Inside life of Kano Zoo keepers
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More than 85 per cent of the zoo keepers here are doing the work not because of what they earn but because of their concern for the animals. Like me, for instance, I have been working in the garden for more than 30 years, but if I tell you my salary, you will laugh at me. However, because of the passion for the job, I am still here doing it.
“I enjoy mingling with animals and my job here is to feed them. Despite the risk involved, I still like the job and I am proud to be one of the people feeding the different species. It is a very dangerous job, but since Allah has destined that this is where we will earn our living from, we have no option than to do it.
“Our major challenge is that we operate manually. We are still learning on the job because we’ve not received any training to update our knowledge on how to handle the animals. If someone joins the job today, we are the ones that will train him because nobody will send him for any training on how to handle the animals. This is what we have been doing for many years.
“Had the management of the zoo been sending some of us for training, there would have been an advancement on the way and manner we handle the animals. For instance, the day a lion escaped from its cage some weeks back. If it were in countries where the government takes care of both the animals and their caregivers, it won’t take the management 30 minutes to track the lion and take it back to its cage. But because we don’t have any training on advanced ways of handling animals, it took us days before the lion went back to its cage voluntarily.”
This is the testimony of one of the zookeepers at the Kano Zoological Garden, who identified his name as Walwala Mai Sa’a (not real name). Mai Sa’a spoke to Daily Trust Saturday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Another keeper, who also craved anonymity, hinted Daily Trust Saturday that their major problem was lack of adequate working tools, noting that most of the workers, especially those working closely with the animals, were risking their lives.
He explained that “most of us feeding the animals are putting our lives in danger because dealing with animals like lion, hyena, tiger and the likes is not an easy task. We are risking our lives for the animals to survive.
“We do not earn a good salary not to talk of hazard allowance and when it comes to working tools, it is also zero.”
He recalled that since he joined the garden as a zoo keeper about 20 years ago, he has never attended any training within or outside Kano State, noting that “We learnt the tricks of the job from older colleagues. The risk associated with this job is enormous. I have escaped death several times. There was a day I was trying to clean the lion’s cage and provide it with food when suddenly the lion tried to jump into the section I was working.
“I was scared stiff because that was my first time of having such experience, but gradually I become familiar with such kind of situations. I later understood that whenever the lion was hungry, there is the tendency of experiencing such incidence. That was why when the lion escaped recently, we tried to lure it back with meat, but it resisted our plan.”
Also speaking to Daily Trust Saturday, Muhammad Inuwa (also not real name) said, though he does not deal with animals directly because his main job was sweeping the premises of the garden, he feels the zookeepers were endangering their lives.
He said, “I learnt a lot of lessons when the lion escaped recently. Everybody in the zoo was shocked and afraid of the consequences of the lion’s escape. Unfortunately, the incident has proven that most of the facilities and tools meant for handling the animals are obsolete.
“For instance, three tranquillizer injections were administered on the lion, but it did not sedate it. Again, experts were brought in from Abuja, who also administered the tranquiliser they came with, yet they could not capture the lion or sedate it.
“This is to tell you that most of the facilities here are not functional. Apart from having outdated facilities, there is also the issue of stealing of equipment meant for the garden by some bad elements among us. Another factor that is also affecting our job here is that most of our seniors do not want to leave the place even after they have retired from service.
“Most of the senior officers find ways of returning to the zoo as contract staff after they retire from service. This simply means that we (the junior workers) will never be promoted to the next ranks since there is no vacancy to fill, and this is a minus for the junior workers.”
Alhaji Mamman B (not real name) is another zoo keeper who has worked at the Kano Zoological Garden for over 15 years. He told our reporter that they deal with the animals manually as according to him, they do not have modern facilities and tools for handling the animals.
His concern is not about salary or working materials, but the unavailability of different species of animals. He noted that “the garden is virtually empty now because most of the animals that will attract visitors are not there. We have very few animals now in the garden. So, our concern is for the government to bring more species to the garden.”
He lamented that a few years back, animals such as giraffe, tiger, zebra, buffalo, hippopotamus and many others, which people, especially the youth are not familiar with, were available in the garden. But today, such animals were no longer there because most of them died and have not been replaced.
“Most visitors are disappointed when they come here because of none availability of a variety of animals. The government should therefore try and bring in new species to the garden so that people would have a worthwhile time when they visit the zoo.”
When contacted, the managing director of the zoo, Alhaji Sa’idu Gwadabe, said presently over 20 personnel of the zoo have been undergoing studies in various institutions on advanced zoo keeping and forestry which are the cardinal courses for zoo keeping.
“I noticed that we do not have specific safety staff in the garden. All the training done before were done for all the staff. I, therefore, advised that we should identify a few workers, maybe four or five on Grade Level 8 to be given special training on safety. When they come back they will train others. The programme is on course.
“Recently, some experts from the National Park came and trained our staff, especially those on the managerial level. In terms of salary, our workers are on a special salary scale which is better than that of other workers. So, we don’t have any problem as far as salary is concerned.
