As part of activities to mark this year’s World Environment Day, WED, Messrs Verte Initiative will on Friday, host a special talk-shop and gala event at the Terra Kulture in Victoria Island.

The three-month NGO is partnering with the Lagos State ministry of Environment, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, NCF and the Lagos State branch of the Nigeria Environmental Society to package the one-day event.

Disclosing this during an interactive session with Environment writers, the Chief Operating Officer of the NGO, Mr Ekong Nyong explained that the Director-General of the Forestry Institute, Ibadan, Prof Solomon Badejo will lead the team of discussants at the event.

Mr Nyong who was accompanied at the media parley by two of his executive directors – Messrs Kunle Johnson and Ken Emina – posited that as “an upscale networking event, the gala will provide a platform for professionals in the environment, Corporate Nigeria, civil society, government, academia and other stakeholders to network and rub minds on the subject of this year’s discourse: Forests: Nature at your service; bearing in mind that the theme was carefully crafted to give prominence to and in support of 2011 as the International Year of the Forest”.

Mr Nyong who said his organisation is anchored on a tripod – people, enterprise and environment- said Verte Initiative will also use the gala to reward winners of its essay competition which was essentially meant to create awareness on the need to build a sustainable greener Nigeria.

He promised to use the NGO to promote the development of green enterprise in Nigeria and Africa as a continent. “We want to educate companies to take actions that would leave the environment better. Such actions include recycling papers and greening their offices,” he said.