As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to commemorate year 2021 “World Environment Day”, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of the State of Osun has called on residents of Osun and Nigerians to take ownership of their environments.
He urged citizens to wake up to the realities of the implications of their actions in relation to their interaction with the environment.
On the part of the government, Oyetola disclosed that his administration had commenced proactive steps aimed at addressing unlawful actions of ignorant citizens of the State and their collaborators in order to save the ecosystem and the environment.
Oyetola, speaking on Saturday at the national commemoration event held in Osogbo, also disclosed that his administration was currently working hard to check degradation issues arising from ongoing mining activities in the state.
Recall that the Federal Government of Nigeria had selected the State of Osun as the nation’s destination for the celebration of the year’s World Environment Day. It was the first time the event was celebrated outside of the Federal Capital Territory and in collaboration with a state government.
“Our government frowns upon the affront of people who are in the habit of encroaching on our forest reserves by felling trees, setting fires on the forest for farming purposes as well as those engaging in indiscriminate waste disposal and pollution of the environment. The government is poised to invoke the full weight of the law against anyone caught in these unpatriotic acts.
“The Government of the State of Osun has commenced planting of trees to reverse the status of our degraded forests while projects on watershed protection is also receiving due consideration.
“The waste management effort of the State Government is currently under review, while flood and erosion control works are ongoing in various parts of the state.
“We are doing all this as a state conscious of the fact that our wealth and wellbeing are buried in the belly of our environment and that we need to take good care of the goose that lays the golden eggs”, Oyetola said.
Earlier, the Minister of Environment, Dr Mohammed Mahmud Abubakar, lauded the Oyetola-led government of the State of Osun for its pace-setting efforts in ecosystem restoration.
Abubakar added that the maintenance of ecosystem health was a necessity for the achievement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
In his welcome address, the Commissioner of Environment and Sanitation in the State of Osun, Mr Sola Oladepo, who described the administration of Governor Oyetola as environment-friendly, appealed to citizens to pay close attention to their relationship with the environment.
“What we do to our environment always have direct consequences on us. The environment is our common heritage, we cannot afford to toy with it in our own interest and for generations to come”, Oladepo said.
