2020 World Environment Day: AKSG advicates Biodiversity Conservation

As the World marked the year 2020 Environment Day, Akwa Ibom State government and major Environment Stakeholders have called for proactive steps to avoid ultrasion of plants and animals habitats against negative consequences.

The event took place at Watbridge Hotel in Uyo last weekend.

Speaking, the Head of Civil Service of Akwa Ibom State, Elder Effiong Essien said that the occasion offered ample opportunity for Stakeholders to reflect on how the immediate environment is handled by man noting that human lives is directly related to the environment.

He streesed the need for Akwa Ibom people to protect, preserved and assure environmental sustainability to make the State a better place to live in.

Elder Essien who attributed the Coronavirus pandemic to the negligence of Biodiversity through mixed and ultrasion of habitats, said that Covid 19 is caused by zoonosis, thereby urging everyone to take conservation of environment serious.

In his welcome address, the Commissioner for Environment and Petroleum Resources in the state, Dr. Ekong Sampson, described the theme for this year’s version of the celebration, Biodiversity, as “a call for action to combat the accelerating rate of species loss and degradation of nature.

“It is a call for urgent action to protect biodiversity. Biodiversity describes the variety of life on earth. It encompasses the million species on the planet from plants and animals to fungi and bacteria, the ecosystems that house them, and the genetic diversity among them.”

Dr. Sampson noted that the world is living in difficult times with mounting environmental and health concerns such as brought by the novel COVID-19, while reminding that earlier at the outbreak of the pandemic, he had alerted Nigerians that “a man-eater was prowling next door. Today, the man-eater is not just next door, it is right here in our midst.

“Indeed, some are saying that the world is now paying a huge price for the neglect of biodiversity and medical research while exploring trajectories in armaments, information technology and space exploration.

“Not a few are saying that perhaps if the world had committed as much attention to medicine and environment, humanity would not have been confronted with this enormity of embarrassment from COVID-19. Yet, another reminder, nearer home is that there still exist other diseases such as Lassa fever and malaria. We need to keep our environment clean to fight these diseases.”

He pointed out that in Akwa Ibom State, biodiversity is receding mainly due to human factors, such as infrastructural development, and rapid growth in urbanization, adding that over the years his ministry, through the Department of Climate Change and Awareness, has been at the fore front of promoting environmental best practices through consistent sensitization, advocacy and policy recommendations.

“Akwa Ibom State is blessed to have an environment conscious Governor, His Excellency Mr. Udom Emmanuel, who is assiduously tackling flood and gully erosion sites in the State. The ongoing gully erosion projects at Etim Usanga, as well as at Anua, and the continuous de-silting of water channels is aimed at ensuring a clean and safe environment for the populace and also to promote the health of the earth, which is the mantra of the Ministry of Environment and Petroleum Resources. I wish to intimate you that the extensive flood control work on Ibrahim Babangida Avenue, Uyo is expected to commence in earnest not long from now,” Ekong Sampson said.

The Hon. Commissioner posited that while comparing notes on the environment, it is imperative for oil and gas companies with operational bases in Akwa Ibom State to respect the rights of the state in the oil and gas industry, while sounding an appeal to the people of the state, especially the oil producing communities, to work in synergy with the Akwa Ibom State Government, as, according to him, the state government is fully committed to addressing all concerns in the oil and gas sector.

While sounding appreciation to all attendees for donning their face masks meant to aid in curbing the spread of the prevalent pandemic, the erstwhile state assemblyman urged all participants to take advantage of the day’s event and engage in the discussion and contribute meaningfully in order to come up with realistic ways of combating biodiversity loss and avert outbreak of diseases.

Professor Kingsley Akpabio, a resource person at the event, in his paper presentation titled: Biodiversity, The Environment and The Pandemic, said that biodiversity means the sum total of all living things existing on earth and  further explained that the day’s theme addresses varieties of life on earth – genes, species, other living things, etc.

Akpabio, who is the Dean of Post-graduate School, Uniuyo, maintained that biodiversity is needed by man for the provision of various services, adding that everything that man eats is a product of biodiversity.

He then cautioned that the new corona virus, which has come to add to earlier viruses that have been plaguing the world population, has come to stay, it being part of the biodiversity.

In his vote of thanks, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Petroleum Resources in the state, Mr. Nsudoh Nsudoh, while thanking the Hon. Commissioner for the drive and personal commitment for the day’s event to be a reality, restated that for the occasion to be impactful man cannot continue to live the way he used to.

He therefore called on participants to obtain the resource materials, study them and apply them in their day-to-day lives.

The august event was graced by the Hon. Commissioner for Environment and Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ekong Sampson; Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr. Nsudoh Nsudoh; Dir. Inst. for Health and Safety, Prof. Ime Udotong; Dean Post-Graduate School, Uniuyo, Prof. Kingsley Akpabio; President Environmental Management Asso. of Nigeria, Prof. Comfort Ekpo; Akwa Ibom State Coord. of NEWMAP, Dr. Ubong Harrison, and a host of Directors in the ministry, top civil servants and other prominent personalities from the academia and allied professions.