Federal and state governments  been called upon to redirect its attention to forestation, believing that much has been said about environmental sanitation and urbanization in recent time.

Speaking to our correspondent, recently in Port Harcourt, the chief executive officer of centre for Environmental and Community Development (CECD), a “rain forest for life  project”, Mr John Akinuba, said “the government of the day is majorly focusing on sanitation and urbanisation, while giving very little attention on forestation”.

Mr Akiniba disclosed that a lot abound natural resources in our communities that can  empower the people, but decried  a situation he described as a lack of organised system to make things work.

“Although the federal government of Nigeria is currently harping on community forestry, forestry remains the foundation for agricultural developments.  Many of the crops that are being grown as food crops, were once grown and cultured in the forest and many more are still found in the forest”, he said.

Noting that faulty licensing system and lack of enforcement ability had contributed to make forest resources depletion very high, Mr Akinuba observed that the efforts of ministries and agencies charged with the responsibility of forest protection are not being syncronisal stressing that the inability of the Agric Ministry Forestry department, NDDC, NESREA, NEPAD, UNEP to work together has not helped matters at all.

Citing a UN salogan that environmental resources is the live blood of any economic development, Mr Akinuba said one of the factors that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union was the inability of its soil to yield crops any longer, noting that if nothing is done to safe guard the Nigerian forest, a likelihood of what happened in Soviet Union may be replicated in Nigeria.  A situation where except with the help of artificial manure.

“The more you degrade a land without adequate replacement, the more the yields reduce to a point where the land becomes veril”, he added.

Meanwhile, the environmentalist has described Cross River and Ondo States as the only known forest-conscious states in the Niger Delta with an organised forest system and conservational programmes on ground.

Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi