Walking For Nature

Hundreds of Lagosians staged a walk at the weekend in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, to sensitise residents on the danger of global warming and the need to mitigate the impact of climate change.

The Lagos State Ministry of the Environment in conjunction with the Nigeria Conservation Foundation, NCF, organised the walk tagged: “2012 Walk for Nature.”

Leading the walk from the State House, Marina, to Inner and Outer Marina and back to the State House are Governor Babatunde Fashola, Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello and NCF president, Philip Asiodu.

Hundreds of walkers marched as they drum relentlessly to draw people away from their homes to pay attention to their message while they distributed leaflets along the way. The theme of the walk is “Sustainable Energy for All.”

Speaking, Fashola, who was represented by the Special Adviser on Environment, Dr Taofik Folami reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to preserving the ecosystem, saying that efforts were being made to provide alternative energy in a way that would preserve the ecosystems and mitigate negative impact of climate change.

“The future we didn’t prepare for is now; if we fail to prepare for the next future, we may be causing avoidable disaster,” he said.

The governor blamed the magnitude of the negative impact of climate change in the country on the failed attempt to proactively take the necessary steps at combating it, adding that “we are faced with the consequence of our ‘ingenuity gap.”

President, NCF Asiodu urged the presidency to look beyond the categorisation of the affected states in the distribution of the flood relief fund, saying that the Federal Government should engage experienced experts in dealing with the problems and the victims.

According to him, the classification of the severely affected states without proper measures to tackle the climate change and the displaced Nigerian would not yield any result.

“I want to see so much money used effectively. It has to be done, using whatever competent groups we have here and also bringing experts from abroad who are used to flood. They must also get working because I don’t believe in announcing A and B.

“How many teams have we seen arriving in Lagos, Asaba, Warri and other affected states who are providing livable condition for the peoples in refugee camps? Classification is not the matter; the matter is whatever you want to do, do it effectively and on time,” he stated.

Commissioner for the Environment, Bello, who was represented by the Acting Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services, Mrs Adebola Afun said: “It is very important for each and every one of us to imbibe the habit of walking on a daily basis and inculcate it as part of our daily routine. The present administration in the state has further encouraged this through the construction of walkways in all major highways along our roads.

“We can further encourage decongestion of vehicles on our roads through the use of bicycles to promote body exercise and healthy living.”