The Rivers State Government has said the sustainability of the environment in the state and the nation at large requires concerted efforts and commitment by all stakeholders and the citizens.
The state government also said that to achieve environmental sustainability, the Ministry of Environment has set up strategies to establish what it called “environmental norms aimed at teaching and inculcating the habit to preserving the environment among the youths”.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Dr Emmanuel Urang stated this while speaking during the opening ceremony of a 3-day 5th National Conference, last Wednesday in Port Harcourt, organised by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, with the theme, “Environmental Sustainability in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects”.
Urang disclosed that the state was faced with myriads of environmental challenges ranging from oil theft, flooding, pipeline vandalism, illegal burning of tyres, among others, and added that the government, through the Ministry of Environment, had taken proactive measures to address the challenges.
The permanent secretary, who was the chairman of the occasion said, the ministry had embarked on advocacy campaigns, enforcement of strict compliance on environmental impact assessment and audit as ways of checking flagrant abuse of the environment as well as the introduction of tree planting across the state to sustain and promote environmental sustainability.
Amadi Akujobi & Ukemezie Kenneth Chukwudi
