HOW ENVIRONMENT MINISTER, MALLAM BALARABE ABASS LAWAL IS STIFLING BUSINESS GROWTH AND UNDERMINING PRESIDENT TINUBU'S ECONOMIC AGENDA AND EASE OF DOING BUSINESS POLICY:
As Nigeria steadily pushes forward under the economic reform and revitalization drive of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, certain members of his cabinet appear to be working at cross purposes with his Renewed Hope Agenda. Among them, the Honourable Minister of Enviroment, Mallam Balarabe Abass Lawal, stands out for his troubling and consistent anti-business posture that is denying Nigeria the benefits of a thriving multi-billion Dollar global trade - The Export of Live Reptiles.
Nigeria, a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) since 1974, has every legal right to participate in this regulated global market. Reptile species approved for export under CITES, particularly those listed in Appendix III globally and Appendix II domestically, are non endangered and sourced from the wild. These exports are not only legal, but potentially lucrative, promising foreign exchange earnings, job creation and sustainable livelihood for rural communities across the country.
However, instead of facilitating access to this legitimate trade, Mallam Balarabe Abass Lawal has chosen to impose a suffocating bureaucratic blockade. Exporters who have followed all due process, paid required fees and received approvals for CITES PERMITS have waited in vain for the actual issuance of the document by the Honourable Minister. This deliberate inaction, reportedly accompanied by boasts of immunity, amounts to brazen sabotage.
Neighbouring countries such as Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, etc., are fully capitalizing on this opportunity, supporting their exporters with ease of access to CITES Permits and growing their economies accordingly. Meanwhile, Nigeria is being left behind - not because of lack of potential, but BECAUSE OF ONE MAN'S APPARENT DISREGARD FOR NATIONAL POLICY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH.
This troubling trend does not stop with Reptiles. Wood exporters are also reportedly victims of the Minister's iron-fisted grip, suffering the same fate of stalled permits, halted shipments dashed hopes. These acts are not just economically stifling - they are a direct contradiction of EXECUTIVE ORDER 001 ON EASE OF DOING BUSINESS, a flagship directive of the Tinubu Administration, aimed at removing red tape and improving Nigeria's business ecosystem.
The Honourable Minister's actions are not just bureaucratic delays - they represent a gross abuse of office that undermines Nigeria's credibility, frustrates investors, kills jobs and drains potential foreign exchange earnings. His posture suggests a fundamental disconnect from the core economic agenda of the Tinubu Administration, which emphasizes economic diversification, export promotion, job creation and sustainable environmental practices.
Nigeria cannot afford Ministers like Mallam Balarabe Abass Lawal who deliberately and brazenly erect roadblocks instead of bridges in the pathway to national prosperity. The Ministry of Environment, far from being a silo of arbitrary decisions, should be actively involved in policy execution that supports growth and development.
We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to intervene urgently and reign in the Honourable Minister of Environment. The President must demonstrate that his Renewed Hope Agenda is not a mere slogan, but a directive that every cabinet member must align with and implement in good faith.
For a country eager to earn foreign exchange, fight unemployment and assert its place in global trade, the time to act is now. Mallam Balarabe Abass Lawal must either begin issuing the long-approved CITES and Wood Export PERMITS or be shown the DOOR; FOR THE SAKE OF NIGERIA'S ECONOMY AND CREDIBILITY.
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