The Problem
Lagos state which is Nigeria economic nerve centre has been at the forefront of most violation of CITES convention, with its airport and seaport accused of being the origin in the transportation of undocumented wildlife. According to Martin and Vigne in the year 2012 Lagos ivory and wildlife market is the biggest in Africa. And as Ivory trade has been banned since 2011, the law is not fully enforced for example an air shipment landed as “complete wig” of synthetic textile materials leaving Lagos Nigeria. Vienna Laos was intercepted by Singapore customs in Singapore in December 12th 2015. It contained 256 pieces of raw Elephant tusks weighing 505kg and pangolin scales weighing about 324kg and was worth estimated 1.3 million, US dollars. There is need for more public awareness on this issue as most Nigerian do not know that many of the animals species hunted or eaten are legally protected and in danger of extinction. A change of attitude to nature and the trade in endangered species like the pangolin is needed. Conservation education is one of the tools which could be used to create awareness and arouse the interest of the public leading to change in their behaviour and attitude and also promote public participation in conservation of their indigenous biodiversity (Howell, 2009). One aspect of conservation education that is often neglected in Nigeria is that of the school children. According to Richard Louv (2015), in his popular book, “saving our children from nature deficit disorder said recent studies have shown that children who are connected with nature will grow up to love and cherish nature, thereby helping to shape the future as they become good stewards of the environment. School are in a strategic position where children can learn about the importance of wildlife conservation. This study therefore wishes to address the illegal trade in the African pangolin in Lagos Nigeria through conservation education in primary schools. .
