The Lagos State Government on Saturday hinted of plans to restore and beautify the setback along the Abraham Adesanya Estate, Ajah all the way to Sangotedo as it joined the rest of the world to mark the World Environment Day.
The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tunji Bello, disclosed this in a speech read on behalf of the Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the unveiling of a restored and regenerated garden as part of the 2021 celebrations.
Bello added that the celebration provides an avenue for Nigeria to join the rest of the world in a call to action in recognising the need to massively accelerate global restoration of degraded ecosystems, fight the climate heating crisis, enhance food security and protect biodiversity.
He added that an Ecosystem is a place where plants, animals and other organisms in conjunction with the landscape around them, come together to form the webs of life
Apart from providing planet-wide benefits like climate protection and biodiversity conservation, he noted that ecosystem are also crucial to human societies, providing people with water, food, infrastructure materials and host of other essentials.
He said: “You will agree with me that Lagos State has witnessed tremendous social and economic development but we had also brought adverse negative impacts on the environment. We have chopped down forest, plowed the grasslands, slaughtered wildlife, filled in wetlands and polluted air and water.”
Sanwo-Olu explained that the causes of degradation are many and varied and can have impact at different scales which however, have pushed the ecosystems to the breaking point.
He called for joint effort towards restoration of Ecosystem by growing more diverse crops, and trees to rebuild carbon stores in soils and make them more fertile to feed the growing population.
He said: “Human can help rebound shrub-lands and grasslands by clearing woody vegetation and re-seeding native grasses, lost plants and animals can be re-introduced and protected.”
He said further that ecosystem also helps to regulate disease and reduce the risk of natural disasters, adding that restoration can help achieve all of the State’s sustainable development goals.
He reiterated that in ensuring a safe, resilient and sustainable Lagos, there is urgent need to respond to the call for action that will last a decade in restoring the Ecosystem and combat the unsustainable consumption of natural resources.
Sanwo-Olu said: “This forum is a clarion call to all and sundry to join the State Government in the fight against environmental degradation and pollution.
“Inasmuch as it would be difficult for Lagos to close her borders to the economic migrants, it is therefore important that all hands are on deck to ensure the sustainable use of our natural resources.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Drainage and Water Resources, Engr. Joe Igbokwe, said safeguarding the environment is a collective responsibility of both the citizens and the government.
Igbokwe encouraged everyone as stakeholders in the environment to appreciate the importance and beauty of nature and to take forward the call to protect it always.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary Office of Environmental Services, Ronke Odeneye, enjoined the people of Lagos to support government’s efforts by ensuring the regular cleaning of their environment for healthy living.
Odeneye urged the residents to desist from the act of indiscriminate dumping of refuse in the drainages, roads and other unauthorised places.
In their goodwill messages, the founder of Lekki Urban Forest and Animal Shelter Initiative, Desmond Majekodunmi, applauded the efforts of the Lagos State Government in its restoration of the Abraham Adesanya setback.
His view was echoed by Temitope Okunnu of Foundation For A Better Environment, who charged everyone to adopt tree planting as a way of life
Highlights of the event was the Green Awards were individuals, groups and businesses whose actions have improved environmental resilience in Lagos were recognised, after which the representative of the Governor unveiled the regenerated garden.