Interim management committee for national children’s park and zoo constituted.

[FMINigeria]

                        President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the constitution of an Interim Management Committee for the National Children's Park and Zoo, Abuja.

Inaugurating the Committee on behalf of President Jonathan at State House Wednesday, 20 March, 2013, the Chief of Staff to the President, Mike A. Oghiadome said the park and zoo was established in 2001 with contributions of animals from several African countries, attracting an average of 113,000 individual visitors and 2,000 educational institutions annually.

Oghiadome said President Jonathan was concerned with the current state of the park and decided to set up an interim management committee with the following terms of reference:

Evaluate current state of the facility;

Supervise the ongoing management of the facility;

Make apt recommendations about how the facility should be rehabilitated       or restocked;

Evaluate options for the future sustenance of the facility and define a role for Government; and

Advise on any other issue relevant to the achievement of the terms of reference.

 The Chief of Staff said the committee has six months to complete its work. Responding, the Chairman of the IMC and Minister of Culture and Tourism, Edem Duke, said the Committee will work hard to restore the park and enable residents of the Federal Capital City and environs make it a destination of choice for relaxation and education.

He said this was an opportunity to highlight UNESCO's classification of Nigeria as one of the 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world, and pledged to deliver on the terms of reference.

Via: Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) Nigeria