By Jude Njoku

Ogun State last week blazed the trail in the fight to mitigate the devastating impacts of climate change with the flagging off of its “going green’ advocacy campaign in Abeokuta, the state capital.

“Going green” involves pursuing knowledge and practices that can lead to more environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible decisions and lifestyles, which will ultimately help to protect the environment and sustain its natural resources for current and future generations

A two-day international conference and workshop tagged UPLIFTing the Environment, Ogun Goes Green, put together by the State’s First Lady, Mrs Olufunso Amosun was used to cement the initiative. The conference  which brought together over 700 representatives of state and national authorities,  wives of state governors, diplomats, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, academics and experts from Europe, was declared open by the State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

He bemoaned the nonchalant attitude to the environment and its attendant hazards on man. His  words:”Over time, as humans attempt to satisfy their basic needs; as corporations expand their business frontiers; as Governments provide basic infrastructures, we are all guilty of our indifference and nonchalant attitude to the environment as our host.

“In our collective attempt to provide housing for our shelter; build roads; lay pipes for water and gas; and rail lines, construct sea and airports for ease of transport of goods and services, we invented automobiles; explore crude oil, limestone and other natural resources; we cut down trees and destroy forests; we build dams and disrupt water ways; our industries and automobiles emit smoke and multiply the carbon percentage in the atmosphere.

A road ravaged by flood

“In all these, we believe we have been able to capture or defeat nature. Of course, we have built more houses and provided more shelter; we have built more roads, pipe and rail lines, sea and airports; and designed more beautiful models of automobiles to transport goods and services faster than before. But, the important question we should ask ourselves is, at what price have we achieved all these?

“As humans, we did not pay for all these developments. But, we forced our host, the environment to pay, by degrading its natural elements. Now, dangerous occurrences across  the world like erosion, earthquakes, cyclones, typhoons, landslides, tsunamis, are all symptoms of the fact that the environmental resources that have sustained our existence are fast declining.

“As a result, the climate is changing; the water level of our oceans is fast rising as a result of melting glacier at the Polar Regions; the sun is now harsher on the exposed earth surface; and we are having more storms. Consequently, all of us are in harm’s way.  Apart from the psychological effects the environmental disasters have on the victims, the cost of bringing relief to the victims is also fast becoming a burden on Government”.

Amosun who lauded Messrs Knowledge Economic Network,KEN and International Center for Promotion of Enterprises for partnering with his wife’s Foundation to host the workshop,  stressed the need for Public-Private Partnerships in the provision of  the important policy instrument which will facilitate effective concern for environmental challenges.

The initiator of the “Going Green” project and wife of the Governor, Mrs Olufunso Amosun explained that going green means adopting  some basic principles in our daily life. She listed these principles to include reduction of pollution, conservation of resources, energy conservation, reduction of waste production, protection of the earth’s ecological balance and recycling what you can.

The Ogun State First Lady who is using her Uplift Development Foundation  to champion the “Ogun Goes Green” initiative, explained why the awareness campaign became imperative.

“We have decided to take the bull by the horn by creating awareness for a green agenda which ultimately will impact on the environmental consciousness of people in the state and consequently, the nation at large. Awareness and enlightenment are key, right from the grassroots as all hands need to be on deck to reverse the current systematic degradation,” she said.

Mrs Amosu noted that youths would play a pivotal role in the success of the campaign. “I have come up with an initiative targeted at the youth. This initiative is called GEFTY, Green Empowerment for the Youth. It is obvious that it has become imperative to key into a demography graced with strength, vigour and passion to drive the green agenda. GEFTY is definitely a way forwards. Youths are vibrant, adaptable, mobile and upward looking; they are the destined leaders of tomorrow; they are a fundamental and quintessential force to tap into and reckon with,” she explained.

The First Lady listed some methodologies that would be adopted by GEFTY to create the needed awareness. They include comprehensive green education in all primary and secondary schools in Ogun state; raising awareness in government, industry and academia on the need for green revolution using a series of green initiatives and raising funds and getting sponsorship from national and international sources.

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on the Environment, Mrs Uche Ekwunife stressed the need for the legislature to respond to the threat of climate change by updating policies in all spheres of life to reflect environmental improvement and introducing new bills, “knowing that failure to do so, will negatively affect our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science but none can avoid the devastating impact of pollution, powerful storms, drought and desert encroachment which are all consequences of the negative environmental impact”.

Ekwunife advised that tree planting should not be left for the government alone. She called on  all Nigerians to embrace the tree planting campaign.

Foremost environmentalist and chairman of the Fight against Desert Encroachment FADE, Chief Newton Jibunoh and the former Coordinator of the Climate change Unit in the Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr victor Fodeke, commended the Ogun State Government for embracing the going green campaign. They however called for measures to be put in place to sustain the green projects being initiated by the government.