Lagos, NCF Collaboration Promoting Environmental Awareness, Advocacy on Conservation matters

Bennett Oghifo

The Lagos State Commissioner for The Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab has said that the state government’s collaboration with the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) is promoting environmental awareness and advocacy on conservation matters in the State.

The commissioner stated this at a Press briefing preceding the 2024 Walk for Nature (slated for October 19, 2024) at the conference room of the ministry on the 16th of October, 2024.

Wahab said, “The Nigerian Conservation Foundation has since 2008 been collaborating with the State Government through the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources to enlighten the citizenry on the importance of environmental protection and conservation through a yearly programme tagged “WALK FOR NATURE”.

“The programme is in line with the Sustainable Development Goal Number 17 that a successful sustainable development agenda requires the collaboration of governments, the private sector and civil society.

“The collaboration has in no small measure been promoting environmental awareness and advocacy on conservation matters in the State, while showcasing the excellent results of the State Government in its environment policies and programmes.

“This collaboration has been going on for the past 18 years and we have observed the programme “WALK FOR NATURE” on every third Saturday of October yearly.”

The partnerships, he said, was coined from the theme of this year’s World Environment Day. The 2024 theme is Land Restoration, Desertification and our land, our future #The theme for each year is “Drought Resilience” with the slogan GenerationRestoration.

He said, “The event over the years has created a great deal of consciousness amongst Lagosians on the Island which is one of the five divisions of Lagos State and has been diversified to various local governments in the years past. “This year’s programme will be commemorated with a 3km walk that will take off from Onikan Stadium, Onikan Lagos at 7:15am.

“The benefits derivable from this programme include but not limited to the followings: The State Government through the Ministry is seeing to demonstrate interest; show concerns and create a niche in conservation matters through partnership and collaboration with the Private sector and non-governmental organization in compliance with the SDG17; Credit for supporting the Global trend of Nature Conservation. The walk for Nature is an effort towards preserving Nature and improving the quality of lives of Lagosian.

“Increasing the environmental health of the State through reduction of vehicular emission; The programme over the year has continued to create awareness and sensitize Lagosians on the importance of Nature Conservation and Biodiversity; The programme Promotes healthy lifestyles and improves physical fitness of the participants.

“The Lagos State Government appreciates the efforts of our partners, the NigeriaConservation Foundation (NCF) in conserving Seventy-Eight (78) hectares of land in the Lekki area of the State serving as a huge buffer protecting our dear State, protecting biodiversity, mitigating the effects of Climate change and bring nature closer to man.

“As the demand of the State Government for a more sustainable environment increases, it is important to stress that the partnership with the private sector equally plays a crucial role in ensuring a more sustainable Lagos.”

According to him, “We must heed this clarion call and ensure that all individuals, communities and organisations engage proactively in the all awareness campaigns and advocacy focusing on greening Lagos, protecting our fragile biodiversity and ecological balance. Let us all be assured that the State Government will not relent in her efforts and commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals.

“I, therefore invite you all to join us and participate in this year’s exercise as well as adopt a renewed sense of purpose, respecting the ecosystem and planet earth that has sustained our lives and ensure a sustainable future for generations unborn through our actions.”

The Director General Nigeria Conservation Foundation, Dr. Joseph Onoja said it was a thing of great pleasure for them to continue their collaboration with the Lagos State Government.

Onoja said, “This is the 18th edition of the walk for nature and it goes a long way to show the level of our collaboration with the state government. And the state government has been very supportive of the things that we do, especially under the dynamic leadership of Mr. Wahab, I must commend your leadership, I must say that the environment has had a good look in Lagos State under your leadership, because, I mean, we’ve seen a lot of proactive measures that have been taking place.

“And so this is the time for us to really collaborate and talk and continue to create awareness about what we have at hand, especially this year’s Walk for Nature, which is the same thing as the world environment day. “We will continue to call people’s attention to what is happening in terms of land restoration, which happened to be the decade of ecosystem restoration, according to the UN which is why it’s very important for us to continue to call people’s attention to that reality. And I continue to tell people that, as we talk about land restoration, ecosystem service, protection and so on.”

He said the main issue at hand was not just environmental conservation but that it was actually the conservation of humanity.

“We are not actually talking about environmental conservation. We are actually talking about human conservation, because the environment will always conserve itself, and that is why a time like this creates an opportunity for us to create that awareness so that together, not just those of us who are in the environment sector, each and every citizen of Lagos State, each and every citizen of Nigeria, will be able to put hands together for us to conserve what we have, so that we’ll be able to protect nature, so that nature, in turn, will protect us.”

This year’s theme of land restoration, desertification and drought resilience, he said, “Calls our attention to make sure that we are living in a precarious time, especially when it comes to how our climate is changing. And we are happy with the partnership we have the Lagos state government, that we are able to continue to see these things and continue to work the talk and especially with the recent actions by the Ministry of Environment and Water resources to ensure that the environment protects us. Yeah, there are some very tough decisions that need to be taken, but those tough decisions are for the betterment of everyone, and I want to use the opportunity to call on the commissioner that there are some other areas that we also need some actions as well. The Otueke reserved under Epe local government, I guess, and the Ologe dam. These are some areas that Lagos State needs to also protect to continue to have this resilience that we are talking about. Because sometimes when we talk about drought, we focus our attention to the North, but we can have our own local situation as well, so that if we don’t protect it, it may go around and backfire. And that is why what the commissioner is doing, with the backing of the state governor, is really commendable.”