Piqued at the state of diverse ecological devastation on the environment, Health of the Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has called for the declaration of a state of emergency in the environment sector.
The HOMEF Director highlighted that desertification, deforestation, extreme water and air pollution, deadly floods, coastal and gully erosion, insecure farms, and diverse ecological devastations pose a threat to the tenuous fabrics holding the nation and people together.
Hence, the clamour for the declaration of a state of emergency in the environment sector to tackle the root causes of conflicts, climate chaos, and socio-economic inequalities, among others.
Bassey, who made the call while speaking at the 2nd Nigeria Socio-Ecological Alternatives Convergence (NSAC) held on Tuesday in Abuja, stated that the struggle for the change we need cannot be a sprint because there is a need for a comprehensive overhaul of a system entrenched by indifference and lack of accountability.
He said, “The socio-ecological alternatives we propagate must overturn the current predatory system of destructive extraction and shredded ecological safety nets. Our charter has to construct a Nigeria that is decolonial and post-extractivist.”
The HOMEF Director noted that, according to the NSAC Charter, their vision “is to have Nigeria where ecological integrity, social justice, and economic wellbeing coexist. We must birth a Nigeria where the rights of nature are respected, where communities have control over their resources and enjoy resource democracy, and where everyone has access to clean air, water, and a healthy environment.”
He called on everyone to protect communities and territories with natural or cultural diversity against activities that cause serious environmental impacts, such as oil and gas extraction, open-cast mining, and other mega-projects.
Also in his remarks, the Ogeloyinbo of Ayetoro Community in Ondo State, Oba Oluwanbe Ojagbohunmi, raised concern that 80 per cent of houses in the community have been washed off as a result of sea rise, as the 45 streets that the community used to have have been reduced to 10 streets.
The Oba stated, “Between 1995 and 2000, we noticed that the ocean was coming nearer to the community whenever it was raining. We called experts to do a soil test analysis of our environment and general ecology. When the report came out in the year 2000, we were told that disaster was coming. They attributed it to global warming and oil exploration. Because there are four oil companies taking oil on the shores of Ayetoro community.”
He disclosed that they had alerted the State Government about their predicament, and they were informed that the solution to their problem was embankment and land reclamation, but the state does not have the resources to address it.
“That was why we have turned to the Federal Government to come to our aid. We have been writing letters, but we are yet to receive any feedback,” the Oba lamented.
A climate change specialist, Emmanuel Oladipo, in a paper presentation, highlighted some of the challenges in tackling the impact of climate change to include insufficient data, redundancy in roles and responsibilities, duplication of initiatives, and similar broad goals, among others.
To manage climate change and socio-ecological challenges in the country, Oladipo called for the need to eliminate redundancies, streamline efforts, and create a more integrated and efficient national environmental governance system.
He also advocated for enhancing policy coherence and institutional synergy by aligning the goals, principles, and strategic directions of various sectoral policies with the overarching objectives of a National Policy on Environment.
He called for an improvement in effectiveness and reduction of redundancy, and to optimise resource utilisation by identifying and eliminating duplicated efforts across different MDAs.
