World Environment Day: HEDA advocates role for traditional institutions

• As HOMEF seeks state of emergency

In commemoration of World Environmental Day, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has called on Federal Government for a constitutional amendment to create roles and resources for traditional institutions in protecting forests, combating desertification, and preventing droughts.

This demand aligns with the theme of the 2024 World Environment Day: “Land restoration, desertification, and preventing drought.”

HEDA emphasised that addressing the challenges required harnessing the influence and authority of traditional institutions.

The organisation stated that traditional rulers were integral to Nigeria’s administrative structure until the 1966 coup and the subsequent unitary constitution.

The leaders, the body said, had since clamoured for greater administrative roles and powers.

Recognising their potential contributions, HEDA Executive Secretary, Sulaimon Arigbabu, stated: “It is high time we heed their call, recognising the vital contributions they can make in addressing insecurity, land degradation, and resource abuse. This is a critical step in deepening our democracy.”

HEDA urged government to seize the opportunity presented by the ongoing constitutional amendment process to formally bring traditional rulers into the fold of environmental protection.

“By empowering them to safeguard our forests, we can leverage their grassroots influence and cultural authority to drive sustainable practices and mitigate the devastating effects of deforestation and desertification,” Arigbabu added.

The organisation further called for collective efforts to protect our environment and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come.

By integrating traditional institutions into environmental governance, HEDA believed Nigeria could adopt more pragmatic and fit-for-purpose approaches to environmental protection. This integration would not only address current environmental challenges, but also strengthen the overall governance structure in the country.

ANOTHER group, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), in a statement, called on Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on environment.

The statement, signed by the Executive Director, HOMEF, Nnimmo Bassey, noted the day was dedicated to communities, whose lands and livelihoods had been lost to pollution.

Bassey said steps must be taken to halt deforestation, biodiversity erosion and land degradation, adding that without serious climate action, humanity would remain on a downward spiral to multiple crises already plaguing the world.

“As we celebrate World Environment Day, we remind ourselves that our environment has been plagued with destructive activities, especially through resource extraction and poor land-use changes.”

“Nigeria needs an emergency environmental restoration plan across the board as the only way to build resilience and ensure a safe future.

“This is our duty to ourselves and to future generations and immediate steps should be taken by the Nigerian government to ensure the proper clean-up of polluted lands, restoration of same and payment of compensation for damage suffered,” Bassey said.