As the world marks the 2022 World Environment Day, an environmentalist, Ambrose Inusa Sule calls for preventive actions and precautionary measures to minimize the catalogue of environmental problems threatening the supportive ecosystems and indeed, human existence on earth mostly as a result uncontrolled exploitation of national resources, neglect for abatement measures in industrial process and poorly managed environment.
According to him, industrialization no doubt has given birth to environmental problems which include deforestation, soil erosion, climate change, ozone layer depletion, industrial pollution among many other issues with environmental problems in Nigeria arising from excessive exploitation of its natural resources without abatement measures, besides global environmental issues that are also serious concern to the country.
The Environmental expert who also is the Publisher -in-Chief of the popular Abuja Environment Reporters Magazine, said, the 2022 world environment day theme; ‘Only One Earth’ is a day to reflect on the global environmental deteriorating conditions and to raise people’s awareness about the danger we all face should we fail to act positively to reverse the situation.
Sule opined that there is a need to live sustainably in harmony with nature by transformative changes in our policies and choices towards cleaner and greener lifestyles which every stakeholder must strive to achieve.
He further stated that the purpose of the awareness-raising event is to give human face to environmental issue; empower people to become active agents of sustainable and adequate development, promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to charging attitudes towards environment issues; and advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and people to enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.
Inusa, recalled that to address some of these environmental matters in Nigeria, several changes culminated in the creation of the federal ministry of environment in 1999 to ensure that environmental matters are adequately mainstreamed into all developmental activities in recognition that government efforts to eradicate poverty and the improvement of the standard of the people cannot be attained under a degraded environment.
Adding that, the protections of the environment are paramount to the achievement of the objectives of the laudable, socio-economic reforms of the federal government which includes regional and global initiatives.
“It is a challenge to all of us to pause and reflect on the state of the environment, re-examine our activities in relation to the myriad of ever emerging new phenomena of environmental problems threatening our very existence.
As we wish ourselves a very happy environment day, may we remind ourselves that it is our collective duty to ensure a better and cleaner environment. The environment is our heritage and we are duty bound to preserve it”, Ambrose stressed.
The World Environment Day (WED) is one of the most important events on the international environmental calendar. It is celebrated around the world on June 5 of each year.