government is the more alienated from the citizenry. This would be the situation in this instance, and could have effect on implementation of more important policies, plans and laws.
It is expected that government would always work closely with the scientific community before coming up with policies requiring their input. In coming up with an advisory on consumption of bush meat, we expect that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture would have instituted wide range study to establish what animals transmit such diseases, how many are transmitted by direct, and those transmitted by indirect contact.
It does not help to take knee-jerk decisions all the time, especially when there is hysteria from other countries that are too eager to pin all negative developments on Africa. It is said that the disease was first discovered in the Republic of Congo and parts of West Africa, but did not attract much attention until recently when some people in the United States of America and Canada came down with it. Unfortunately, as is almost always the case, we were caught napping again. It would not be a surprise if vaccines are developed again and shipped to be tested and used in Africa first.
The Federal Government should wake up and take the lead in studying and warding off such diseases from our continent. We need to know more about the origin, symptoms and treatment of the disease. Rather than impose a blanket ban on all bush meat, government has a duty to take decisions informed by scientific knowledge of what animals should be avoided and for how long. Had this been done, the instruction would have been more convincing and believable.
We call on the Federal Government, in the meantime, to work closely with the state and local authorities to arrest the disease. Every case that presents similar symptoms should be promptly isolated and reported for study and treatment. Hunters and the rural people should be enlightened on how to properly handle animals being processed for consumption.
Zoonotic diseases are not strange, but the Nigerian people know little about them and are thus falling victims regularly. Even Lassa fever that has been with us since 1969 remains potent till date because of the lazy approach to handling the control by the various tiers of government. It is time to arrest it. Nigeria has enough men of knowledge who could get things done if enough funds are deployed for research. This is a more important approach than merely imposing an impotent ban on sale and consumption of things that have little or no bearing with the disease.