“On training, even this week, we have sent our veterinary doctor for training and we have also sent others to Ibadan for another seminar organized by the National Wildlife of Nigeria. So, we are doing all these to update our personnel,” he said.
Gwadabe added that in terms of equipment and tools, the garden has many safety tools, but however, the management has identified some modern tools which they require and has made a request to the government.
An early morning fire, which burnt the fifth and sixth floors of a shopping complex in Martins Street, Lagos Island on Tuesday last week, destroyed goods worth millions of naira.
Recounting their ordeal, the affected traders, who are largely Igbo businessmen, said they stocked their shops with goods ahead of Christmas and New Year sales.
Also, a yet to be identified policeman posted to help control traffic in the area when the fire started, lost his life as a section of the building crashed on him. He died before he got to the hospital as a result of the multiple injuries he sustained.
Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), men from the State Fire Service, as well as policemen, were on ground on Thursday when our correspondent visited the scene.
Our correspondent observed that government officials were helping to clear the rubbles at the scene of the incident, which was cordoned off. Traders whose shops were not affected were asked to stay away from the building for safety reasons.
A state government official, who did not want to be named, said they were waiting for officers from the State Property Development Authority to carry out integrity impact assessment on the building to satisfy if other floors were safe before shops would be allowed to reopen.
Pointing at the sixth floor, he said, “Part of that area collapsed, killing a policeman, that’s why we are not allowing anyone to go inside to sell. Anyone who wants to evacuate his goods is allowed, but he will be accompanied by a security official.’’ Chukwudi Agaguonye, 42, who has been selling footwear and cloths in the market for about 10 years, said he lost over N15million to the inferno.
“Everything I have worked for here for over 10 years is gone. I have several people depending on me, including four children and three workers I intend to settle next year. One of them has served me for five years,’’ he said.
Shade Bolaji, the secretary of the association of traders in the complex, whose office is located on the fifth floor, said she lost over N5m to the fire.
She said the latest incident was the third in the last three years.
“I still have the hope of recovering if the government would allow us to continue doing business here as soon as possible. I am sure I can get the capital from friends and relatives, or find someone as a guarantor to obtain a loan from the bank.
“Other traders and I got the information about 10pm, but by the time we arrived here, most of our goods had already perished. Looters were also busy carting away some of the goods,” she added.
According to an eyewitness, the fire started from one of the shops a few minutes to 7am, but it was so intense that it easily spread to other shops and raged for over six hours.
Some residents of the area who spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday said there had always been fire incidents in the area between November and December every year, except last year when it was armed robbers that invaded the building and carted away cash and goods.
Traders who operate at nearby shops advised the Lagos State Government to seal the building and set up an investigation team to unravel the recurring fire incidents, as well as put adequate security measures in place before reopening it.
It was also gathered that some buildings at Oke-Arin and Docemo areas were on fire, but it was put out through the efforts of Area Boys.
A resident of the area, Sunday Okon, said, “We just saw the plaza burning; we did not know what actually caused the fire. Area Boys tried to put out the fire but couldn’t because of its intensity. We called the Fire Service but they came around 9am,’’ he said.
Mrs Justina Edesanya, a shop owner whose shop was affected by the fire, said the shop was her only means of livelihood.
“Where do I start from? Who will come to my aid? I am the breadwinner of my family. Is this not enough to make someone jump into the lagoon? She asked.
Another shop owner, Ariyo Tosan, called on government to come to their aid, saying they lost all their investments to the inferno.
“A lot of us are single mothers and the responsibility of taking care of our children is on us,’’ she added.
Narrating her experience, Shade Tajudeen said, “I can’t remember when I received the call that the market was on fire, I started coming here immediately. In the previous occasions, we did everything the government instructed us to do. Some said the fire was caused by electrical spark. I had warned everyone to always turn off their electricity connections when there is a power outage.’’
Some people said the traders had not fully recovered from the previous incidents when Tuesday’s fire occured despite all efforts to prevent a reoccurrence.
One of the guards at the market said firefighters did not arrive on time. According to him, they came an hour after the first call was made to inform them of the incident.
“When they came, the water was not enough, I told them to send more water tankers here because the fire was more than we expected,’’ he added.
The director-general of the LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyitolu, said the major challenge faced by emergency responders was getting access to the scene of the incident.
“We have been able to localise and contain the two incidents,” he said, adding that some shop owners hid inflammable and hazardous items like generating sets and petrol in their shops.
In a statement, the agency wrote, “The situation presented peculiar difficulties to responders to access the source of the fire to effectively put it out on time.
“Despite obstacles of inaccessibility via roads, and other setbacks, as well as the fact that all the affected buildings were built together, the LASEMA response team, Lagos State Fire Service, UBA Fire Service and Federal Fire Service were on ground mustering and marshalling all the necessary equipment and manpower to battle the raging fire.
“So far, there are no casualties, and no injuries. Also, nobody is trapped in any of the buildings. Recovery operations are still ongoing with the Skylight fighter truck fully activated and deployed to aid swift recovery as dampening commences,” the statement signed by LASEMA spokesman, Nosa Okunbor added.